Staying Back

Rachel will be held back in second grade for next year. She struggled through first grade, and struggled horribly through second grade this past year. We finally got some results from screenings and found that there are some actual issues with language, OT, and PT.

I told Rachel yesterday morning while she was the only one awake and we could talk uninterrupted. Sam and I figured that telling her a few days before the last day of school would giver her an opportunity to talk it over with her friends and her teacher. Rachel, as I expected, was less than thrilled with the idea of doing second grade again.

Her biggest concern was not being with her best friend, Grace. Thankfully Rachel and Grace are in the multiage classroom. So, while Grace will be in third grade, she and Rachel will still have recess and lunch together. They will have country studies and other activities together. On top of that they are in the same girl scout troop and the same 4H club. Plus, we love the Rodgers family so we will be seeing a lot of them. Rachel seemed okay with it after our talk, but being that she is Rachel and is the opposite of a "Pollyanna", she was still quite negative.

Hannah heard Rachel fussing about the decision later in the morning. After Rachel and Samantha were on the bus, she came to me. She asked if she could give Rachel a tea party and talk to Rachel about it, since she stayed back in second grade too. I thought it was a great idea and I'm pretty proud of Hannah to think of it. Hannah took the time to bring the little table out to the living room, cleaned up the tea set, and set the table special for Rachel.

Two pounds of honey, 3 quarts of milk and 2 pots of hot water later, Rachel was feeling better about the whole issue. Rachel informed me that Hannah told her that when she gets to be homeschooled in 5th grade, if she does well, I will skip her back up to the grade she would have been at. While not exactly accurate, if it makes Rachel feel better about it, I'll let her believe it, at least until fifth grade...