HOMEWORK

HOMEWORK

HOMEWORK: THIS MOM'S PERSPECTIVE

by Patricia Maurer

Blind parents face the same challenges as sighted

parents. Here Patricia Maurer brings us her

perspective on one

common to all--getting the children to do their

homework. Here

is what she has to say:

My husband and I are both blind. We have two

wonderful

children, David and Dianna. My daughter, who is

eight, does

not find her homework much of a chore. She

doesn't really

enjoy it--she just is rather indifferent about

it.

Our son, on the other hand, does anything he can

to get

out of it. The punishment and penalties continue,

but

sometimes the homework just doesn't get done.

I went to a public elementary school in a small

town in

Iowa. It was the only school in the community. I

was blind at

that time.

My friends, teachers, and parents read to me and,

in many

instances, wrote information down on paper for

me. I could not

read what I had written although I was taught to

print and was

taught handwriting. In the fourth grade I learned

to type on

a standard typewriter so that I could write and

others could

read it.

No one ever considered teaching me Braille

because there

was no one there to teach it to me. Each evening

my father

would read my homework assignments to me. Once in

a while he

would go to sleep reading, and I would wake him

up. He had

worked all day and was tired. He wanted to help

me and did,

but sometimes it was not easy.

Later in junior high or high school I learned

about the

Library for the Blind, and some of my textbooks

became

available on record. I listened to them on a

long-playing

record player.

I had a tiny amount of vision, and although I

tried, I

could not ever really effectively use large-print

materials.

But, oh, when those books came to me on record--I

not only

read textbooks but began reading novels. You see,

I had never

read many novels because there was never time for

anyone to

read them to me. I would occasionally check

something out from

the public library, but it took too much effort

to read it.

In high school I learned Braille. I spent an

entire

summer learning to read and write Braille. Now,

for the first

time in my life, I had a way to write something

down, and I

could read it for myself.

Although I did not have much confidence, others

in the

National Federation of the Blind, both by example

and just by

taking the time to talk to me, made me begin to

understand

that I could do more. I went to college, and boy,

did I read

and write. I studied all the time. Well, most of

the time. I

got a degree in elementary education and became

certified to

teach elementary and special education.

My first teaching job was in a small school in

Iowa

teaching reading to third and fourth-grade

children. These

children were sighted, and I was blind. I

remember talking

with the administration of the school and landing

the job.

When I got it I thought, now I have to figure out

how to get

it done.

I hired a high-school student to read to me. He

and I

made games, and I Brailled materials. The

children used print,

and I used Braille. It was a wonderful summer,

and I got a

contract for the next year. I took another offer,

and my

husband and I were married and moved away from

that small

town.

You see, I was thinking about my reading and my

homework,

because I am trying to figure out how to get that

boy of ours

to do his work. I want him to learn to love to

read, because

it is so important when it comes to learning and

living a

complete life. He's not blind. He can pick up any

book and

just read. It seems so much easier for him than

it was for me

when I was doing my homework.

But for now his books and homework pages

sometimes get

lost. The assignments seem very hard. He doesn't

want to read

them out loud so that we can help. He just wants

us to know

the answers. Soon, I hope he will begin to look

for the

answers and read the assignments. Because if he

does, I know

he will find at least some of it interesting.

I know there will be the nights when my husband

and I

nearly fall asleep helping the children with

their homework.

There are the nights that we are relieved just as

much as the

children because there is not much homework. I

believe that if

I ever go back to teaching I won't be able to

help the fact

that I now have a mom's perspective on homework.