Kori has always been hyperactive and has never liked to sit still for a long time. In nursery school, she couldn’t sit to colour in or listen to stories. She was always dancing around at the back of the class and couldn’t even sit long enough to watch a 12-minute TV program!
As she got older, I noticed that she seemed to struggle to hear a voice over a lot of noise or would get distracted easily by everything around her. She loved being in the middle of anything social but would get hyped up quickly and have severe meltdowns like kids years younger than her.
In Grade R, we started with occupational therapy. For a physically strong and fit kid, we were told she couldn’t sit up straight and her muscle tone was poor. Her teacher was excellent and helped us a lot, but Kori seemed to fall further and further behind academically, all while her frustrations and meltdowns were getting worse.
In Grade 1, she was finally diagnosed with ADHD. But it was also COVID, and they were hardly at school. We did our best with homeschooling, but the 30 minutes of work they were given each day would take us up to 2 hours, and tears (on both sides) became a daily routine. Kori was always anxious and scared we would shout at her. She was getting depressed and didn’t even want to jump on the trampoline – her absolute favourite thing to do. She would just lie on her bed and stare at the ceiling.
As parents, we were at our wits’ end. We didn’t know what to do. We spent hours playing with her and trying to strengthen her body, and then we had to work nights to make up for the lost work hours during the day. We were exhausted! After talking to just about anyone who would listen, we took her to a clinical psychologist for an assessment. This led to months of play therapy and audio-processing therapy.
Slowly the kids went back to school, but her Grade 2 year was a constant fight. Her attitude was up and down. Her trying in class was up and down. She refused to read any book with more than five words on the page, and her results showed it. Her homework would take hours and always ended in tears. Every night she went to bed either angry or sad.
By chance, we met some old friends with an autistic son. They told us about Edublox and how it completely changed their and their son’s lives. We didn’t know what to do. We had already spent so much time and money on therapies and extra lessons. Would this actually work?
From the very first day, Kori has loved going to Edublox. Even when she ‘complained’, we realised she didn’t mean it as she still went in skipping and smiling. Her confidence in facing schoolwork grew, and she became more determined to take on and finish tasks. Homework has slowly taken a shorter time, and sometimes we can be done in half an hour! She has even allowed us to get her to do extra work, like reciting her times-tables or bonds. When she started Edublox going into her Grade 3 year, her reading was at a Grade 1, second-term level. Now she has actually caught up! She has gone from reading about ten words on a page in an hour to reading whole chapter books by herself and only asking if she really can’t figure out a word.
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She is genuinely happy now. She is not so anxious and doesn’t get as frustrated. She has learnt to take herself out of difficult situations and count to 10, or just have 5 minutes to decompress.
We are very thankful to Edublox and all the tutors have done for Kori. They have been patient with her, encouraged her, and shown true affection and thought for her and her feelings. They have accommodated us as parents and as a family with extra murals or school things and have gone out of their way to ensure that Kori is happy.
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We know how frustrating sad, and discouraging it can be as a parent of a kid struggling in school. To see them crying every day and going to bed angry or crying just about breaks your heart. But we cannot recommend Edublox enough. Cliché or not, it really has changed our lives!
Tanya Weber
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Letter from Kori’s school teacher:
Tanya Weber Kori's Mother
