Are you stupid or something?

You may remember my dilemma with Spencer last summer with his delay in reading skills. He repeated kindergarten this year and is doing great in everything except reading. It continues to challenge him. It's like there is something blocking his ability to understand the relationship between the letters, sounds and words. Reading is frustrating for him and for me.

I met with his teacher last week to talk about his needs. They are going to have Spencer evaluated for possible learning disabilities. He will continue to get extra support from the reading specialist at the school and he will be moved on to first grade in the fall. He will go to the summer school program during summer to get extra help. We are looking into getting some tutoring help for him. I don't think he has a disability. I think he is just at a slower pace than other kids his age. Poor Spence. I really want this skill to "click" in his brain. I know it is so important for him to have good reading ability because it is the foundation for so much in his future. I am confident that we are on the right path of support for him.

Sometimes I worry that this problem is caused by our large family. I worry that he is lost in the shuffle. I don't have as much one on one time with any of the kids as a family with less kids would. Is that what Spencer needs? I expressed these concerns to his teacher. Her response made me feel so great. His problem isn't because he has lots of brothers and sisters. She said some wonderfully positive things about the joys of teaching children who come from large families. I don't hear things like that very often and I left the conference feeling so validated and joyful. I'm so thankful that we have been blessed with such a wonderful teacher. I know there are so many people on Spencer's team rooting for him and he will catch up thanks to the efforts of all of them.