It's that time of year again...time for the new school year and hopes that this year, things will be different mixed with fears of yeah, right, like that's gonna happen.
I thought I'd start a thread with advocacy strategies. Perhaps we can use this thread to consolidate information over time. What have you done? Did it work? Did it go down in flames? Something in between?
I sent an email to DD's new teacher last night about math. I tried a new strategy this year. I wrote that grade-level math is mostly quite easy for my DD, and that the problem with this situation is that she shuts down when she's confronted with something that isn't easy. Also noted: the problem seems to come from DD not understanding that This is harder than usual does not mean AND THEREFORE I CAN’T DO IT.
I mentioned that I've been reminding DD to think about the last time she had to do something difficult and how she managed to learn it during the lesson. She responds well, but I added that the message needs to be internalized, which will only come with consistent, appropriate challenge.
[sigh] It all seemed so reasonable, but we all know how this stuff can go.
I will update later regarding success or failure.
