mikes web log

One of the delights of being married to a teacher is to hear each day the stories of the classroom. There are a myriad of stories as one would expect when 30 young people (Yr 3 in this instance) interact with the dominant adult in an enclosed space for all of 6hrs each day. Over the year each child becomes an individual as the day to day picture paints them into your memory. This is one such short story. This 8yr old had a history within the school of being poor at mathematics. In the previous years she had been marked down as a reluctant and recalcitrant mathematician.

On this Monday morning she had returned after missing the previous weeks teaching due to a holiday commitment. The maths work that Monday morning was challenging and surprisingly the child managed the work very successfully. However on the Tuesday when challenged by the maths she failed to respond. She was behaving in her ‘normal’ mode.

Gina (my wife) decided to challenged her parents about the Monday and Tuesday performance. The outcome was an admission from the parents that two years previously they had been told about their daughters poor attainment in maths. As a result they imposed a regime of half an hours maths every evening before their daughter went to bed. They admitted this was not a very nice time and inevitably ended in arguments. Gina’s advice (in front of the daughter) was basically to say ‘lay off’, she can do it, she is capable, she had proven this in school (on the Monday).

At the end of the week Gina received a letter written and delivered by the daughter. It is copied below.

Dear Miss ………. 

I am writing to tele you that …I likle Mathes Becuase last night I askt my mum if I could do some mathes she said yes So I did. I went thro carfl and I didn’t have eney aregyoumants with my mum ether. So that night When I was In bed I thout to myself Ida can do it Just likle you said. 

Love From