Yesterday was a wonderful, wonderful day in the life of our family. It is the simple little things that are often the most important, and are also very often overlooked as Momentous Ocassions that should be well marked. Well, the blog is our place to mark those MO's :-)
We are in the midst of the annual state testing the kids have to take, as you all know, and Kenny and Angela already had the experience of having a little guy in their group start crying during the tests because of the stress caused by viewing himself as a failure. Kenny comforted him saying he too had challenges and the reading part would be where he would probably cry!
Picking up Kenny yesterday was such a delight...he was literally bouncing up and down as he waited for me, broad grin spread across his face. "Mommy, Mommy!!! Guess what? The test was EASY this year!!! I can't believe how EASY it was!!! Last year was SO HARD but this year I can really, really read and it didn't take me forever!" then he added, totally melting my heart "Thank you so much, Mommy! You promised me I wasn't stupid and that somehow you would get me to read by the time I graduated. Well I can read NOW and don't have to wait until graduation and it is all because of you!"
That alone made all the sleepless nights of research worth it. My son, who formerly thought he was "stupid" now sees his intelligence. My son, who could barely read at 1st grade level now sees himself as a successful reader taking a 4th grade test. While we are not out of the woods yet by far, we can finally see the meadow ahead through the low laying branches. Kenny will struggle the rest of his life with certain issues, he will have to find work arounds, coping strategies, and may never spell worth a hoot.
But maybe he will no longer view himself as "special needs", instead, from now on, he just might see himself as we do..."special".
10 comments:
And special he is...as are all of your children. I don't think special suits, though...more like extraordinary. And tell them their Kyrgyzish family tells them so!
Kelly
Oh how my heart feels so happy and proud for both of you. I know that feeling...where your child finally realizes that they are BRIGHT and that they CAN do the things that may not come easily to them :)
Wonderful.
Hi Cyndi,
I love reading your blog entries. Thank you so much for sharing them with me.
When I noticed the comment that "he may never spell worth a hoot," I thought that I would mention a free website for that, if you don't already know about it.
SpellingCity has really helped my 12 year old with spelling. He went from missing almost all of his words to only missing maybe 1.
Just thought you might want to check it out...~K~
Hooray for Kenny!!!! What a great boost of confidence for him! And you too. :-)
Tell Kenny my father was a terrible speller, really awful, and he earned a master's degree in accounting and was a very successful businessman. I think he had undiagnosed ADHD, too because he could never sit still for long. He was determined to do well, though, and put himself through college and made it happen.
Kenny will figure out his way, if he continues to work hard. Having a loving family behind him makes a HUGE difference, too.
Hugs,
Dee
Please tell him that he is a role model for my children!
Ahhhh! Now those are the results that you want! Makes all the hardwork and stress that you go through totally worth it!! Kenny is such a strong individual and WILL be successful no matter which of life's paths he chooses! I imagine that his success and gratitude is so very rewarding for you!! Congrats to ALL!!!
Kenny, bookworm extrodinaire! Yeah, Kenny. Yeah, Mom.
LOL--love on line
Lael
I just want to say how much I enjoy reading your blog. Your kids are older than mine but I often write things down that I read here for future reference. Team LaJoy rocks! Erin
Post a Comment