How does a child end up smart? No, smart isn't the right word. Most kids are smart in one way or another. Why do some children struggle with school while others breeze through? What determines if the child is going to have a hard time learning? Is it completely genetics? Is it personality? Is it individualized with each child, or is it likely that you will have all or none? I see children in the classroom all the time. I see some children who struggle, and I know their parents. I know their parents are smart, involved, loving parents. Is it just a roll of the dice? If my first child is very bright, what are the odds the remaining kids will be?
Kylee was a bright kid. IS a bright kid. School has always been easy for her. I don't actually remember much about teaching her. She caught on fast and cruised without me intervening sometimes.
As Dylan started preschool, he was so young- barely three, and I had no expectations. Dylan and Kylee are completely different children. Almost opposites. BUT Dylan did really well! His teacher did most of his teaching, but I do remember going over numbers with him over and over and over. When he started Kindergarten, I was pleasantly surprised to see his reading soar. As difficult as he was for me, he did great at school! Behavior was surprisingly almost all great. He didn't struggle to keep up and in fact was in the top 3-4 of his class most of the time.
Sadie was such a carefree, happy child. I started her in preschool hoping she would enjoy the social aspect of it. I hardly remember working on letters or numbers with her. Imagine my surprise when she kept up with all the kids older than her in her class! So when Kindergarten started, she cruised through and was ahead of everyone in her class.
All my kids were reading by the time they started Kindergarten. Sure, they were just simple words. But they were blending words. Because of this, I knew that I didn't need to worry. School would be fine. I didn't know if they would all be at the top of their class, but I was pretty sure we wouldn't have any major struggles.
When Kaden had his immunizations at 13 months old and stopped talking, I worried. I was not sure what kind of permanent damage was done to his brain. I was convinced that immunizations and all the other toxins in our environment are the problem for children with attention disorders, learning struggles, autism/aspergers, etc. I thought it was possible that those toxins had affected his brain enough that he would struggle to learn the way my other children did. His speech was slow-going. We could tell he was otherwise uncompromised- he seemed rather smart to me. But he couldn't voice what he wanted to. We did speech therapy for a year and he did improve over that year. I'm not sure how much the actual therapy helped, but maybe a little.
As I contemplated his future, I figured I would be rather lucky if I had all four children easy-peasy in school. The odds didn't seem in my favor. Out of all my children, he was the one that wasn't as interested in reading books with us. He would if his other option was going to bed, but he didn't beg for books like my other kids. I didn't know what to think. SO imagine my surprise when he mastered his letters, letter sounds, AND numbers! All in the first six months of preschool. He actually knew his letter sounds better than letter names at first. Because I would have him watch Leapfrog Letter Factory. I didn't even work on numbers with him more than two or three times so I'm not sure how he got those, but he did. He's doing so awesome! I can't remember if any of my other children were sounding out words at this age, but he is! I know they were all reading before Kindergarten. And I know the girls were reading quite well when they started (Dylan was just so young, he took off more in Kindergarten). But I don't remember them reading their first year of preschool. Kaden started reading for real about a month ago. I'm so proud of him!
The only thing he was not really up to speed on (considering this is a 4-5 year old class, all the other kids are going to Kindergarten but he still has a year of preschool after this) was writing his name. He was nowhere close when he started school. And every time I had tried with him, he would get frustrated and it seemed like he just wasn't ready so I didn't push it. But he got his "report card" at the halfway point and she sent a practice sheet for him to work on. He did those, then I spent another day having him copy what I had written, and then he just went off and did it himself! He's got it!
He's not always up for school work. He doesn't want to write his name sometimes. He doesn't want to read sometimes. He's four! So I don't push it. That's why we haven't spent that much time. But he is doing so great. I'm so so proud!
I don't know the answer to the question of how a kid ends up having an easy time with school. My best guess is a combination of genetics, their brain capable of processing all the toxins in our life, parents who read to them, parents who read their own books for fun, screen restrictions, personality, help from home, good preschool teachers. Is that all?
I'm feeling very blessed to have the children I have. I'll be honest, the Kindergarten immunizations scare me. Particularly the MMR. I'm sure that was the one that he had problems with before. I know he will be older and more capable of handling it. But what if he's not? What if it pushes his brain past it's limits and he does turn out to have attention problems and learning problems? I really think I'm going to put it off until he's 8. That's a good age, right? I'll slowly work on the other ones, not all at once. He's only missing one to be current right now. It's hard to take him in just for a shot though. He says he doesn't want to. I don't want to be a mean mama. I remember when he screamed and screamed just from being at the doctor's office after his second round of stitches. If I take him in every month for a shot, that's how it's going to be again. But I know it's important so I guess I'll suck it up and get it done.
