These words came right out of Madison's mouth yesterday, "I may get invited to go to summer school this summer for reading." Invited? Must be some kind of summer reading extra credit program I thought. So I asked if she got any papers from school about it....nope. No biggie, I'll just email the teacher in the morning.
So this morning I emailed the teacher and, yep, summer school.....and not the good kind that I was thinking of. As soon as I read her email a slurry of emotions hit me (don't forget to add on the pregnancy hormones in the mix too). The first thought that went though my head was, she's had A's and B's all school year in all her subject. How in the H-E double hockey stick is she being thrown into summer school? Then I immediately threw my anger at the teacher.....she's never had an issue before...why now? Is she not doing her job? I've talked to several other parents and they haven't been happy with her performance either. I know one mother even got their kid moved to a different class, after winter break! We do her reading homework at home, I've bought the "trendy" books for her to read to keep her interest. She's reading books that she should be reading. She even got to go to a special reading party yesterday for meeting her goal for AR. What is going on?!?!?
Then I took a breather and reread the email. Then the next wave of emotions flew through me. Was I not doing enough with her at home? I can't believe I missed this! Were there signs that I ignored? Did she have a learning disability that no one had caught yet? Deep breathe. I'm sure there's always something more we could have done at home....there's always something more. I don't think I missed the warning signs. I know that she speeds though her reading and I'm constantly on her about slowing down and taking her time. I make her reread chapters if she didn't understand them. I did what I should have there. And of course she doesn't have a learning disability....that was a cop out on my part.
I know I've heard on multiple occasions that third grade is the most important time when it comes to reading and comprehension and it's often times the most difficult. Well, for Madison she's got the reading down, she's actually great at it, just not the comprehension. Fine. She needs summer school. While I'm less than pleased that it's the end of the year and there's now a big red flag being flown in my face, I do recognize that it's better now than a few years from now when she's really struggling. But if it's just because she's reading too fast or not giving her full attention to a book...does she really need summer school to correct that? Maybe she does.
Okay, research time. If she's actually to the point that she need summer school, maybe we need to take it one step further. I took a look at Sylvan and Huntington. The lady at Huntington pissed me off when we first stared talking, but the lady at Sylvan wasn't very informative. Both have their pros and cons in my eyes, but I'm still considering at least trying it out this summer. Of course I'll be dragging an infant along too, which I'm non too pleased about. And Madison will have summer school on top of the extra tutoring. But by the beginning of 4th grade she should be at or above where she needs to be. Looks like the hubster and I will be having a good long talk about what we are going to do tonight. Sigh.
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