April 26, 2013

{Fearfully & Wonderfully Made}

Kalia had a transition meeting for kindergarten.

Can you believe she will be in kindergarten next year? ‘Cause I can’t!

Back to the meeting…

I hate these meetings. It sometimes feels like they are a long list of how your child isn't meeting standards. They can be a reminder of all the ways your child can't fulfill expectations in comparison to her peers. They are a meeting that tell you all the ways she is falling short and how she can't progress with out help. For a mama, they can feel like fear and failure and stress in the guise of help and assistance and support. They are annual reminders of how far we've come with a much larger emphasis on how far we still must progress. They involve a plan to work twice as hard for things that come so easily to others. They rehash the hurdles and surface the tears.

It’s hard to hear what she’s not doing that she should be doing. But I’m going to focus right now on what she IS doing that is preparing her for next school year. On her pre-academic checklist she has mastered:

  • Identifying all colors
  • Identifying all shapes (including some that are on a checklist for over age 7)
  • Identifying all numbers (except 4 & 5 that she for some reason gets confused on)
  • Identifying most letters (about half…she can match all, upper & lowercase, but can’t identify more than about half)
  • She recognizes her first name & can spell it
  • Knows her name, address, gender & age..along with parents names
  • Knows many positional words but does confuse some of them
  • Transitions between activities well
  • Shows sensitivity & respect to others

Other than knowing the rest of the alphabet, her phone number and recognizing her last name, she’s really all set for the academic part of kindergarten. There are some other parts she needs to work on, such as coping better with frustration, staying focused, working cooperatively & playing better with others. We plan to really work on these over the summer.

I’m so proud of how far she has come just in this past year. Honestly when we started this year of pre-k I was deeply concerned that she only had one year to go before kindergarten. I was scared at how little she knew and how far behind she was sure to be. When she started in August she didn’t know ANY of her letters or numbers, only a couple colors & shapes, had no idea how to spell her name, and didn’t know her personal information (gender, address, etc.). For a child with a learning disability, she’s come a long, long way!

So, while the meeting was hard and I felt myself tearing up a few times, I’ve only to look at the list of what she’s accomplished to know that she is perfect just the way she is!

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1 comment:

  1. She is a beautiful girl! So glad we have connected.

    ReplyDelete