First Day of School

The first day of school was almost 3 weeks ago, but you know me, always playing catch up. Jonathan is in kindergarten and loves it. Jessica is in 2nd grade and it seems easier than first grade for her. Which has me worried because she gets stuff real quick and says that its a baby class. Emily on the other hand is having a very difficult time. She has made some friends and seems to be doing alright socially but academicly struggling. She has a hard time focusing and paying attention. She has no desire to learn or to do better. She just wants to read her horse books. Jon made a deal with her. She named 5 pets that she wants : cat, turtle, rabbit, snake, and of course, a horse. The deal is that she has to meet certain requirements (finishing homework quickly, keeping room clean, taking care of the animals she already has, reading her scriptures, and doing a chore everyday, oh, and having a good attitude) for 3 months and then she will get her first pet (cat, which is a big step for Jon). But even then she has the hardest time getting her homework alone done before my bedtime. Last night she went to bed after Jon and me. 5th grade is just going to get harder. Yesterday we talked about her trying to get as much work done at school instead of playing or reading at school and saving the work for home. Its nothing super hard, she just gets distracted. Half the time when she is asking for help, she just wants someone to give her the answers. We have to be very careful, because she will manipulate us in to almost giving her the answers. It is hard to teach a child how to learn, how to memorize, how to read the questions (what are they really asking), how to find the information. I should have gone to school to be a teacher so I could be a better help. It is exhausting!