OUR MEGAN!

Meg with her latest reading project for school.

Meggeroni, Megalin, Meggers, Megsters, M&M, Meg, Meggie... So many names for one little girl. So many sides to one little girl. So many reasons we love her so, so much! I am so proud of our middle child this year. Third grade has brought her much growing, maturing and happiness. Meg has come out of her shell and truly blossomed into a sweet, young lady (of course, continuing to carry her stubbornness with her!)

I admit I was a bit worried about our sweetie when she began school four years ago. I could tell Meg struggled with grasping concepts and understanding the big picture. Being the youngest in her kindergarten class, she took a bit longer to catch hold of new ideas. It took her more time to understand something and retain it. Missing a day of school was like missing a week for Megan. She really needed that instruction, repetition and review.

First grade brought on more struggles with concepts but also problems with her self esteem. She saw her big brother gliding through school, so Meg felt the need to do the same. She worried about being wrong and strived for perfection. We just wanted our baby to be happy and do her best. However, for Meg, that was not enough and because of this, disliking school became an entirely new issue to deal with.

Second grade was a lot of the same. Megan absolutely hated reading as she struggled with it. To her, she was not perfect at it, so she did not want to do it at all. She hated to write anything because she could misspell something and that would make her so angry. Basically, she did not want anything to do with school except for math. Memorizing came easy to her, so math was simple. She had her basic facts down and loved that she could shout out the answers faster than her third grade brother.

At the beginning of third grade, not only were we dealing with this sibling rivalry, but also the need to get her to at least tolerate reading. Colleen knew this was a BIG year for that! Third grade becomes a very important bridge for emergent readers. They no longer learn to read, but read to learn. How could Megan begin taking reading material to learn when she hated to read and struggled with the subject? Now we would worry not only about her reading and writing, but also her social studies and science she would now be reading a lot. What a year this was going to be for all of us!

Things began on a positive note when Megan was assigned the teacher she was hoping to have for third grade. Not only was Ms. Waltrip pretty cool, but she also owned two shelties. In Meg's eyes there was doing no wrong for her teacher when she has the same kind of dogs as we do. Plus, there was a focus on organization for the third graders this year. Each student would receive an assignment notebook and be responsible for more homework. This was right up Meg's alley ~ she loved being neat, organized and loved, loved homework (quite opposite of her brother!) So, for the start of the year, Megan was happy and we became optimistic for her.

To top off a great start, Megan was assigned the new reading specialist to help her with her reading. She absolutely LOVED Mrs. McMahon and was thrilled to get to see her each day for reading. Not only did she want to please her new reading teacher, but she also wanted to do her best ~ all we ever asked of her the past 3 years.

The teachers could see Megan was beginning to improve. They wanted to go with this and continue to see her climb. Megan began meeting with the school principal a few times a week for Reading Club. A few kids who lacked the will to read were invited to Mr. Doyle's office for fun reading activities. This was so cool for all of them. The children admire Mr. Doyle, so to have a special invitation to hang out with him in his office was way cool. And, if they were meeting with him for Reading Club, it meant reading was cool, too!

With all of this, Megan began to sore as a student! She could not read enough in school or at home. She wanted to share her stories and accomplishments with all of her teachers. It meant so much to Meg to have her teachers' approval, reassurance and acceptance for who she was as a reader and student. She was so proud of herself. Megan had a new confidence about her we had never seen and only wished for her.

We could not be more pleased with Meg's progress in school this year. All a parent ever wants is the best for their child. We want Megan to be happy and we wish school to be something she enjoys. We hope for less struggles and we want learning to be fun. Thanks to three wonderful adults in her life this year, it is all happening. We couldn't be more proud of our sweet daughter nor could we be any happier for all she does each day in school.