Friday, October 25, 2024

Big Step Up

 


 

Asher has struggled with school for a variety of reasons. His special needs took us some time to get a handle on and continue to represent extra hurdles in his studies. And he never once stepped foot in class or met his teacher kindergarten year, taking away that important socialization to how a classroom works (and then 1st grade, his first in person, was chopped up by quarantines). 

He’s responded well to the true saints at his school who have provided academic and behavioral supports. And Amy has been far more patient than I have in supporting him as he slogs through his school homework. So we see the progress every day, even if we also see how far behind he is from where we hoped he’d be. 

Fourth grade has proven to be a big step up. It’s not the first year he’s had homework. But it seems like a crucial transition year towards him owning the educational experience. He’s increasingly expected to keep track of his own assignments. He has to log into Google Classroom to view and submit many of those assignments. And the amount and difficulty of those assignments has noticeably amped up. 

Amy and I are trying desperately to keep up, even as we’re grappling with how much to support and how much to hang back and make him take responsibility. Let’s hope we can all look back on fourth grade as one in which Asher made a ton of progress in reading, writing, and math, as well as in establishing lifelong habits for being a good student.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You and Amy are doing a great job. Asher is a lucky fellow to have such great support. I know it seems like it drags on forever before you see real progress but fortunately you have patience and love that will see you through this stage to success

LH said...

thank you, you are very kind to provide these affirming words