Wednesday night

Have just finished washing dishes, making sandwiches, organizing clothes, making sure bags are packed, taking stuff out of dryer, and am in bed early so that I can get up at dawn again tomorrow and do it all over again. ISN'T THAT EXCITING!?!?!?

I tell you, that stuff is just gripping.

Okay, thank you for being patient while I whine. Moving right along...

Had an interesting meeting with Sam's teacher and the deputy headmistress, in which I did not have to get on bad and demand anything. We talked about what Sam needs, and I asked his teacher not to let him sit and stare vacantly into space or read under his desk. The deputy headmistress suggested giving Sam math work out of the Grade 5 book, and said that he doesn't have to do what the rest of the class is doing in math. What they will do is, if the class is adding fractions, Sam will too but harder sums, more abstract. Definitely more challenging. His homework tonight was hard, which fired him up! Sam absolutely loves math. He is excited about the new arrangement, and hopefully that will give him back the "get up and go" that got up and went.

I had a long talk with Sam after the meeting, and told him that I expect to see his attitude improve, and his work become neater. He IS capable of using a ruler to underline, for example. And he CAN write nicely, joined up. I told him that I would be seeing his teacher again, as we agreed to have a follow-up meeting to see how it's going, so he had better get a grip and get serious or he would be going back to the regular math.

The Daddy deal is "come first in class, you get something cool as a prize!". I reminded Sam of the great stuff he has got before. Working toward a prize used to do the trick for Sam, and hopefully with the new math and extra attention he will be getting, he will be willing to WORK for it.

He certainly seems positive and happy today. I am glad, and we shall see what happens next!

Today, I helped my Mum to paint a "Tree of Life" on the wall of a maternity hospital, Mamatoto. It looks great, and each baby born there will have their name written on a leaf! I love the idea. Mamatoto is so amazing: deep tubs for labouring in, and even a hook in the ceiling in case you want to hang from the chandelier while you labour! I love midwives.

Apart from that, I have been incredibly busy with work, and hanging out with various loved ones who I love, and painting, which is great, but it means very little time for blogging! That is bad, because when my bloggy friends don't say anything for a few days I weep and gnash and tear at my clothes and put ashes in my hair, so I will try to be more bloggy!

Comments

Anonymous said…
I love it when you get all bloggy on me ;)
My son always works harder when he has a prize or reward waiting for him at the end. Good luck! Sounds like you are doing all the right things. What a lucky boy.
Anonymous said…
Good news about Sam! This seems like a good solution. I hope he's feeling more motivated soon.