EARLY YEARS
Kindergarten & 1st-Grade
Haylee's View
The road we have traveled to get to this semi-stable state of focus was wrought with troubles. As a baby, Braden was normal from my point of view. He was all I knew since he was my first child, and the first grandchild for my family too. I taught middle school, so I didn't really know what to expect - other than the brief glimpses into infancy being around other people's kids allowed.
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Kindergarten
When he entered kindergarten, he was in a Spanish immersion school. Those are supposed to be good for kids, right? Well, I want what's good for him, so let's do that. (This is what I told my husband.) Braden struggled with reading. I thought it was because he was learning in a new language. I figured it was normal.
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Between kinder and 1st-grade we moved from Houston to DFW. When enrolling in the new school district I found that the Spanish/English schools were in very high demand and there were no openings. Oh well, I think this may be for the best and maybe going to an all English school will help him do better in school.
1st-Grade
He still struggles with reading - but he is switching from Spanish phonics to English phonics. I still think this is normal. His 1st-grade teacher approaches me and says she wants to recommend him for gifted and talented testing, but she is concerned about how slowly he works. She says it is likely because of the Spanish to English transition and we should have him tested next year.
Braden's View
Kindergarten
I remember I didn't like kindergarten. The other kids made fun of my long hair. After we had my hair cut, I went back to school and they made fun of my freckles.
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School was hard. I didn't understand what we were doing a lot. PE and Science were fun because they were in English.
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1st-Grade
We moved this summer and I started going to a new school. My best friends were Mia and Kaden. Mrs. Cramer was so nice. She liked my stories and drawings. We had to read every night and it was hard.