We are so excited! Amy is now where she is supposed to be!
When Amy was in 1st grade, she began her year with a substitute due to the actual teacher being out on maternity leave. Amy adored that substitute, she loved going to school, and her love of learning grew by the day! Things changed, though, when the teacher returned.
Amy lost her excitement for learning, she lost her excitement for going to school, her demeanor, personality, behavior, and grades all changed. We knew it was due to her trying to adjust to the "real" teacher and her style of teaching. Eventually Amy "got with it" and her grades began improving... except for math. We would work with her at home, and she would do well, but that didn't translate into the classroom. We talked to the teacher, looking for ways to help her. Nothing worked at school. As the school year was coming to an end, we met with the teacher again. Amy had the grades to move on into 2nd grade but, with her math grades not where we would have liked to them be, the teacher felt she would struggle in 2nd grade and that it would set her on a course of struggling all through school. She asked us what we wanted to do. Did we want her to go ahead and promote Amy or would we like to hold her back to give her a chance to improve her math grades. We told her we wanted to talk to Amy before making that decision. The teacher couldn't believe we wanted to consult our 1st grade daughter about the matter, but we knew it was the right thing to do.
We sat Amy down, explained everything to her, and asked her if she wanted to move onto 2nd grade with her classmates or if she wanted to do one more year of 1st grade, where she could go over the areas of math where she had the most trouble. She chose to repeat 1st grade and she did it with dignity.
Repeating 1st grade served her well, as her math skills improved and, as the years went by, she began working above her grade level. When she began homeschooling, she came in as an 8th grader, working on a 9th grade level. All of her work was on a 9th grade level. We talked about that and she said to me "Ya know, if I hadn't been held back, I would be in 9th grade right now." For the first time, since making that decision all those years ago, I felt bad. So I began wondering if she should really be in 9th grade instead of 8th grade. I went searching for answers.
My morning was spent with my face pressed against the monitor screen, my fingers tapping at the keyboard, wearing Google out, and reading every article, FAQ, rule, etc, that I came across. I got so much mixed information that I couldn't make any sense of any of it so I did the only thing then that I could do. I contacted our Association. Several hours later I received the information I needed.
Amy is in 9th grade!
Ahhhh...We are so proud of her!
Until Next Time.....
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