If you have ever sat beside your child at the kitchen table and watched them work through every problem correctly; then received a test result that looked nothing like that performance, you know how confusing and frustrating this can be.
The first six weeks of a new school year are the most revealing weeks of the entire term. Not because of the grades — those come later but because of what you can see, if you know what to look for.
You sit down with your child to go over the day's work. You ask a question. He looks at the table, or the ceiling, or somewhere slightly past your left ear, and say: "I don't know."