My step daughter, Madison, is 10 years old, she will turn 11 in September. She is in grade 5 this year. I’ve known her since she was 2, been with her dad since she was 5 and her step-mum since she was 9. Normally we are really close, but she is a troubled kid. She has experienced a few traumatising events in recent years, and she is behind in her education.
Before she started year one, she used to play “schools” with me, where we would sit and learn the basics of literacy and numeracy. She used to love learning, she has always been a very active girl, she loves dancing and wins all of her running races at school. The sad thing is that she doesn’t like herself, she thinks she is ugly (she is so beautiful). She still laughs and plays and there are many moments that she enjoys, but her overall attitude is that everything is boring and she prefers to close herself off from the world with her earphones in.
Even though Madison has noticeable strengths, she doesn’t seem to immerse herself in them. For example, she is very musical, she was chosen from her year group to learn the clarinet, however she doesn’t enjoy practising or applying what she has learnt from her music lessons to her life in the form of enjoyment.
In another example, she excels in sport at school, she is a fast runner and always does well in races. However she doesn’t play any sport. She doesn’t want to.
It’s difficult for me to understand why she doesn’t want to enjoy the things she is good at, because I know that my most enjoyable subjects/activities when I was at school were the things that I was good at. What I have put it down to is low self-esteem, low self-worth, self-hatred and low confidence levels.
Madison stays with Paul and me for one week when Paul is offsite, and for a weekend (2 nights) while he is away. The weekend just gone was a long weekend and I had Madison for 3 nights.
My mum has given me some home-schooling material which I have sat down with Madison’s mum this afternoon and showed her. I suggested that Madison be temporarily home-schooled so she has the chance to get her self-confidence back and get back on track academically. (Madison’s literacy and numeracy are very poor and she is very behind in her school work).
Madison’s mum seemed to take it in and she thought of it as a good idea. So when Paul gets back from site, we will have a family meeting, the four of us and discuss what the best option is for Madison.
Here are some photos of the girls from the weekend:
Before she started year one, she used to play “schools” with me, where we would sit and learn the basics of literacy and numeracy. She used to love learning, she has always been a very active girl, she loves dancing and wins all of her running races at school. The sad thing is that she doesn’t like herself, she thinks she is ugly (she is so beautiful). She still laughs and plays and there are many moments that she enjoys, but her overall attitude is that everything is boring and she prefers to close herself off from the world with her earphones in.
Even though Madison has noticeable strengths, she doesn’t seem to immerse herself in them. For example, she is very musical, she was chosen from her year group to learn the clarinet, however she doesn’t enjoy practising or applying what she has learnt from her music lessons to her life in the form of enjoyment.
In another example, she excels in sport at school, she is a fast runner and always does well in races. However she doesn’t play any sport. She doesn’t want to.
It’s difficult for me to understand why she doesn’t want to enjoy the things she is good at, because I know that my most enjoyable subjects/activities when I was at school were the things that I was good at. What I have put it down to is low self-esteem, low self-worth, self-hatred and low confidence levels.
Madison stays with Paul and me for one week when Paul is offsite, and for a weekend (2 nights) while he is away. The weekend just gone was a long weekend and I had Madison for 3 nights.
My mum has given me some home-schooling material which I have sat down with Madison’s mum this afternoon and showed her. I suggested that Madison be temporarily home-schooled so she has the chance to get her self-confidence back and get back on track academically. (Madison’s literacy and numeracy are very poor and she is very behind in her school work).
Madison’s mum seemed to take it in and she thought of it as a good idea. So when Paul gets back from site, we will have a family meeting, the four of us and discuss what the best option is for Madison.
Here are some photos of the girls from the weekend:
This is Emilie playing with the left overs after cutting out Madison's flowers!!!
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ReplyDeleteI know lots of mothers who have taken their children out of school to educate them at home and have said with relief and some amazement that they feel as though they have got their child back! I think if you are able to home school Madison you'll find that she will recover those things she seems to no longer enjoy and you'll get 'her back'. It could take 6 months though but it is worth it.
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