And I must admit to a fair amount of dread for my daughter. Since her older brother was a fifth grader last year, so I have a good idea of the content and pace of learning. It challenged my son without academic struggles, so I'm assuming my daughter will struggle. And it fills me with dread.
The question swirling around these last few days before school starts from many is "Are you excited about fifth grade?" My daughter answers 'yes' but her eyes dart and lock with mine while popping a shoulder shrug. I know her confidence level is low. She's excited about friends and activities and being the top class in elementary school, but you can feel her tension when she thinks about academics and all that goes with it.
There are a few changes we made...
she had an appointment with our eye doctor and he determined her prescription has changed and we ordered new glasses. The issues with her eyes tracking evenly, holding a gaze steadily, and switching focus smoothly have not improved or worsened. Her main complaint to the doctor was tired eyes after school which makes homework even tougher.
She will be home about 75 minutes before any other siblings this year. I'm hoping to use this time to tackle some homework. I don't usually like to hit her with homework right when she comes in the door from a long day of work, but I'm hoping the motivation of being done with homework early and having the rest of the evening free pushes her through that tough spot. And I'm hoping the one on one time helping her with homework is beneficial to both.
I'm looking forward to having just her to focus on without distractions. Plus I've been thinking of way to encourage and inspire her. Proper motivation goes a long way with her.
And it does with me, too.
