{proud mommy moment}

I received an email from Ayden's reading teacher yesterday morning and I wanted to share a little bit of it with you all... 'I have enjoyed working with your son, Ayden, this year. He has made tremendous progress in his reading achievement. He is highly motivated and a pleasure to work with.' Ah, if that isn't a proud mommy moment, I don't know what is!We have been consistently working with Ayden on his reading for at least the last two and a half months and I am glad that other people are seeing the progress that he is making besides me. He works really hard each night after school going through his check off list. Here is the list of things that we do every night after he gets home from school: empty his folder, mom or dad signs his planner, he reads through his list of 25 vocabulary words (50 words if he is still working on his previous sheet), we go through 10 spelling words (since his school isn't really pushing spelling and I feel it is important for him, especially with his reading difficulties), he copies two sentences that I've written to practice handwriting, he writes two sentences of his own to work on writing, he does some sort of math (on Wednesdays he comes home with a math packet from school, on other nights its either a worksheet of triple digit addition or subtraction, counting money, reading a thermometer, that sort of stuff), we read through 10 words, phrases or sentences that concentrate on a sound he is working on in speech, and then he reads to me for 20-30 minutes. That is a lot of work for someone who doesn't have nightly homework and has just come home from being at school all day long. But I think it is good preparation for the future when he does have homework and really it takes us less than a hour each night, if we have a little boy who is in a good mood, haha!Lately, I have been the one working with Ayden on his homework every night since I have been home and on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays I will still be able to help him, but Tuesdays and Thursdays might become Jay's territory once again when I start clinic. We shall see how that goes. Jay used to be the one who primarily worked with Ayden and for the most part it went really well. I couldn't stand reading with Ayden because he wasn't even trying and it would drive me up the wall. Not so much anymore because I know that he is trying a lot more. Jay surprised me Monday night while we were doing some grocery shopping at Wal-Mart. Normally, I am the one more prone to go buying things for Ayden on a whim. I mean, what mom doesn't like to spoil their child every now and then?! As Ayden and I were headed in one direction in the store, Jay said he had to go get something and would meet up with us. I thought nothing of it as this happens sometimes and avoids us having to walk all around the store if we split up. Little did I know that he would be bringing back a toy for Ayden. I was surprised. Jay said that it would be a treat for Ayden if he continued the hard work he has been doing through the end of January. Nice little incentive! It was really sweet to see Jay go out of his way to get him some sort of extra incentive (we normally do $1 at the end of the week for doing his homework and chores). So, Ayden now has a countdown on his iPod until the end of January when he can get his new toy (which is displayed on his book shelf as extra incentive). He worked extra hard last night and tonight.

That’s my boy!

CIAO! LOVE ME!