Teaching is a bittersweet experience. There are moments of heart-break, exhaustion, discouragement and there are good days. The disheartening days often feature a parent who doesn't put in the work, after calling her to a meeting or meetings to explain how to go about assisting the child. I've realized, and this is a painful realization, that there are parents who just don't put effort with the child. The child will only learn in the classroom and at home they'll just write homework without reading for understanding. Child x never practises writing the verse at home for her weekly Bible tests nor practises spelling at home. I have to ask other kids to teach her in the morning and even then, she doesn't take it serious. This is a child who failed grade R and often, I wish she had repeated grade R. She doesn't possess the ability of a grade 1 learner- by now a grade 1 learner knows she needs to read and spell at home, do her readings, co-operate in the classro