We are now over half way through our school year. This is the time when I can start to see how a new curriculum or educational method is working out for me, and get a feel for how things are going this year.
Things are finally starting to click for Anna in regards to math. At the beginning of this year I had a small freak-out over her seeming complete inability to grasp certain mathematical concepts, no mater how many times I would go over it with her. I did some research on dyscalculia and freaked out even more. Finally I decided to just relax, and realize that time was on her side. She was six; I really didn't need to start worrying how I was ever going to teach her Algebra. Another thing I realized is that if she does have difficulty with math, she didn't need to be a grade ahead, so instead of redoing grade 1, I have been having her go very slowly through the grade 2 math. This has been a very good thing, and I am beginning to see that what she really needed was time. Time to let her brain catch up with what I was trying to cram into her, and the time it takes to finally have those "Aha!" moments.
Today she picked up a quarter and said, "Mommy, this is one fourth of a dollar, because it takes four quarters to make one dollar!" Now, I have been telling her for months that a quarter is a quarter of a dollar; quarter is another way of saying fourth. But she just now got it. Teaching your own children takes a lot of patients, not just over your some times exasperating children, but patients to wait and see the fruits of your labor.
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