School is officially closed for the remainder of this school year. It hasn’t been easy for Kyson and I. He told me just the other day that he missed school and his friends. I answered him saying his friends probably miss him too, you won’t get to see them again until you turn 7!
My husband and I chuckled at that, but the reality of that statement broke my heart. He’s missing out on so much socializing practice. On top of that, therapy has stopped for 3 weeks now. I find myself exhausted while working then transitioning to be a mom, teacher, and therapist. It has been so hard! Most days, I have no idea what day it is.
Lessons I’ve learned so far from my son
1. Repeat & wait – patience is key here. In such a fast-paced world today, I forget how much he needs me to be patient. Sometimes asking him a question will not be answered until you wait 20 seconds then repeat it again. Then you wait and he’ll eventually answer, that’s if he understands the question.
2. Math is king – I was completely blown away by how much this kid knew. Addition problems are what he’s working on at the moment and he lights up every time I open the app on his iPad to show him his math problems for the day. Kyson zooms through this subject so quick!
3. Make practice fun- even when you don’t think you’re doing anything to help academically, you might just be. Kyson has had such a hard time holding writing utensils. He always did the fist hold when he was writing or coloring. We’ve been drawing a lot, he loves to watch Daddy draw farms for him. Before Daddy draws another object Kyson wants, we make him write his name. I constantly remind him to watch his hand and fix his marker. For the last 4 days, I haven’t had to tall him, he’s holding it just fine. Although the pressure is soft when he writes, he’s holding the marker properly. Yay, Kyson!
4. Memorize to read – or is it read to memorize? Anyway, Kyson’s favorite storybooks are on the iPad as well. He reads them like a pro. I didn’t realize that if you pushed the sentence, the app reads it aloud. LOL! I know, Mommy is slow when it comes to technology. However, removing the voice app, he can read word by word and I can see his little mouth making sounds of each letter.
5. Consistency is key – I’ve probably said this one way too many times, but consistency works for Kyson. Even though school lessons are done during the day with his teachers, virtual learning has changed our schedule quite a bit. Everyday school starts at 4 pm when I’m home and ready to start being a “teacher” to him. I did try doing this with him on during different times the first few weeks and he was so lost. He already got used to playing all day then mom to get home for lessons. It worked and we’ve stuck to that schedule even though all I want to do after work is relax and let my brain rest.
Conclusion
A few weeks in and we are getting the hang of things. There are no longer meltdowns with him. At first, he wanted no part of doing school work with me. As if he was saying, “You’re not my teacher!” Ah yes, and one more thing, only I can work with him on this. Dad is not allowed and if dad is in the room and watching, Kyson is distracted right away and will not concentrate. Oh, and break times with each subject is a must!
Hope all is well and healthy out there!
-Anna MV
