The lazy days of summer came to a close on August 11th. At 8:15 am on that date, I took three handsome children to the bus stop to kick off the 2008-2009 school year. Mary is in third grade and the twins are in first. So far, everyone is quite happy with their teachers. I have only heard good things about their teachers from other mothers.
Mary came home with homework from the very first day in Mrs. Heiberg's room. Not any old homework, MATH homework. From the time Mary got home til about the time Daddy got home, Mary could be found in various stages of doing homework. She could be frowning, crying, whining, or distracted while doing this math. I would spend no less than an hour with her trying to get her to understand that 501 is greater than 499 or making change from $5.00. When Bob would come home he would give his time for more of the same. She defeated us.
We are not patient people. We were sure it was all an act and the princess just didn't want to do it. We were sure she wanted to frustrate us beyond belief so that we would just give her the answer and be done with homework. We were sure that $10/hour would be sufficient for a tutor for a third grader.
Then we saw a light. At curriculum night the teacher confessed that the math work that was expected from our children was nothing that they have ever learned before. This new, improved math program was going to make our children as smart as other parts of the world, or at least, other parts of the country. Every parent was on edge about this subject of math. I breathed a sigh of relief upon learning this. So, my child is not unlike the other students. Every one was suffering along with us. Thank the Lord!!
Test day was last Thursday. Mary brought home her math book so that I could learn what she was learning. We reviewed the chapter together, lesson by lesson, ten minutes at a time. At the end of the night, I was pretty darn impressed how far she had come since the beginning of school. She seemed to get it.
She got off the bus that day and never mentioned the test. I asked her how it went while she was snacking. She said "I think I did good". I really didn't know how to take this. It didn't sound confident at all to me.
Friday, she got off the bus at the end of the day. Everybody was pumped cause this was the start of a three day weekend. We emptied lunch bags, got snacks and went through all the paperwork that was sent home. At this point, I totally forgot about the math test. Then I came upon it. A note was stapled to it that said " Here is the test. Since this was a difficult chapter for the children we have decided that your children can correct the wronged answers for additional credit." I thought, 'Excellent!'. I turned the memo over and saw a score of 88 on Mary's math test. I was so relieved and proud that I got little tears in my eyes. I screamed for Mary. She didn't come. I called for her again, she didn't come. For Christ's sake!!! She finally came I squealed with delight and yelled, "An 88!?!?!?! I can't believe it! An 88!" She only got two answers wrong. With the corrections, she will be able to bring her score to a 92. That's an A!!!!
Now THAT is what I call success.
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