School Progress

As many of you know, Christian has been struggling with reading.  In kindergarten last year, I brought up my concerns several times with his teacher and was repeatedly told not to worry, that he was just a late bloomer.  In all other subjects, he has always excelled.  He attended summer school between kindergarten & first grade, which helped a lot, but he still entered first grade not recognizing all of his alphabet letters (which most students know before entering kindergarten).  At my first conference with his first grade teacher, she told me we were at a crisis point.  Through my tears, I asked her how we could have gone from "Don't worry" to crisis point with no in-between.

Needless to say, this school year has been filled with a lot of hard work.  In February, Christian entered a program at school called Reading Recovery.  It is a 16-week program consisting of 30-minutes per day of one-on-one reading time with a trained reading teacher.  Jeff and I had to sign a contract saying that he would be present at school every day unless he was sick, and that we would dedicate at least 30 minutes each day to additional homework from the program.  (Some days, he had more than an hour of homework!)  This program only accepts 8 students per semester for the entire school (K-5, 400 students).  While it was heartbreaking to hear that he was struggling that much, it was great that he qualified for some help.

In February, Christian was reading at a level 2.  Grade level at the mid-year point was 12.  Grade level by the end of the school year (now) is 18.  The Reading Recovery teacher told me in March not to expect him to reach grade level this year.  It would be impossible for a child to make up that difference in only 4 months.  As long as he is making progress, she said, we should be pleased.  So I was properly warned.  Somehow, though, I wasn't prepared.

Today, she called me to tell me that she completed his final assessment.  Amid all the details and numbers, emerged this one fact: HE IS READING AT LEVEL 20!  Yes, level two-zero... twenty!!  Two levels above benchmark for the end of first grade!  (That does not mean he is reading above grade level, but he is above the minimum expectation.)  I couldn't be more proud!  She told me that she has never, in 10 years, seen this kind of progress, and that he is truly amazing.  In fact, she had to do a write-up of her school-year highs, and Christian was the entirety of her response!  She said this is a once-in-a-career situation, and she was so honored to have been a part of his learning.

Thinking back to that first conference of the school year, I again have tears.  But today, they are tears of joy.