Fear and Trembling

It's the dreaded Parent/Teacher day. We get a mere 10 minutes with our kid's teachers, and they get to tell us everything our kids forgot to mention.

Just before I left to see his teacher, my son informed me that the 23% he got for one exam wasn't the worst after all - he found out he got 6% for another! Oh great... Fortunately his classwork is factored in, and that brought up the grade a bit.

But the teacher had the usual to say - problems with speed and concentration. And, yet again, I'm at my wit's end as to how to solve these.

You see, we're opposite ends of the personality scale. He's creative and drifts in his own dream world, uninterested in grades and school and being the best. I'm goal-driven and focused and like the competition to do better than someone else. I simply can't see the world from his perspective, so I don't know how to solve his problems!

His teacher's a lot like him, but even she's frustrated. He took over 2 hours more than the others to complete one exam, having to sit through break and other classes to finish. From next year that won't be an option - finish in the time, or else.

So it boils down to this: now is the only time we have to sort out his issues and find solutions, or he'll struggle for the rest of his school days. And perhaps fail a grade or two.

I've told him he can be anything he wants to be. Perhaps I need to mention the provisio that a lot of what he wants to be might depend on his school grades... On the other hand, he's good in what he's interested in - Maths, Computer, Natural Science. It's the languages that drag him under. And, apparently, he's never quite "with it" in class...

I'm about to email my mom, who is not only a teacher, but also of his kind, to ask what she suggests. Especially in the way of after-school coaching, help or whatever. (I know the subject of "veggies" is going to come up....) I'm going to look into some online advice too while I'm at it.

After which the only thing remaining is for me to find the energy to put more into our after-hours lives than I currently am.