Stubborn, and proud of it.

Day 11-14

Stubborn--I've been called that a few times.

Ok, In the interest of full disclosure, I know that given a worthy cause, I can become something of an intractable force. and I try to make sure that whatever cause I'm championing is successful in the end. In this instance, I think that Joshua comes by his stubborn personality quite honestly. The last few days have been full of finding every excuse in the book for why it is hard to connect letters and sounds. My favorite observation of Josh's was that when reminded he could learn how tommplay his new video game quickly and successfully, he told me it was because it was "self taught".

Ha Ha! Really, what 6th grader tries to cash in on learning video games by advocating for their "self-taught" advantages?

Silly boy. This is not my first go around on the stubborn child ride and to bad for you literacy isn't something that can be "self-taught". Guess you are just stuck with me. :)

In terms of our work, we remain in the two steps forward, one step back universe. On the plus side, we haven't had tears for the past 4 days. We also have figured out that Josh knows the short /a/ an short /o/ sound. At this point, I am willing to add another 2 sounds to the list. I'll be honest, it makes me a bit nervous since he still struggles with being consistent with /c/, /d/, and /g/. On the other hand, he needs to feel like there is progress so I'll take what I can get.

This is the part of the process that I knew we would face, but it's the part that is tapping me the hardest....what is the trick to internalizing the connection between a specific letter ane a specific sound? I think the heavy repetition of the OG process is making some progress, since the time it takes for him to remember the appropriate letter and sound connection has decreased from when we started. But, he still needs that first push. That's why (I think) he looks at my face to make that connection.

The other piece I am seeing is the letter reversal when spelling words. If he sees the letters (like letter magnets or an alphabet sheet), he can identify the right letters for the word, and the vowel is typically placed in the correct spot. However, the 1st and last letter are reversed. When he hears the word for the second time, he can usually get it. That gives me hope. In the short term, though, it is still frustrating for him and it's hard to hear the same insecurities being voiced by him.

No, little one, you are not brain damaged, your memory is not a black hole, you don't have memory problems....but you sure are good at finding reasons to avoid this work. I know it's hard and I know it "gives you a headache", but I also know that the gift of literacy is something that is worth more than all the pain and effort it is taking us in getting there. Good thing I am a bigger, unmovable object than you are since I think it's going to take a whole lot of not moving to help get us where we need to be in the end.