Dan and I had a "team meeting" with Cole's lead teacher, the inclusion specialist, and the LAUSD speech pathologist (a happy addition to the meeting) to talk about his progress thus far into the school year and specifically to ask for help and direction with regards to literacy. We have an inkling that Cole can read but have no idea as to how to gauge the level of comprehension or word recognition. He does well with spelling and recognition of sight words, a continuation from kindergarten. His interest level in books has risen to chapter books. Last year he was riveted by the Spiderwick Chronicles and the Magic Tree House series. When asked questions about what happened in previous chapters, he shows an awareness and recognition. And if I read the wrong sentence or word, he often indicates that something's amiss. To me, all indications that he's reading something.
Thankfully, his teachers do too. They encouraged us to continue with what we have been doing and to trust our instincts. They are working to develop methods to allow him to develop a phonetic vocabulary of letter and word sounds even if he himself is not actually saying the words. Understanding how they should sound and having the ability to sound words out phonetically in his head is important to his mastery of reading, writing and spelling. All skills he needs to stay on track with even at this early stage in his education. These are the first blocks...
Math wise, he's doing well. From what I can tell from my homework experience with him and math, is that it's more tangible. He recognizes numbers, understands what they represent, and can tangibly display this knowledge using sets of objects. It will get harder as math becomes more complex but he already has an excitement for math (and science) so my hope is that his interest will lead him.
It's a fascinating journey...There's so much that Dan and I have to learn as well in order to keep up with him and to support his skills. It will keep our minds sharp!
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