I did not think this would happen with Natalie because she is a pretty independent little girl. We have the Kindergarten version of T4L which also includes the 1st grade Science and LA extension. I’ve told her that those she needs to do with my supervision because there are many areas that need to be read to her, unlike the Kindergarten Language Arts and Math curriculum. However, she wanted to venture into the world of science by herself while I was busy helping my older daughter with homework.
She completed a couple of sections and was fine until she had to do the quiz. She pretty much guessed at every question because she could not read the question and answers. Her score was 30%. She became very upset about that score. That’s good and bad. She realizes the importance of getting a high score. The next day she said she did not want to do any assignments because she got “too many red Xs” and she was “afraid it would happen again.” I convinced her to log on and told her I would help her through that section and the quiz. Funny thing is that we went right to the quiz just to see how much she knew. I read the questions and let her figure out the answer–she got everyone right! She was so excited…her words were “Mom, I guess I knew it all along. I am such a smart little girl” I was laughing at her modesty.
She did 4 lessons after that, 2 in math and 2 in language arts and her confidence was flying really high. She aced all her quizzes yesterday and had no reservations about logging in today before school and tomorrow she is already planning to go back into science with my help.
It’s amazing how good kids feel when they get good grades.
Kat
October 5, 2007 | 10:21 pm1
Terie,
)
It’s great to hear about how Natalie is learning about the importance of doing her best. She is learning that getting good grades is important, but they also help her to build her confidence level at the same time. Yay!
I know that I experience the same issues with my son Bailey. If he reaches an area that he is struggling with, he procrastinates when it comes time for that subject. Once he gets over that “hump,” he jumps right back in. That is until he gets to the next “hump.”
)
Tracy
October 5, 2007 | 9:27 pm2
Hooray for independent little girls and the mom’s who support them! And then… when her independence gets the best of her, wanting to quit… the mom swoops in, helping out and showing her the way! Yay for you both… I was that independent little girl, who charged forward and when failure knocked, mom was there to lend a hand…. She has always been my hero for letting me fall hard and then helping me pick it up again… Not letting me quit.
My son’s did not have “grades”, I corrected their problems and then they had to do more if they got some wrong. I never wanted the focus to be on grades or how many they got right or wrong. With T4L however, they see right away and more and more getting problems correct is becoming important to them. It has been a bit of a struggle for them because it is new to them but I think that it is a good addition to them learning and they are starting to “get it” more and more.. Understanding that the closer they pay attention, the better grades they will get.
We have not gone through what you have gone through but it came close, each boy striving not to get any red X’s. Of course for the first few times I noticed them skipping the tests all together and when I asked why they both said because they did not want to get any wrong… I’m glad your daughter got back on that horse… Sounds like she is a pretty smart little girl!