Time for some ongoing reflection about the school year we just wrapped, with this post focusing on my Chicklet. :)
My beloved middle born. My neurodivergent rainbow with both a sensitive heart and imaginative brain that guide—in equal parts—all that she is and does.
The headline: man, oh, man, was her 4th grade year a toughie one. It will not go down as her favorite—nor mine.
My girl waged a multi-front battle this year, making it her second-toughest year ever—second only to her 2nd grade year, when her dyslexia therapy was well underway, but her progress wasn’t yet matching her unbelievable effort. (Recap of that period in time is below.)
Now, in this 4th grade year…
Chicklet faced educational adversity, on the math front.
We both faced what I’ll call the it-takes-a-village-and-there’s-a-lot-of-logistical-change adversity, as we navigated a slew of adjustments and accommodations to set Chicklet up for the greatest kind of ongoing success.
And, lastly, Chicklet faced social adversity, with a longstanding friendship that stopped serving either Chicklet or her little buddy.
Math
Starting on the math front…it’s no secret that the curriculum just gets harder and harder as kiddos age.
And the curriculum is harder, still, for many dyslexic students—with the real kicker being: there are only a few accommodations available within the school to support dyslexic students with their math, and no official program.
Rather, all dyslexic support within the school is centered around the reading and literacy needs of students. Understandable, of course.
So…this year, after consulting with Chicklet’s amazing village of educators at school, we sought some supplemental backup outside of school with a recently retired teacher, who was available for tutoring.
This amazing teacher (who Chica actually had in 5th grade!) came to our house to tutor Chicklet once a week, with a particular emphasis on math.
This teacher showered Chicklet such patience, support, and many alternative methods of working through her assignments. She also worked so closely with Chicklet’s in-school group of teachers, which was so amazing for a seamless team effort.
I just can’t say enough wonderful things about the help she provided:
The additional work absolutely paid off, too!
For Chicklet’s end-of-year benchmark testing, she absolutely blew her previous scores out of the water!
In fact, her in-school math teacher told me it gave her chills to see the exponential progress Chicklet made—on all fronts, but especially in math.
And you better bet we made a giant deal out of Chicklet’s scores, with heaps of praise—plus a special shopping trip that ended in two new dragon friends and a book coming home a few days ago, tehe.
Village/Logistics
On this particular front, we faced some necessary red tape this year, due to changes in Texas legislation related to dyslexia services within the school.
I won’t bore you with the particulars, but if you want a taste of all the necessary steps it takes to evaluate a child within the public school system, re-read this original post I shared about Chicklet’s diagnosis from way back when:
And then imagine that we sort of had to tackle many of these evaluation/procedural steps all over again, due these recent legislation changes, to ensure that Chicklet was appropriately classified and receiving all the help she was due.
It was a small burden for my girl to undergo further testing, but it helped give us the clearest and most up-to-date picture regarding her schooling needs—and she certainly wasn’t the only kiddo to have to go through this rigamarole because of the legislation. She was in good company among her many dyslexic buddies.
Most of that process was completed by about halfway through the school year, so there were no changes at that point regarding her accommodations, daily schedule and in-school support, but I think we settled in so nicely to our routine at that point, that I was a little taken aback by a call I received last week, just as school was wrapping up.
For 4.5 years, this ANGEL and GODSEND of an educator (in an older pic, below) has been my touchstone regarding Chicklet’s education:
In past blog posts, I’ve referred to her as Mrs. H, and she has been Chicklet’s dyslexia therapist and general advocate (and sometimes, official case manager) since she and I connected toward the end of Chicklet’s kindergarten year.
When I say that I can’t imagine Chicklet’s schooling and literacy path in elementary without Mrs. H by my side…I mean it.
When she called me on Wednesday of last week, it was to share some logistical news on her end, as well as the BIG HEADLINE that…
Chicklet had officially completed her multi-year, Take Flight dyslexia program (a series of sequential lessons originally developed by the Scottish Rite), and was ready to, for lack of a better word, graduate from her daily dyslexia therapy.
And…cue the water works.
Of course I cried!
Tears of joy, over allllll the hard work my girl has put in, for years.
And also, tears of grief, over the loss of this educator, who has been a daily presence in Chicklet’s educational life, and the person I trust and respect the most regarding Chicklet’s schooling.
Of course, this was always the plan. By the end of 4th grade or early 5th grade, most students complete the program, which means they no longer head to Mrs. H’s room for their group dyslexia therapy one hour a day.
It’s a good thing for them to “graduate” and remain in their homeroom classes for the entirety of the day, but…it’s still quite emotional. And felt like the end of an era, in a way.
Friendship Changes
This last bucket of school year adversity is perhaps the one that hit my Chicklet the hardest.
As I mentioned at the launch of this post, Chicklet had a longstanding friendship that took a turn this year—through no true fault on either side, but perhaps just due to changing personalities, classroom influences and just general aging and growth.
My girl is both a creature of habit and loyal to a fault, so this changing friendship really took a toll on her.
The deep discussions we had over kindness and how relationship dynamics can morph and change over time—and what to do when they become negative—was certainly the central theme of the year.
Chicklet has the most giant, empathetic heart, and feels all of her emotions so deeply that it was hard for her to turn away from this friend—and never truly did—but she grew so much in the process, and gained so much knowledge about protecting her mental health and her happiness, and how to deal with challenging relationships in a daily basis.
Whew.
Okay.
That was a lot to type and perhaps an overshare, but it helps so much to keep things in perspective—and then to let go and let flow!! ;)
Now for some highlights of my girl’s year!
First day…
First bus ride!
Thank you note for letting her ride the bus, haha…
Enjoying Chica’s new middle school activities and meeting up with other siblings she loves…
Book fair haul! Animals and dogs…naturally. ;)
Gardening Club, which she loved so much this year!! She even earned a Junior Master Gardener certificate at her final meeting. :)
Being selected to read out her Vereran’s Day appreciation letter to the whole school—and visiting veterans…
Field trip shenanigans…
I was the room rep for her class this year, and this was the holiday party…
First ever GLASSES!
Being selected for the district-wide PE showcase…
The school carnival!
The Fiesta class party…
Fiesta float creation…
And Fiesta parade…
The fracture that happened during PE…
Living Wax museum, in her cast :(
And, lastly…Mama/daughter lunch to cheer her up from her ankle injury…
The pattern for Chicklet seems to be: tough year, easy year; tough year, easy year, so…5th grade, HERE WE COME! She’s going to slay it!
Okay…Little Man school retrospective mañana, peeps!
Over and out.
P.S. I’m going to share one e-mail, verbatim, that I received during the last week of school. It was from the school librarian, who we LOVE, and it made me smile like a fool with pride over my girl. A fantastic e-mail to close out the school year!
No comments:
Post a Comment