Vacation is Over

Well, we survived yesterday. I was not looking forward to getting back into the school routine. In fact, I was really kind of dreading it. On Sunday evening I started running through each child's progress in my head. How could I have forgotten! Before vacation, I didn't want to stop because Meredith was making amazing progress!

Meredith has always struggled academically. She did not begin talking until age 3, and there was something about her use of words that wasn't quite right. I asked questions and pushed to have her tested which got her into speech therapy, but still didn't answer my questions about her language development. By 2nd grade it was obvious that she had serious learning issues. Finally, in 5th grade she was evaluated and diagnosed with an auditory processing disorder and short-term memory deficit. Of course I began researching and learning as much as I could about her difficulties. Gaining an understanding helped both of us so much! Unfortunately, there are no easy fixes and most of the programs and therapies are unbelievably expensive! We sought help through the school system, but they don't really know how to address her specific issues. Some of the teachers and administrators wanted to help and were willing to try. Most just didn't get it, at all! Her school experience was a disaster!

This year we started out with our tried and true methods. We usually spend the first half of the school year reviewing(relearning) everything from the year before. Math is the toughest. It is not unusual for us to spend 1-2 weeks learning a new concept. By then, Meredith has completely forgotten the previous lesson. When I say "completely forgotten", I mean she looks at it and has no recollection of ever have seen it before. That can also happen from one day to the next. So, I take a deep breath, and show her again. Usually, she gets it quicker with subsequent tries. In the meantime, we have to do small amounts of practice of the concepts she does know, so she doesn't forget them. Somehow, she makes progress every year.

Things started out differently this year. The school asked for a 3-yr. evaluation. She was given the entire battery of tests again, and her scores improved beyond anyone's expectations.:) She was invited to the PET and it was great for her to hear how impressed the teachers were. She decided to take language arts at school with a wonderful teacher who really gets Meredith, and her issues. This teacher and the special ed. teacher were "fighting" over who would "get" Meredith when we walked in. Meredith was a little embarassed, but very pleased.:) Then, the special ed. teacher explained to Meredith what her scores meant and how he had NEVER seen that kind of improvement before. She certainly left feeling more confident than she had ever felt before.

After that, things fell into the normal routine until the last 2 weeks before Christmas break. All of a sudden, math began to click and stick! The first day we skimmed through 8 chapters. She remembered every single concept. The next day, she still remembered them and we skimmed through 12 MORE chapters. Each day went like that. The truly amazing part is that she not only remembered and understood the concepts, but she could use the vocabulary as well. The language of math has been one of her biggest hang-ups. When she used the word "quotient" and actually KNEW what it meant, I almost fell off my chair.:) Yesterday, I was a little nervous about opening the math book again. I knew I would be disappointed if she had forgotten again. She hadn't. We skimmed through several more chapters and finally found a new concept. We went through the lesson twice, and she had it. I'll find out soon if it stuck. I think it did.

Sorry for the long, rambling post. I'm just so excited!