| something cool. |
[Jun. 26th, 2009|12:20 am] |
We get a packet in the mail yesterday, it's from Kate's school. That's odd, since her report card came a few days ago. I go in the house and I get a surprise.
They want our permission to test her for the gifted program at her school. This is the same child who was in a special speech and language problem (due to hearing problems that were finally determined by the doctors to be caused/effected by her tonsils, but years after it effected her speech). That was a 4 year program, that she did in three . One year was supposed to be repeating 1/2 year of kindergarten and 1/2 year of first grade, before she would do a full year of first grade. I fought against that, since she had straight A's and was showing signs of being bored, she needed to repeat that why? and won. Luckily, having Anna as a friend and a co-worker let me know that I had to sign the IEP and I had the right to share my opinion and say what I wanted for her.
She struggled a bit at first, but after two weeks, took to first grade like a duck to water. She did so well, they strongly recommended that she be "mainstreamed" in math the next year in 2nd grade (final year of the special program). 3rd grade (mainstreamed in all of her classes), she still had regular sessions with a speech specialist at school, who told me "technically" she didn't still need a speech therapist, since she could say al of the sounds correctly. Mostly a matter of getting her to re-learn some specific words that she learned wrong, when she couldn't really hear some differences. However, she felt Kate could still benefit from the program, if we agreed, she could still justify it in her IEP. We did, since I'm a firm believer of the earlier her speech is corrected, the less it should effect her as she gets older.
This year, her teachers didn't feel she needed any "aids" or special whatever it's called, to make tests, etc easier. Her speech teacher said she made all of her goals by christmas time, she can say everything correctly, sometimes she just needs to be reminded to slow down and think before she speaks. She officially "graduated out of the speech lessons, after that.
She has consistently made honor roll, usually (I think always) making high honors. This year (last half) she did it without speech lessons and no "assists". She performed in two different plays at school and loved it, having a bigger role in the 2nd play.
She's stubborn, which is good. Her worst grades are spelling and handwriting, both because she doesn't want to ask for help or she finds it boring. She consistently comes home and does her homework immediately after school (sorry, pet peeve of mine, I established that "habit" early), by herself. I used to check it everyday, but I've been working and running errands after work usually, this school year. So, we kinda fell out of that habit. So, handwriting bores her, which I understand, but I believe (I could be wrong, but I don't think so) she has a lot more writing to do this next school year (5th grade). Seeing her handwriting grade on her last report card (she still made high honors, because of her A's) didn't make me happy. I know that's not a matter of her not being able to do it, it's her not putting the work/effort into it. Long story short, guess who's spending the summer working on her handwriting, every single day.
Not much, but a nice, long paragraph. I figure it can't hurt and the sad thing, after doing it for 3 days, she's already showing some improvement. This morning she had it done, before I was ready to leave for work. Out of all of the things I have taught her or tried, the "do your homework first, so you no longer have to worry about it" lesson seems to have stuck pretty well.
I'm very proud of her for making high honors on her own. I'm thrilled that they want to test her for gifted. She loves learning. I love seeing her face a challenge, especially when it comes to school, since she doesn't give up until she figures it out. When we figured out she had speech issues and immediately had her tested (hearing, etc) and got her enrolled in a special early intervention program, she kept shocking her teachers on how she kept meeting her goals, early in the school year causing them to rewrite them multiple times thru the year. Each 6 months saw her make major strides in catching up to where she should be age wise for speech, etc. I was thrilled when the tests showed her where she should be a few years ago.. and the past two years she's been testing in the top percentages.
She's been doing an awesome job.
I have no words to describe how I felt when I opened up that letter and saw that they think she is gifted and want our permission to test her for it. This is the same girl they wanted to repeat 1/2 of kindergarten, etc. That teacher told me I was making the biggest mistake, because it would be too hard on her and she would end up hating school for the rest of her life. I think boredom would have done it, since challenges seem to make her thrive.
She did the vast majority of it herself, thru her own drive, constantly doing her best and trying to do better. I just want her to do the best she can. She's had some awesome teachers along the way.. and we've tried to give her as much support as we could (our insurance company paid for speech lessons), outside the school, asking her teachers what she work with her on at home, etc.
Knowing that she is where she should be and doing well is so very cool. It makes the years I spent getting her to and from her special EI class, to her speech lesson, etc.. (basically eating up my entire day running around with her) all worth while. I wanted to give her every tool (so did Malcolm) I could, without overwhelming her. I knew the key was trying to get her speech fixed early, the earlier the better. She still has problems with some words, but usually she just needs a reminder to fix it.
I know first hand, how this can effect you for years, perhaps your entire life, since there are words I still can't say correctly. I can't hear the difference, but luckily, I know other words that will work just as well, so I avoid the ones I know I can't say correctly. ;) It's always bothered me, which I why I wanted to help kate fix hers, since they could be fixed.
Sometimes, it just takes one letter to make your day (or week).. :) |
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