Thursday, December 05, 2013

Moving the marble some more

Parenting two children through the school system is a full time job. Vic and I are fastidious that the kids not only do their school work but also do their homework to the best of their ability. TV only comes after homework and piano practice.

With Fynn that means he must practice is French reading a few times a week. Apart from that it is not too bad and he is still pretty footloose and free.

With Sophie, it is a whole other story. Grade 4 is a step into the intermediate grades and out of the primary grades. The expectation levels have ramped up. Sophie received her report card today for the first term. She had 2 C+ in math and French reading comprehension. Of course she had a few tears about that as she was not used to a letter grade (the earlier grades don't give them). Vic and I had to tell her that her work is still good and it just means that she is learning and with a bit more work, she can move her grades up if she wants to. I know she can do it, and so does her teacher. She got 1 A (Science) and the rest of her grades were Bs. All is good.

I keep having to remind her that not only is she learning a second language (speaking, reading and writing) but she is also learning piano, which is not easy. She is doing far more mentally than I was in Grade 4. She can be so hard on herself (gosh, where does she get that from?). We are continuing on with her math tutor who is amazing and gives me a lot of detailed feedback about how each Thursday session is going.
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Sophie and Vic are sounding good for their duet at the piano recital this Saturday. They are practicing each night and it is really cute :)

1 comment:

Joanne said...

Jman is loving his piano and duet for this year's recital too. We have found that it has helped so much with his math skills and his reading levels as well. Music is great for helping us to think with another side of the brain. And yes, diligent homework practice of math skills, sight words, spelling tests, piano practice and theory and martial arts classes every night makes for a full evening. But our kids are worth it and these years are so important for all the time we can spend with them as it passes all too quickly.