You Do a Good Job
A few weeks ago I was evaluating the most beautiful eleven-year-old girl. She was one of
those children that had an inner beauty and outer beauty. During our evaluation we took
a break and this wonderful child had written this:I tell you-it made my day! In that one little moment those 5 words had encouraged me.
It touched my heart so much that I thought I would share it with you. I know that in the
world of kids, after-school practices, work, therapy, tutoring, homework and any other
obligations that take our time-you as a parent please remember that YOU DO A GOOD JOB!
With all of our hectic schedules, especially with the approach of the holidays, it can
easily be forgotten how much a parent actually does every day.
The holidays and winter break are a good time to assess where you are as far as your
child’s progress goes and make any tweaks or changes for the new year.

You may find these questions helpful to ask yourself:
1. What is working?
Do you like their school? teacher? current therapist? Are these things in
a location that are easy for you to get to? Or are you spending a lot of time
commuting? Are you seeing progress or is it time to try something new?
2. What is not working?
Be honest-many parents stick with a therapist, tutor , parent or school
because it is just what you have always done or because the child feels
comfortable with them. Sometimes a change is what your child may need. A
new approach or a different set of eyes may bring out something out of your
child that your old provider was not able to get.
3. At the end of the school year what do I want to happen?
Steven Covey says it is always great to begin with the end in mind. Do you
want your child to use more words? Produce words that are more clear to
others? Work on a certain sound? Increase comprehension or reading
ability? Bring home straight A’s or A’s and B’s. If you know where you want
to go then you will figure out how to get there.
4. Is that goal realistic?
This has nothing to do with belief in your child’s ability but being realistic
keeps the frustration at a minimum. If your child is reading on a 3rd grade
level-chances are that by the end of the year she/he won’t be reading on a 6th
grade level by May-but a 4th grade level is possible. Is your child’s speech
unclear to everyone but you? Then full clear sentences may not be a realistic
goal but clear words may be.