It’s been another great week of operation. Once again, I have noticed how attitudes change. This week, I was working with a second grader who cannot read, or at least cannot read at a second grade level (this is the student I mentioned in last week’s blog). Due to a learning disability, it has been difficult for him to keep up with his class. He came two times this week, and the first time he came, I did some general testing to see what he knows. I also had him do some reading from his second grade work. When he would attempt the reading, he would become overwhelmed and begin to whimper. He also suggested other activities we could be doing to try and distract me from the books.
The second time he came, I had some reading books ready that were at a much easier level. When he saw them, he started whimpering again, however, I said that would be the last thing we would do. I also said that these books were much better, and they would not be too hard. As we worked, he kept looking over at the books and I could tell that he was not looking forward to reading them. Finally, with a little resistance, we picked up the first book. He had no trouble reading the first one and wanted to read it a second time! He also wanted to take it home to read to his mom. His attitude toward reading so completely changed, it was like working with a different student. I had four books for him, thinking that we would read two, but he was so excited about reading, that we read all four and he took them all home! The work will still be difficult, and there will be times of frustration for him, but at least, for one day, he got a taste of how great reading can be. In one day, we were able to build the first building block necessary for the foundation of reading. The first books we read this week start out with sight words and pictures, from there the books build upon themselves introducing, or in his case, reviewing sounds and spellings.
On another note, we are continuing to see new students enroll, and our repeat customers list is growing each week. Almost all the parents are grateful for our services and there has only been one parent that has not been totally satisfied, but her expectations for what we would do were not inline with the services we are equipped to offer at this time. One important feature about LIST is that we are an aid to parents and no a replacement for the work they do. Two of the students that will be coming next week have also been recommended by teachers, so the staff at the school nearby is taking advantage of us as well.
We also got our signs this week. One is a sandwich board I will put out every day while I am here, the other is a sign we will hang above our front windows. As soon as we hang our sign, I will post pictures (we have a busy weekend, though, so it may be a few days).
It is difficult to believe, but this is our fourth week of operation. I keep expecting there to be a lull in enrollment, or in the work itself, but each week as I reflect while writing this blog, I am thrilled to note the changes in the students I am working with and the number of students we are serving continues to grow.
