Homeschooling Gone Haywire

The reading comprehension worksheet had a heartwarming story.

Annie Sullivan had a hard life.  She grew up alone and very poor.  Anne had trouble with her eyes, too.  She could not see well.

One day after Annie grew up, a family called her.  They needed help with their daughter.  Their little girl’s name was Helen Keller.  Helen needed a teacher.

Helen could not see.  She could not hear, either.  She felt scared and alone.  Annie wanted to help Helen.  She wanted to be able to talk to her.

The worksheet went on to explain how sitting next to a water pump one day, Annie taught Helen the word “water.”  It was the break-through that allowed Annie to teach Helen how to communicate. 

At the end of the reading passage there were four multiple choice questions to test my young reader’s comprehension abilities.  And then there was the one fill-in-the-blank question.  How well did my young reader connect with the content of the reading excerpt? 

With all the empathy that an eight year old boy could muster, Major Havoc wrote:

A time when it was hard to learn something new was not to fart at the dinner table.

He really captured the emotional scope of the story, didn’t he?

Sigh.

We’ll try again tomorrow.