At the end of the year I normally get anxious… What did we miss? Oh no we didn’t memorize the multiplication tables through 15! We didn’t get to go on the special field trip to the Allegheny’s! The kids spent the last two months languishing on Anatomy. We didn’t finish the State History book because we got sidetracked by the pesky explorers and 17th century. One child flew through reading but math didn’t keep up. Yikes we failed!
Is this self tirade familiar? Do you end the year wondering if it was a success or not? How can we determine if we accomplished all we could? How do we find success in the toughest of years?
1. Has my child improved in behaviour, ability, life skills or social skills this year?
EXAMPLES: potty trained through the day, better able to sit and attend, can write name, has a friend!
Special note here we are looking for improvement not necessarily at grade/age level. If your child is working hard on social skills issues than they may not advance as far as a typical child in other areas that year. They are still advancing and the other skills will catch up.
2. Has your child been through a serious medical or emotional issue this year?
If this year your family or child has been dealing with issues like cancer or the a divorce your child will be dealing with those adjustments. There are years where you breath a prayer and thank the Lord for delivering you through. Perhaps there was not much movement forward or a regression has occurred you a can still count this year as a success, if you didn’t give up! By continuing to work despite problems you are teaching your child a work ethic that will help them move mountains!
3.What if your child’s ability and grades were all over the place?
Children with special needs can have a wide range of abilities. They can be strong in numbers but weak in reading or vise versa. If your child is weak in reading be aware that several subjects rely heavily on reading, unless you have made adjustments, those subject may be low because of the reading rather than their knowledge of that subject. If you found your child was dealing with a learning disability this year, than use this as a learning year. Make some adjustments or get some pointed learning material that works on the weaker skills and move forward. Next year will be better!
At the end of the year with our special kids it can be easy to have unspoken expectation that this year is the year we catch up. We want to find that special text, special program, the age where things finally click. That special moment may or may not come, let the Lord set the timing.
My angst kept peaking when I would see the cousins race past my children in learning. My oldest has dyslexia and she had a difficult time learning to read. When in a group it was painfully obvious she could not read, to the point that even when she could she didn’t want to. I focused on changing my daughter’s learning to audio and kinetic learning for the most part while reading was always worked on. Years later I have to smile at my daughter’s learning verses their public school learning. She is high school level in several areas literature, history, and science. While her reading still needs work she has retained the love of reading. Which was our goal!
Try to focus on the big picture rather than focusing on the problems. I am going to be writing more on creating a successful year.