My Tween…..

I’ve been telling you about my Teen a lot lately and thought I would introduce my Tween; he sometimes falls into the shadow of the big brother, because by the time he catches up with the things the Teen used to do that totally shocked me, got my temper going or what not; I realized he’ll be okay no big deal why worry about it.

Do you catch yourself with your second or even third child worrying less than with the first? I don’t take sides with either of the kids or prefer anyone over the other ( I love them ALL!!!), but I guess sometimes things are true when people say ” The oldest always has it the hardest”. Us as parents do learn and learn how to trust once the oldest child gets to do things on their own, by the time the next child(ren) come along you don’t even worry anymore kind of like ” Big deal”…. I catch myself with that all the time.

My Tween is a pretty remarkable kid I found out at a parent teacher meeting the other day; little did I know that he is a well liked child in the entire school by his students as well as teachers. You have to know he just transferred to that school last school year and it was a bit of a change for him; he managed to adjust to a brand new school environment and move from a regular Elementary school to a middle school with a higher requirement level then a public school and keep his grades up in the AB honor roll; I guess what makes it so remarkable is; My Tween struggled in Elementary school the first 2 years, he had a hard time learning how to read and being a left handed child, made things a lot harder, he struggled with hand writing, yet he was never diagnosed as dyslexic he had some issues but no one would ever label him ( which was a good thing J ). In Second grade I begged the teacher to please hold him back, ( well, I actually did that in Kindergarten and First grade, too without any luck ). 2^nd grad they finally agreed with me that my Tween would be better off for another year in 2^nd grade.

The extra year completely changed my Tween, from failing his classes and barely hanging on with some special accommodations in reading and writing he was pushed through Kindergarten all the way to 2^nd grade; I knew this wasn’t something that would help him in the long run…

That extra year in 2^nd grade has changed my Tween forever; he now is a Math Whiz and Books are no challenge to him; he worked his way up to AB Honor roll and took on the challenge in 5^th grade to be moved from his regular elementary school to an advanced technology school, where a Higher GPA is required to attend the school… I’m proud to announce and brag about my Tween that he has mastered very well his first year at the new school and he kept AB honor roll all year!!!

Now he loves to read, his levels in reading went to a 8^th grade level and he isn’t even finished in 5^th grade… all his teachers are amazing and thanks to wonderful teachers who care my son had a chance in accelerating the way any child should.

I’m just so proud of my Tween and had to tell you guys all about it; but also tell you if you have a little one starting Kindergarten even 1^st or 2^nd grade and you see him/her struggling and you think they will not make it. DON”T stereotype the child and say “Well, that’s just my child, he/she is just like me, nothing we can do”. If you keep telling that to your little one they will always think that way; it’ not true that you cannot do anything;

You can do a lot of things like:

• Be proud of your child and let them know
• Don’t accept “This is just my child”. Work with them, push them show them if they put their mind to it, they CAN do it!!
• Don’t give up – If teachers tell you there is nothing we can do, don’t give up, keep trying eventually you will find a wonderful teacher that is willing to help your child
• Encourage your child and if you have to bribe them with candy or maybe a game for a while, they will get excited about learning again

I guess the reason behind this post is, don’t give up on your child. If I would have not pushed to hold back my son back in 2^nd grade he would have never had that chance to be the wonderful bright child he is today; everyone had given up and said “That’s just how he is”. That is not how he is, he has gone from failing school and F’s across the board to AB honor roll with just a little extra push in the beginning, he is eager to learn because he sees progress and he loves to read now. He even asked for a NOOK for his birthday, what 11 year old wants a Book for his birthday…. J So proud of you Tween and you should be proud of your little one, too J

Also a BIG THANKS to all the WONDERFUL Teachers across the Nation, our kids wouldn’t be this AWESOME without you!!

Are you a proud parent, too? Would love to hear it.