My son has always hated reading. At one time he would have rather done his chores than sit down and read a book, especially one without pictures! He is a good reader, he just doesn't enjoy it very much. However, this year he ended up with a teacher who has found a way to switch his buttons, because all of a sudden he is worried about AR points and READING!!!
He came to me the other day about a book he had read and he was excited about it...
Until today. It was parent/teacher conference day. I had worked it out with Kevin and he was going to go right after school, since we had a busy night. I was late coming home from work so I called home this afternoon...
"Jordan, what's wrong?"
"Mom, I got my grades!"
"How were they?"
"I'm so dumb!"
"You are not dumb! What were your grades..."
"I made a 79 in Reading. It stinks."
At this point I can tell he is on the verge of tears...
"Mom, I've been trying so hard and I brought my AR score up and everything. It was just that one test, Mom, that one stupid test!"
Two weeks ago, my son came home with an "F." We are not sure why, and didn't make a big deal about it, because he was giving himself a hard enough time as it was. It was just one of those days, when for whatever reason, he didn't do his best. We all have those days, but try explaining that to a ten year old. He thinks the world will come to an end because of that one grade.
What he isn't telling, is that his other grades were good, therefore he averaged out to a 79. The crazy thing is that it is just one subject and one grade, with plenty of opportunity to bring it back up. Believe me, he plans on it, if it kills him! He has already told me so! I wish I had been that kind of motivated when I was his age...I've just never been the school person. Therefore I've never been real hard on my kids about their grades as long as they work hard and do their best.
First of all, I don't have to have tough love in this area FOR NOW, for my kids are extremely hard on themselves. Second, I have always considered it a little hypocritical for me to punish for low grades, when I myself have made a few "C's" and beyond... I believe if you do your best, that is what matters.
So, back to Jordan... yeah, he sure is dumb alright! Let me share with you my son's stupidity:
LITERACY 99
MATH 97
SCIENCE 98
SOCIAL STUDIES 97
WRITING 97
READING 79
See anything wrong with this picture? His grade in reading last semester was a 91. Yeah, he is dumb alright! He and reading will just have to continue to battle it out until he has it conquered!!! But, unfortunately I think it will always be his Achilles heel...
3 comments:
Sis,
As Jo will tell you if you don't remember me reciting the story of my reading problems. When I was in the 2nd grade, I would constantly trip over the word "was" and it became such a "pill" when I'd ask Mom about the word, Jo would chime in "is that that WAS word?"
Jordan, I did manage to overcome my difficulties to the point that before long I could read an average story book like "The Hardy Boys" in about 3 hours time, in one sitting. I learned to speed read very, and on my own, just by practice. It takes practice, practice, practice. Find books and stories you enjoy and really climb into the story yourself. Its fun! And you learn a lot more than you think while you're doing it. You know what, one of my favorite books now is not even a story book, its a thesaurus, a book of words that give you different words to describe the same thing. The more you study these, the faster you will be able to read and understand the stories in other books. Happy reading!
You're going to get there, I promise.
Poohpa
Poor guy.
Keaton's Math grade is going to be about like that....thanks to our battle with our multiplication tables.
Oh well. Jor will bring it up.
Regarding Jim's comment about the "was" word... if he was in the 2nd grade, that would make him..ummm...about 7 years old? And that would make me about 3! Score one for the little kid! haha
Love,
Aunt Jo
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