Student concerns, parent concerns

A new student has enrolled. He's good-looking and has a basic understanding of math, but he's starting to struggle with understanding new concepts and is on the verge of giving up on his efforts, not just in math but in school in general. This student was not doing his homework and was experiencing friction and difficulties with his parents. During the first week of class, I assessed the student's condition.

The problem I diagnosed was that he was in a state of not knowing what he didn't know; in other words, he didn't know where he was going wrong. In this case, I could have guided him and taught him what he was lacking, but he refused to learn, even though he was enrolled. In the second week, he didn't come, and his mother came and learned math instead. She went home and worked with her son, helping him with his homework using what she had learned here.

I saw her struggling and asked her to pray with me. I comforted her by telling her that this was all I could do, and the week passed. On the third week, the student came to class, still exhausted. I realized that math class was not my priority at that moment and had a conversation with him.

It was about how I made the transition from Korea to high school in the U.S. and overcame challenges in the U.S. (which I plan to post about in a separate blog). After a while, I convinced him to believe in himself and give it a try, just this once, and I provided him with a test guide for the next week. Thankfully, the student said he was wondering if he could really do it, but he promised to do his best just this once, and we parted ways.

The next day, the student sent me a photo of about two dozen math homework assignments from school. He asked me to help him solve them. I solved all of them, took pictures of them, and forwarded them to his mother, but she said that tomorrow was the test and her son was still sleeping, so she would solve the math problems herself and teach them to him.

I felt my heart breaking once again, as I had seen determination in this student's eyes, but it was as if the light had gone out. I set my heart at ease and prayed for the child and his mother.

A few days later, the exam was supposed to be over, but I hadn't heard from the mother. I relented and sent her a text message to ask about her March schedule. Her response was that she still wanted me to teach math in March, and she texted me this message: "I took the math test today because I was behind on my ESL test, and I got a 90, thanks to you. Thank you."

I told her that it was all because of her hard work and dedication, but my heart was filled with gratitude, joy, and renewed confidence in this work. We are just getting started, but I hope that through these steps, we can help children who are struggling in math gain strength and confidence to tackle life's challenges one by one, and eventually succeed. Helping kids find their dreams and run toward them with joy is what LMS is all about.