Thought I would share this with the group as an anecdote about what can happen when a child is challenged appropriately.
DD5 (August Bday) started 1st grade this year. Her teacher put her into second grade reading, which also included second grade spelling and language arts.
Spelling was
very difficult for her. We had to work all week, plus weekends, and she struggled. She typically scored 5-7 words correct out of 12 on tests through mid-October. She was intimidated by work "that's for kids who are so much bigger than me." I asked the teacher about doing first grade spelling instead. She told me that reading and spelling were integrated, and she'd have to go back to first grade reading too. I said, "Oh. Okay. We'll do our best."
Fast forward to early November. She was getting 10-11 out of 12 words correct with less effort.
Fast forward to late November/early December. We went away for a week. She spelled random words (not her spelling words) constantly, for fun: "s-i-x-t-e-e-n," "s-e-v-e-n-t-e-e-n,"
"e-i-g-h-t-e-e-n" with little or no help from me. It was...trippy.
On the last day of vacation, DH called and said she had a huge review test on her first day back. It included
all her words from September to December. DH read the words to me over the phone. I got worried. I tried to get her to study after dinner. No dice. I tried to get her to study on the plane. This effort lasted for maybe ten minutes, when she got annoyed with me because the words were "TOO EASY!!!"
Test result: 25/26. 
Last week she said that "maybe it's time for third grade spelling."
I've been flabbergasted by all of this. I'm amazed at how she's persevered, in spite of the initial intimidation. I'm even more amazed because for the first month or so, she didn't even grasp the very concepts of
spelling and
tests. I'm amazed because all of her tests now feature eraser marks:
she reads the words after she writes them the first time, and corrects errors when she realizes that the word doesn't look right.
So, for me, this is a story about what can happen when a bright child is challenged appropriately and encouraged. Sure, it was scary and hard at first, but she tried and tried...and got lots of big hugs...and neural connections were made...and now she gets it. She truly, truly
gets it. And I'm so proud of her!
(Hope this wasn't too long)
Val
