My Story ~ Kelley

My name is Kelley Jones and I live in north Alabama with my four sons and husband. All my dudes are special to me in their own way, but I'd like to take a few minutes to tell you about my eight year old son, Pierce. 

Me and Pierce

He is in the third grade now and, while he is very smart, he struggles everyday. I noticed early on that he didn't hit all the growth markers as my older two sons did. He had trouble talking, learning his abc's, and spelling his name even took him half way through kindergraden to get down without messing it up. In the 1st grade his teacher said that he didn't try hard enough and that I should offer rewards for him doing his work and practice reading. I tried this before she had suggested it and still by the end of every night he would break down crying saying he just couldn't do it. I tried to talk to his teacher and suggest that he needed extra help at school, as well as what I was doing at home, but she didn't feel like he needed it. So we received none. In the second grade he started off the same and could still barely get through a Dick and Jane book with help and still couldn't tell me what the book was about when we was done reading it. This teacher was more open to getting him extra help and he got a reading buddy twice a week and got put in speech class. His reading buddy, which a volunteer tutor from a nearby church, noticed what I had known since the beginning. He suggested that he get tested and get started on an IEP. I signed the paper work and he had his testing done. In math he was above average, but in every other subject he was below average. We moved back to my hometown over the Christmas break and they started a new school when the break was over. This new school got to work on his IEP within the first week and got him on a learning plan. He made great progress the second half of second grade and went from not being able to read at all to being able to read Dr. Suess books. I haven't been able to get him tested for dyslexia yet, but he is on the waiting list to be tested through the Scottish Rite. Although we are still waiting for his test, I know in my heart that he is dyslexic. I have done my research and he shows all the signs.

My sugar man

He is now in the third grade and he is making progress everyday. We have had long nights of crying wether it was over homework or the D's and F's he was making before. We still have those nights but they are getting farther apart. He made his first 100 on a spelling test and an AR test this year. He still stuggles and it is a daily committment on keeping him on task. I have been his voice for the past eight years though when no one else believed it was more than just laziness . I love the fact that this school has gotten on board and they are willing to help my child with anything he may need to succeed.