Go YaYa!

I have tried to provide YaYa with a more hands-off approach to his homework. This is not to say that I won’t help him with his schooling. I’ve simply been trying to maintain that YaYa’s schooling is HIS responsibility. While this might sound like a good solution, it does have its down falls. It’s been a little too easy to become blind to the homework entirely. I ask him what he has left when I pick him up from daycare, and take him at his word. Sometimes, an item or two has been missed for one reason or another. Most often, this was the direct result of him now writing the assignment down. While I’ve often questioned whether I have backed off too much, YaYa has done a pretty good job of holding his own.

Recently, however, the public schools have let out. Even before this, it was apparent that the teachers were not assigning homework as the neighbors were knocking on our door almost as soon as we arrived home. Homework was completed in a rush and YaYa’s grades were knocked downward.

Stressing responsibility and follow through, I put the onus back on YaYa to “Get. Those. Grades. UP!” That was two weeks ago. Since then, YaYa has given his studies more careful attention. He took extra care in test preparation and asked me to quiz him on the material. He finished his Accelerated Reading book even though he would not get credit for doing so (I made him do this), asked his teachers if there was any available extra credit (which there wasn’t), and followed the progress of his grades by checking the website daily. In 2 weeks time, YaYa has improved his grade in 6 of 9 subjects. And, like a race, he will keep up this final push until he has crossed the finish line.

Please join me in cheering him on.