This week we had an unexpected surprise for our family. It’s not nearly as dramatic as it sounds, but it feels like the start of something good. You may or may not know that Stevie has an intellectual disability. He’s been in special ed since he started pre-K and has always been severely delayed in a lot of areas — but especially school work. Reading, writing, and arithmetic are not strong suits.

We have always been aware of this, but instead of thinking of all the things he can’t do, we have focused on the fact that he’s really social and kind. And that would be the thing to take him places in life! This child can talk to anyone.

In some ways I feel guilty that I’d given up on him achieving any type of book smarts. There are so many factors to it, and I won’t go into all of them here. But with Stevie entering 3rd grade and barely knowing his alphabet, it was time to help him in a new way.

Over the summer, we had a friend recommend the Kumon program for Stevie. I had heard of it, but never gave it much thought. I wrote it off as a program for typical kids who are a little behind or need help studying. Definitely not for our difficult child who hates work of any kind.

But we decided to give it a shot anyway. We have always been open to trying anything and everything for this boy. But to be perfectly honest, it all comes with a little bit of dread and apprehension because of the work involved on my part! It sounds selfish as a parent — of course I want what’s best for him — but it’s a very real struggle too. The least fun thing in the world is trying to force Stevie to do things he doesn’t want to do. And that’s a lot of things. This would just be one more task I’d have to force him to do on the daily.

I’m happy to report that, after a terribly rough start on day one (and a neck cramp the size of Texas) the rest of the week went pretty good! The longest homework assignment he’s done before this was about 5 minutes. And I may or may not have thrown a pencil a time or two. There are lots of treats involved, but he got through 30 whole minutes of study time several times this week!

Now, all of this isn’t to say he’s going to catch up to his typical peers anytime soon. I’m still keeping my expectations down on earth where they belong. It’s been one week after all. And we are starting with pre-reading. But the dread and apprehension has subsided significantly. I think by the end of it, we will get some things accomplished. Wish us luck!

I should also add that he sat through the entire Lion King movie. Another major moment!

Here are a bunch of outfit pictures that have nothing to do with anything. Playing catch-up on my #99daysofsummerstyle challenge.

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Anyone else had success with a tutoring or after school study program for their kids?

loves,
jaana