Love love this picture ... that smiley-face. :) Matthew is holding up the proof of earning the right to call himself a "memory master" for the very first time. Monday, April 20th, was a huge day.
I'll explain ... becoming a "memory master" is an accomplishment that can be earned at the end of each year @ Classical Conversations. However, it's completely optional, and this was Matthew's first year going for it. I had always heard from others how tough it can be preparing & studying, but I really had no idea until we started. We had about 2-3 weeks of me drilling the year's memory work for hours and hours ... six different subjects, 24 weeks of material. [things like: states + capitals & where they are on the map; John 1:1-7 in English & Latin; US presidents in order; the entire timeline from Creation to September 11th; etc.] Anyway, our system was to study/drill for an hour, and then he could play Wii for a break. We did that over and over those weeks leading up to his test date.
I'll never forget the weekend before his big test on Monday. I started coming down with a cold, and we still had a lot of drilling to do. Regardless of how I felt, our time was running out. I was so stressed, and Matthew was running out of steam. After he had check marks for every bit of the material [looking like the paper he's holding above], it was time to give him a practice test. At this point, he was merely hours from the real test. I could not believe it. Matthew had completely regressed and was getting so many questions wrong! Thankfully, I had no energy to push him because that would not have been the right decision. He was exhausted and mentally fried, so he went on to bed ... and I was a mess. I felt so sick, and was an emotional wreck as a result. This test was pass-fail. Either he answered every single question correctly, or he didn't. It wasn't looking like he was going to get memory masters, and I was terrified of setting him up for failure. So just before bed, I emailed his tutor [who would be administering the test] explaining everything ... my cold/breakdown, his exhaustion and lack of remembering the material, etc. To my surprise, she emailed back saying everything we were experiencing was so normal. She said every child has a time of not remembering anything, and you doubt if he/she is truly ready. She was not letting him or me off the hook. Truthfully, that had been my secret hope in emailing her. I felt like so much was going against us.
His test was at 10 a.m. that Monday morning, we reviewed as much as possible over breakfast, we were running late [no shock there], Hollis was barefoot with pajamas still on, I wanted to cry all the way to Tallahassee, and a nasty thunderstorm was approaching. But here's the good in it all ... a wise friend texted me that morning reminding me of all Matthew learned from our preparation, and that memory masters or no memory masters, there was reason for celebration. I needed my eyes opened to that, which in turn resulted in me telling Matthew on the way there that no matter what, Gus and I were extremely proud of him. I prayed so much on that drive that I truly would be content with whatever happened. I knew how hard he worked, and I wanted him to achieve memory masters so bad. When we arrived, the five of us raced out of the suburban, huddled in a quick prayer for Matthew at the door of the building, and then scurried inside knowing the storm was about to hit. What a morning!
It was the longest two hours waiting on him to finish the test [oral, by the way]. His face when he and his tutor walked in the room was priceless. HE DID IT!!! It was most thrilling seeing how great he felt about his accomplishment. It was written all over his face. :)
