Bragging Rights, pt. 2

Dylan's teacher called me the other day while I was here at work. My throat tightened, hoping he wasn't in trouble. He's had a few notes here and there, the most recent suspending him from recess for two days for threatening some girls in his class. I found out from him that they had been messing with him and instead of staying calm, he threatened them (he looses his temper very easily) and got sent to the principle. So when I get any calls regarding him, I panic. But she quickly resumed that she had Dylan next to her and that I was on the speakerphone for the class to listen in on. Huh? As she continued, my heart skipped a few beats and my clenching jaw turned to a huge smile. She was bragging on him! On MY son!

Dylan has had a rough year, beginning with several attempts of finding the best ADHD medication that would help him focus enough to climb from a beginning 1st grade reading level to his needed 2nd grade level in reading, as well as many other subjects. He struggled through 1st grade and his teacher and I had contemplated on keeping back another year. But the district does not allow a child to be held back if their sibling is right behind them. Him and Ashley are only 14 months apart and she was going into first grade. With this in mind, his teacher agreed to pass him into 2nd grade if he went to summer school for reading. He still tested at a kindergarten level at this point, but his summer teacher helped him progress some. At my last conference with his current 2nd grade teacher, he had improved from a beginning 1st grade level at the start of the year to an intermediate 1st grade level. Regardless, he was improving. At the beginning of this year, his teacher had called me a few weeks into it and talked with me about Dylan. She was concerned about his ability to keep up with the other students and the possibility of not being mature enough to handle the added workload. I contemplated once again about putting him back into 1st grade. She insisted in our next conversation that she did not want him to regress on account of his ability to learn. He was not behind mentally; he lacked the ability to focus and concentrate. She did not believe in punishing a child for inability such as his. She wanted to work with him and promised me that she would give him the proper attention he would need. I started to really like this teacher. I remembered his previous teacher commenting on her hopefulness that he would get a teacher the following year whom would have the patience and pleasure to help him. Although she was not allowed to recommend any, she did say she'd do what she could so that he had a better chance. She was very pleased when she found out who got him. And I was thrilled to find out that Ashley would be in her class this year. I had developed a very sincere liking to this teacher.

Dylan's current teacher has helped me in knowing if he was improving and if the medications were helping him academically. She's assured me that he was improving as I cried through part of our last conference, reading his report card, wondering if he would ever catch up. I've also grown very fond of this teacher as well.

As I listened to my son's teacher boasting over the phone, I almost cried. I was so pleased to hear that he was finishing his daily work-being one of the first to turn it in, and that he made 100% on most of his reading tests (wow!). He was also a frequent traveler with her when she went on her bragging trips around the school. He was doing well. My son was doing well. I knew that he had been improving at home, but to hear it from his school that he was improving, and at such great speeds, was an exciting moment for me-and for him. He was in a great mood that evening.

He now reads chapter books on his own. His reading level has improved. Although I do not know the exact level, he told me last night that he is able to check out 3.2 level books from his school library now. He is happier with himself when I talk about school. He boasts about his finished work and beams of self-confidence. I love this about him. I was so hesitant, as many moms are, about putting him on medication for ADHD. I put it off for a while, but after much second hand research via my sister, I learned a great deal about the positive effects it had and the vast improvements from the zombie days. I don't feel any regret about it now, only that I didn't asses him early on, knowing now that he would have had a better start in school.