August certainly didn\u2019t end the way we had hoped. \u201cAnne\u201d is back to homeschooling and I\u2019m doing all I can to get her back on track after the attempted return to public school.<\/p>\n
It feels like she\u2019s had every school year at home. I believe she\u2019s had at least a portion of kindergarten and all of first and second grades at home. It\u2019s something of a blur, now. Did the pandemic start in 2020? I have to ask myself, since it seems like it was just a few months ago\u2026 while also feeling like five or six years.<\/p>\n
Anne wanted to go back to school. She wanted to make friends and do well. Instead, she\u2019s at home and struggling to do work that should be easy by now.<\/p>\n
The school wasn\u2019t going to meet her needs, yet I\u2019m not sure that we can, either.<\/p>\n
Her ADHD, dyslexia, and other challenges run into my ADHD and autistic traits. I\u2019m finding that by three or four in the afternoon, I\u2019m exhausted.<\/p>\n
Trying to motivate Anne to care more about her schoolwork is proving difficult. If I can\u2019t get her moving forward, she\u2019ll stop trying. She doesn\u2019t have \u201cgrit\u201d or \u201cperseverance\u201d and I\u2019m not sure she has any respect for adult authority. Without any intrinsic and little extrinsic motivation, there\u2019s no way to get her past these struggles. We\u2019re stuck.<\/p>\n
She struggles to focus, even with someone sitting across from her. She doesn\u2019t want to be here, yet she doesn\u2019t want to return to campus after feeling rejected by the adults around her. She wants to play with her toys and go outside.<\/p>\n
We\u2019ve tried to make learning fun. We\u2019ve tried to find ways to incorporate her interests into lessons. She\u2019s resistant and even defiant. Unfortunately, she\u2019s already been held back once in kindergarten and is way behind as we try to start third-grade materials.<\/p>\n
Whatever solution you might believe we need to try, we\u2019ve been there and done that.<\/p>\n
Anne imagines that you get older and the knowledge happens. Working to learn? That\u2019s not how she views the process.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve tried short term rewards. I\u2019ve tried charts, constant praise, cheerleading, and anything else some \u201cexperts\u201d have promoted. Apparently, Anne should just want to learn and be insatiably curious. Nope.<\/p>\n
She can scream. She can throw herself to the floor. She can do a lot of things, but she won\u2019t do schoolwork.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no question she needs an Individualized Education Program (IEP) because no 504 Plan would be sufficient. She needs one-on-one supports and an extremely experienced and skilled teacher.<\/p>\n
Susan and I are exhausted. A year like the last few weeks won\u2019t work for Anne or for us.\u00a0Her struggles have turned into a battle of wills. She\u2019s winning.\u00a0I won\u2019t give up, but I might collapse.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
August certainly didn\u2019t end the way we had hoped. \u201cAnne\u201d is back to homeschooling and I\u2019m doing all I can to get her back on track after the attempted return to public school. It feels like she\u2019s had every school year at home. I believe she\u2019s had at least a…<\/p>\n