Lila is the youngest child in the school and happens to be in an unusually old class. In fact, there are students who will turn SEVEN before the school year ends. That makes Lila 1.5 years younger! The reality is, when comparing her to some of her peers, it is an apple and orange situation. What a difference a year makes. . . That certainly rings true for our girl this year.
After getting over the age difference, we had to remind ourselves that we expected Lila to fall at the bottom of her class even though we hoped she would fall in the middle. Falling near the bottom is where she would be chronologically and with her history, it seemed that it was inevitable. Initially, our assumptions seemed to be right on. Many kids entered into the school year reading, and if not, they could identify their letters and letter sounds. When Lila entered, she knew most of her uppercase letters but was only 50% on her lower case and could only identify five letter sounds when asked. I am in the classroom working in centers on a weekly basis and got to observe how these differences play out. One of the major differences was her task speed. She never seemed to complete an assignment during the allotted time. Another way in which she stood out is that she just seemed overwhelmed and lost.
Alex and I waited for a month and then called her teacher for a conference. She explained that Lila was doing everything she needed to be doing and didn't warrant learning support services. She also assured us that Lila was happy and not as stressed as we thought. What she did confirm was that Lila was a bit lost and required directions multiple times. We were encouraged to wait until conferences to see how my little girl would shake out.
During Lila's November conference, we were given evidence of progress. However, there seemed to be some gaps and inconsistencies. Those gaps seem to work themselves out or turn into learning differences by the end of Kindergarten. Her teacher told us she would "know" by January. She also mentioned that the month between November and December is huge. I kind of brushed that one off because how much progress could a child make in 30 days? We left the conference without good news or bad news. There was a host of red flags and we were given the infamous, "Wait and see." If I had a dollar for every time. . .
Reports came home a month later and were a culmination to that 30 day window the teacher had talked about. I should note that I did observe quantifiable gains in Lila during that window. All the sudden she knew her lowercase letters and most letter sounds. She started to read some words but I was afraid to declare her as an emerging reader. I waited for the report card with dread. By the time it arrived, Lila was reading easy reader books, rhyming fantastically well, and identifying all letters with about 95% accuracy. But I was still sweating bullets when I pulled out the report card.
Much to my surprise, my girl is rocking and rolling in Kindergarten. She received pluses in almost every category! She was tested in letter recognition and sounds and she made unbelievable progress compared to a month earlier. Her speed is still slow and handwriting still very immature but the girl is hanging with her peers. While we haven't had an official conference with her teacher, she has mentioned to me that Lila is doing really well.
I still can't believe it. Lila reads books! She can sound words out like a champ and is tackling her new word ring which contains a progression of the dolch sight words. I am so very proud of this girl. She doesn't love school and isn't driven to keep up with her peers but somehow she is doing it. She is absolutely amazing! What a difference a month makes!
