T(r)oy's Marbles
so proud of you
When we lived in Barcelona, we sent Meaghan to a school that held classes in Catalan. Not good. Our little three-year-old became terribly confused. School overwhelmed her. That December (Y2K) she was in the school play. She had no idea what was going on, so she just stood on-stage trying to be a brave girl, holding her large cut-out prop as best she could. Then, she started crying. Before long, she put her prop down and walked off-stage.
My daddy heart broke for her.
The following autumn (2001) we were living in Holland temporarily, so we did not send her to school. At that time we could not afford to send her to school in English and we definitely did not want her feeling overwhelmed with yet another foreign language, so we held her out. Plus, we knew we were going to be in the States from mid-December 2001 to late February 2002, then relocate to Spain at that point. We figured, “Well…she’ll only be four” (turning five in February), so we thought she could do with missing a year of school.
But, the following autumn 2002 we sent her to school and it turns out all of her classmates had at least one year of schooling under their belt and many of them actually had two years. So, Meaghan had some “catching up” to do, but we knew she would be up to it.
That first regular year of school was hard for her. For starters, Meaghan has always been a quiet sort, so her teacher let us know that she was trying to help Meaghan be more expressive and more assertive. One day on the school yard a girl that quite fancied Meaghan kept bugging her so Meaghan gave her a good push to let her friend know she could not do that anymore. Meaghan’s teacher saw this and cheered her on: “Way to go, Meaghan!”
Mrs. Bradshaw (Meaghan’s teacher that year) was just what Meaghan needed. She provided Meaghan with the perfect blend of challenge and reassurance. So, it was good news to hear that Meaghan had Mrs. Bradshaw again the following year. Thanks to Gill (as we came to call Mrs. Bradshaw) our daughter got off to a good start with her education and Meaghan grew to love her school.
But in the summer of June 2006 we moved into the city and knew that Meaghan would be going to a different school. We prayed, asking God to help Meaghan make the transition smoothly.
It turns out that Numont (Meaghan’s new school) was a bit further along than Meaghan’s previous school. So, the first couple weeks were hard. Still, we figured Meaghan would make the adjustment because she’s got a persevering spirit. And, she did: at our first parent-teacher meeting prior to half-term, Meaghan’s teacher told Heather, “If we had had this meeting a few weeks ago, I would have told you I had some concerns about Meaghan’s work, but a lot has changed in just the past few weeks and she seems to be doing quite nicely now.”
That was a relief to us. So, last year it was great to see Meaghan making some new good friends and growing in confidence with her schoolwork. I was really proud to see how she was learning and growing.
This September Meaghan went into year 6 (which is the final year in what the Brits call “Key Stage 2”). It’s kind of a crucial year for her as next year she’ll go on to secondary school. At the end of this year, she’ll take some standardized tests to see how she’s progressing, so that adds a little pressure to her.
So, I’ve been praying for Meaghan, that God would grant her the ability to do well in school.
That said, a couple weeks ago, the new tutor that helps children with special needs at Numont rang us. She had some things to mention to us about her work with Nicolas. And, she also mentioned that Mrs. Edwards (Meaghan’s new teacher) asked her to visit the class to observe Meaghan to see if she recommended giving Meaghan a little extra help, too.
I’ll be honest now: that made me a little uptight. I found myself getting worried. It wasn’t that I thought “extra help” wouldn’t indeed be helpful, in the end. It’s just that, well…I don’t know…It just concerned me. I found myself wondering how Meaghan would feel about that.
It is now three weeks later and we have heard nothing more. I’m not sure where the respective teachers are at with all this now, but last Friday something encouraging happened.
When I picked Meaghan and Nic up from school, Nic showed me a big sticker he had stuck to his jumper. He told me he got it at lunch-time for “being quiet”. I smiled and said “That’s great, Nic. Way to go!” and then Meaghan said, “And look what I got, Dad!”
She held out her hand and showed me a plastic card the size of a credit card. It said “Star of the Week” on it and it was signed by Meg’s teacher with the date written on it. Meaghan was beaming as she showed me two small bags of sweeties she had been given as a prize. Turns out, one bag was for her “Star of the Week” award and the other was for “Table of the Week” (in which fellow classmates at her table were all given a prize for “winning the most points” that week in class).
I congratulated Meaghan and told her how proud I was of her for getting “Star of the Week”. Then, she said, “And wait till you see what I have in my bag!”
We arrived home shortly after that and she pulled out a plaque: turns out, the student who wins “Star of the Week” gets to take this special plaque home for a week as a special award and then the next Friday it goes to the next week’s recipient (and so on). Meaghan proudly produced the plaque and I said, “Wow, Meaghan! That’s great! Let’s put it up here , where we can see it well.” With that, I placed the plaque on top of a cabinet. But she said, “No, let’s put it over here on this table. That way we all can see it better.”
I said, “That’s a great idea, sweetie.”
I handed the plaque to Meaghan and she carefully placed it on a table that was just her size, making sure the words pointed outward for all to see.
Meaghan, I’m proud of you. I think it’s so wonderful how you keep trying your hardest and never give up. You have a good heart, my child. I love you. And, no matter what happens, I will always love you.
journal | Comments (0) | October 25, 2007