Not much new to report, other than the fact that we'll be getting both Christmas Eve and Christmas day off this year, which means a lovely four-day weekend! Woo hoo! Unfortunately, I'll be spending it running back and forth between Destiny's birthday party (she's four tomorrow, but the party isn't until Sunday afternoon), Dad's house, Rachel's family's dinner, etc. Still, it will be nice to spend time with family - whether biological or not.
Jamie missed school yesterday due to a slight cold, but he was better today and able to go back to class. I also read to Jamie's class this morning. I absolutely love reading to the kids, though I noticed today that 4th graders aren't as easily entertained as 2nd graders. I suppose their getting to the age where having an adult read to them isn't "cool" anymore.
Speaking of school, Jamie is currently failing his reading subject, but has A's and B's in most everything else. Looks like a big chunk of my school money in January will be going toward getting Jamie a private tutor at Sylvan Learning Center. He goes to tutoring at school, but only for writing. The school only lets each kid do tutoring in so many subjects. Plus, he's already in remedial reading anyway. There isn't much more that they can (or will) do for him, other than make him repeat fourth grade.
So, between his soccer, Sylvan, AWANA at church, etc., looks like I'm going to wind up more tired than ever next semester. He's worth it, but it's very frustrating to me. I know he's smart, he's got a vocabulary akin to most high schoolers, for pete's sake! Why is reading so difficult for him? Why is it so hard for him to sit down and read a passage, then figure out the stinkin' main idea? He brought home a reading passage assignment the other day - he'd gotten a 55 on it. I'm ready to tear my hair out! And I'm tempted to ground him until he's 18, but I know that won't solve whatever the problem is. Hopefully, the teachers at Sylvan are as good as they claim to be. I suspect they're going to have to start all over with him and start at the very basics of reading. Something isn't computing. The hardest thing for me right now is understanding WHY he has so much trouble with it. I'm trying very hard to understand, but I'm finding it difficult. I have to keep reminding myself that he isn't me, and I'm good at things he isn't (reading) and he's good at things I'm not (math). I just ask that everybody pray for us, send good kharma our way, etc. while we try to figure out what's going on, and how to make him a better reader.
Stinkbumps the Wonder Boy: The rants, ravings and ramblings of a lunatic, overachieving single mom.
6 comments:
This may not apply in the slightest, but...
When I was in school, I usually got high marks for reading, went to higher classrooms for it, and had a great vocabulary. I sucked at reading comprehension. I could read a passage in class (where everybody took turns) and not be able to tell you what had just happened. It wasn't that I couldn't read, it was the concentration factor. I still have it. If I'm not interested, I can't keep my mind focused on it. My eyes go through the motions and I'm reading, but my brain is doing other things and suddenly, I'm a few pages ahead with no clue what the characters are talking about--then I have to start over.
I only mention it because it's one the things I deal with from having ADD, and it takes real effort even today to stay focused and grasp what I need to know. Perhaps that could be a problem Jamie is having? Not that he can't read or comprehend what he's reading, but that the classroom stuff is boring and his mind wanders?
What Jamie does when he reads is, he just glances at words, and guesses what the word is based on the first two or three letters. It's like he's in a race or something with himself. But I do agree it has something to do with his particular manifestation of his ADHD. So far as what, I don't know. I just know the school can't (i.e., won't) help him anymore than they currently are.
Thanks for the sharing, though. I appreciate it!
Oh, I do that, too! The guessing the word, I mean. I don't know why. It's how I read signs from a great distance--I can make out a couple letters and an overall chance, and probabilistically fill in what the word should based on that data. It's highly accurate, but not always.
Interesting. Now, if you tell me he looks at license plates and finds meaning in the patterns (words, phrases, ideas), I'll get a little freaked.
Actually, he usually does try to figure out what license plates "mean" when we're sitting stuck in traffic. Like, the other day we were behind somebody whose license plate # was YTNRDY and...
Just kidding. That wasn't the number, it was just some random string of letters and numbers, and he was trying to figure out what it "meant". You mean to tell me my kid acts like you? I'm doomed! LOL. Just kidding. You know that, right? Right? Becca? Hello? :-)
How old is Jamie? He's 9, right? All kidding aside: try some comic books. I know that seems like "kid stuff," but the Silver Age books I grew up reading (Fantastic Four, Avengers, etc.) had more complicated reading than many of the textbooks I now require my college students to purchase. Find a superhero/heroine he likes, then find your local comic shop and pick up a few issues. I can make some suggestions if you let me know what he's interested in. The use of the graphic arts format might help fill in some of what he's "missing" from the text alone...but along the way, he IS reading the text.
Okay, (wait...am I allowed to nag you about not posting?)
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