It was the last full day of school for the boys today. I wish I could say the same for me. I'm so ready for lazy days on the porch with a book and worries that amount to nothing more than how much Vitamin D I am producing.
Last fall after about three weeks of instruction, every parent was invited to attend P/T conferences. That night Keagan's teacher told me Keagan "was just average" and she hadn't seen any remarkable academic work from him. I tried to explain that he had received a modified curriculum in Georgia as a first and second grader, and she point-blank told me that she didn't see how that was warranted in Tennessee. I was dumbfounded! I left that conference madder than heck and determined to prove she was wrong.
And so we began working. We worked on the weekends on multiplication facts. We did extra math work two or three times a week. We studied the challenge spelling list. We read novels together. We studied for every test (something we had never really had to do before). In short, Keagan busted his butt, and I hobbled along side of him determined to not let him give up.
I think we proved our point. His end of year testing came home today, and he scored sixth grade second month in reading and math! He was so proud of himself! My anger towards his teacher dissipated over the months, and now I can truly say her words were gifts. Without her words, we would not have worked so hard because we would not have had anything to prove. More importantly, Keagan learned hard work does and will continue to pay off. Today I could not be more grateful to her!
If the end of the year test results and another straight A report card were not reward enough, Keagan was also awarded the top end-of-year prize for being the most well-rounded and hard working student.
Proud does not do my emotion justice.
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