So THAT'S why he doesn't like reading and handwriting work...

[lava mama]

... he CAN'T see! 

The last few years, my 5.5yo DS has made very infrequent complaints about his vision. Since he didn't bring it up regularly, I just kept forgetting about it. Last week he complained again, this time specifically saying, "Hey Mom. I can't see very well out of my left eye. It's really blurry." Fast-forward to today and turns out his vision is 20/200 in his left eye and 20/50 in his right. Poor guy can't see with his left eye! 

I know he's only 5.5yo, but I've been feeling a bit discouraged by his lack of interest in reading words on his own and handwriting. He can literally sit for hours looking at pictures in books and listening to stories (I've had to cut off our reading time many times to tell him to play outside. Ha!) so I figured it wasn't the "sit still" element of reading and handwriting work he was having difficulty with. I know he really wants to read on his own, and I think he would really love to write on his own as well. Every time we've worked on these things he noticeably gives up after a minute or so. I figured it was because of his age. It could still be that, of course. But now I'm thinking it is because his poor little eyeballs can't handle the strain. No duh!

We're both excited for his new glasses to come in; excited that he'll be able to see! So, here is my little Back to School PSA: Get your LO's eyes checked to see if they need help with their vision. I feel so dumb for being so absentminded and forgetful. He could have had clear vision for the last 1-2 years if I had been more on top of things. 

Anyway, here's to our first official year of homeschooling! Thankfully, we'll be able to start it off WITH some eyes that can see. 

[MommaCrystal]

Do not feel bad! I was once a public school teacher.  I had a child in my class that was absolutely legally blind.  He had to have corrective surgery and special services from services for the blind.  But he was with me for 6 months and I never noticed.  Mom never noticed either.  It was discovered during a ROUTINE eye exam.  I hated myself for missing that!  SO, it does happen!

[moominmamma]

My youngest was exactly that age when we discovered that she had 20/200 vision in her best eye. She hadn't complained about a thing, I suppose because she had no "good" eye to compare her vision to. She'd never seen anything clearly, and didn't know what she was missing. She was actually reading (i.e. decoding) quite well and had been for quite a while, but oddly enough  despite her very focused academic nature had no stamina and no interest in dense print, chapter books, etc. We only got her checked because her brother was having his glasses tweaked and we figured with a family history of far-sightedness she might as well be screened. Oy. We were stunned when she sat in the examining chair and tentatively offered up her best guess that the big letter at the top of the eye chart was an R (correct!) but couldn't see anything smaller. How had she managed to learn to read? I still don't know. Glasses were an amazing revelation to her in so many ways. Within a month her reading had jumped several grade levels. 

Miranda