100th Post and Other Happenings

I cannot believe this is my 100th post! Who would have thought I had so much to say? Of course there are those that think I have too much to say. Oh well. I guess I just deflated my own bubble.

So I went yesterday to meet with the SST (Student Support Team). The team consists of my son's language arts teacher, the school psychologist, the school administrator, social worker, and reading leader. I met with the social worker first, who asked a bazillion questions about my son, his home life, family life, any behavioral issues, etc. It was a very thorough interview. He asked about my pregnancy, how much my son weighed at birth, was he full term, were there any problems during pregnancy or childbirth. He asked about our home life: do both biological parents live with the child? Are there any siblings? Does he get along with his siblings? Does he get along with other children? Does he have friends outside of school? What after school activities is he involved in? How often and what methods of discipline are used? They even asked if there had been any traumatic experience that may have disturbed him, such as a death in the family. The only thing I could think of that has affected him was his sister going away to college, since he has mentioned that he misses her, but she speaks to him regularly on the phone and has come back to visit a few times, so I don't believe that this is the cause of his reading problem. Basically, they looked for any reason outside of a learning disability to explain why my son is reading at a 2nd grade level when he's half way through the 3rd grade.

What I came to appreciate during the interview is, what a great kid I have! My son is a sweet, loving child. He gets along with everyone, and makes friends easily. He and his siblings get along splendidly. Praise God, all my kids get along so well. I shudder when I hear about brothers and sisters who fight all the time; I never had that issue with any of my children. Discipline? I rarely have to discipline him, and a simple "Are you going to obey Mommy?" is enough motivation when he strays, which isn't often. Best of all, my son loves the Lord. He gave his life to Jesus when he was just 5 years old, and talks to other kids in school about Christ. Not because I tell him to, mind you, but because he wants to. I'm so blessed to have this little angel, and that's why I'm so determined to help him get the help he needs.

Because of the way the system works, the first thing that has to be done is an evaluation. E is being tested today, to see where his reading & writing levels are (fluency, comprehension, vocabulary). Once that is established, there are some activities his teacher will be giving him to help strengthen him in the areas where he's weak. He will also have activities to do at home for practice. After 6 weeks, he'll be tested again to see if there's any improvement. If there is, then we know to continue with the activities he's been working on so he can continue to improve. If no improvement is shown, then they have to acknowledge that there is a bigger problem and we get referred from there. I left with a great peace, because I could tell the school psychologist was listening to my concerns and agreed there needed to be evaluations done. The social worker also appeared to agree that there are no outside influences that have caused E to "suddenly" start doing poorly in reading. This has been going on from the beginning, especially since first grade. I'm especially grateful to God that the school is moving forward with the evaluation. We're prayerfully waiting on the Lord for these next 6 weeks as He does a work in E and guides us in the direction we're to go.