Newsflash!!! Hard work pays off!

Maddie has always been my creative girl, I think they'd say left brained, or maybe I got that backwards, but she's always been quite the singer, the dancer, the artist, the dreamer. She loves school, and the teachers always have glowing reports "she's so sweet... she's so quiet... she's so kind...she's such a doll..." All things a mother loves to hear, but early on we started sensing a pattern.

In kindergarten at the first parent teacher meeting, the teacher informed us that she only knew one letter of the alphabet (the letter M- go figure). In first grade they were supposed to pass off their addition and subtraction facts- she never really got past three's. By the end of first grade a standardized test told us what we already knew- she was only reading at a kindergarten level.

I had worked with her, but I was starting to realize I was out of my league. We were able to find a tutor at a reasonable (relatively anyway) price, and were able to get in to get some help that summer between first and second grades. We're still there. Once a week. Almost every week.

It's been nearly two years now, and things have steadily improved. She's a hard worker and sometimes it's been hard to see her struggle so. Earlier this year her comment to me was "I just don't get it mom, I'm doing my very best, so how come I'm only getting a B in math?" However, things seem to be looking up. Last week when I went to teach the art masterpiece lesson in her class, the teacher pulled me aside to show me her latest math test- she was one of two kids with 100%. And this week she came home with another 100%- she said she was the only one this time. I'm so proud of her.