I had several reminders this week of why we started LIST. First, I was working with a third grade boy that is behind grade level in reading (I have mentioned him recently in other blogs). He and I were talking about how he functioned in class and how the classroom environment was for him. He mentioned that when his teacher asks him to read out loud for the class, he gets very embarrassed because he stumbles in his reading so much.. I tried to encourage him to slow down a bit in his reading and not be in such a hurry; he often makes many mistakes by being in a rush to “guess’ at the words and not sound them out. I also tried to encourage him not to be embarrassed when he worked with me, that together, we would work so that he would become a more fluent reader. My goal is to not only help him in reading, but also to keep boosting his self-esteem as much as possible. Being a kid can be hard enough, but being a kid that is behind grade level is even more difficult. (I also found out that he has a twin sister whom has not been retained like himself, thus putting more pressure on him).
Another example of why LIST was started came throughout the week: our waiting list doubled this week. On Thursday, I added 4-5 students alone. Today, Friday, report cards went out, and it is now that time of the year when parents realized, with a second notice, that their child may be retained and they are now seeking help for their student. That is the difficult part for me, the majority of the students that were signed up this week, are on the verge of being retained. I would love to step in and help these students, but we just don’t have the capacity at this time. With this jump in the number of students on the waiting list, I was once again reminded of why LIST was started.
To end on a more positive note, I have been blogging about a second grade boy whom I have been working with since September. Recently, each week, he has been making great progress. This week was no exception! Each day he comes (he comes twice a week) I have him read a book to me; the books are like a staircase for reading, each book presents a new sound and/or spelling and they build on the skills from the previous books. This week, he made it to his first long vowel book, and he had little or no trouble reading it once I reminded him of the sound/spelling the book was concentrating on. This is a student that came to me not being able to read 3 letter words, now his is reading words like waded, snake, and a tough one, together! It is such a delight to see the progress he is making each week. It is also important for me to mention, and I may not have done this before, but his parents have the student practice the books we read each day he is not at LIST. Without their help as well, this student would not be making this progress.
