2021-22 End of Year Assessment--Lola

 

Lola had a tough school year.  Her ADHD (and whatever other diagnoses should apply) got in the way of schoolwork day in and day out for the whole year.

This is the school year during which she was officially diagnosed, and during which we began working with a stimulant medication.  She's too tiny to mess around with very many meds, so we have worked with miniature doses of methylphenidate (Ritalin) in a variety of dosing schedules.  It does work, but it works in a very small window after a very specific time frame to reach effectiveness.  

First, it took me a few months to figure out what the timing is, then I often missed that window due to behavior issues with other children.  

I am convinced that Lola is quite bright.  I need to schedule her for a full assessment to confirm my belief, but that will be months and months away (waitlists!).  I also am convinced that the classic "Swiss cheese brain" that many FASD-ers deal with is a real issue for her.  Some days she breezes through schoolwork as though it were too easy for her, and other days she can't remember anything she's learned in the past week/month/year.  

She cries on days like this.

She worked her way through 2 1/4 first grade reading curriculums over the course of the past year and a half:

1.  Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons--It really seemed like she'd learned to read, but when we moved from lessons to books (the ones specifically recommended at the end of the lesson book), she was as confused as if she'd never had any reading instruction.

2.  Language Lessons for a Living Education--This book gave Lola lots of time to write what she read, but there was very little retention of what she did.  She completed the book successfully in the sense that she completed each activity, but I don't see evidence that anything "stuck"

3.  The Good and the Beautiful Language Arts and Literature Level 1--This is the book that she's only 1/4 of the way into.  We stopped working on it for the summer, and I hope to pick it back up this fall.

Lola does have a pretty good list of sight words that help her get through easy readers, but she's still uncertain about the rules for when a vowel will be long or short, and sometimes even CVC words stump her.

She also worked on several other language arts workbooks that are partially completed, including Spectrum Phonics K and Phonics 1, Building Spelling Skills Grade 1, Memoria Press Copybook 1, and others that are safely tucked away in our homeschool boxes in the attic.

She is now aware that she is the only beginning reader in the family, and she's started to be self-conscious about it--saying she hates reading and that she doesn't want to participate when we have scripture read-alouds.  I hope very much that we can help her succeed enough that she won't identify as a non-reader.

She says she likes math the best, and she finished The Good and the Beautiful Math K and began Math 1 in the same program.  She likes the activities, games, and cutting/pasting puzzles the best.  She's happy to color and immerse herself in the projects for however long they take.

Lola participated in Morning Meeting as well as Academy and bedtime readings and conversations as much as she could.  On a good day, she'd make astute observations; on a bad day, she'd have to leave the room to finish her tantrum.  Most days, I was satisfied to have her present and not distracting others.  She loved doing art projects the best, and I think she's a talented little artist. 

Socially she's still working on preschool skills, i.e. accepting no for an answer, asking for help, taking turns, cooperating, and following directions.  However, she's also really growing in her ability to care for the daycare babies.  She helps little ones up into their places at the table, puts on bibs, takes a couple of them to the potty, packs around some of the babies (weighing almost as much as she does!), and even keeps an adequate eye on the preschoolers when they're outside.

Overall, I'm sad about the issues that keep Lola from learning as much as I think she's capable of learning, and I'm hopeful that with meds and consistent structure, she'll make enough academic and social progress to feel confident and happy.