Last year I had a new student enrolled in my class. She was very behind in her learning, a very big challenge. After talking with her father, I found she had lived a very difficult life. This was the third school she had enrolled in that year (it was February I think), she had missed almost a a month in one school. She had witnessed her mother commit several crimes, lived with drug use in her home, seen her mom taken off to prison, was handed over by the state to her father, a father who never knew about her, a father who has a very low IQ and realized he didn't have much to offer except lots of love and care. He admitted he couldn't help her with much homework (Third grade) but he was determined to give her the best he could. With his mother's help and state assistance he is doing a wonderful job. Then we found out that she is one of the youngest in her class. In fact the previous school was thinking of retaining her. I wished we had known that when she enrolled and we probably could have put her in 2nd grade to give her 1/2 year of instruction on a better level. As it is, he agreed to retain her this year. We decided it would be best to put her back in my room to give her some stability. Even though she will meet new students, her teacher will be the same. I know it will be a good thing for her. She is excited about school this year for the first time in her life. She made great improvements last year, especially in social situations. I am so excited to be able to give her another chance to get some skills behind her. If she had gone on to 4th grade she would have been totally lost. I know she will have a great year. Lori/Utah/3rd
_______________________________________________ Mosaic mailing list [email protected] To unsubscribe or modify your membership please go to http://literacyworkshop.org/mailman/options/mosaic_literacyworkshop.org. Search the MOSAIC archives at http://snipurl.com/MosaicArchive.
