Learning is fun for me. I try to make the classroom experience as reasonably fun as can be expected. I enjoy teaching! I am a hands-on type of teacher. I think it is important for kids to get involved using all their senses. I believe that personal ownership experience encourages them take pride. And want to learn more. I also believe it helps kids not only learn their lessons, but retain them. I am passionate about finding out each child's learning style and teaching toward it.
The following year, our daughter started kindergarten. And I moved to second grade (my favorite grade to teach). This was an important year for our family. It marked the signs of what was to come in regards to Hannah’s education. Schoolwork was difficult for her. She struggled with learning basic reading skills. She began exhibiting anxiety symptoms when called upon to read aloud in class. I had to ask her teacher to not call on her in class.
At the end of the year, her progress was not where her father and I would have liked it. Since we were aware of Hannah’s learning issues, we decided to have her tested. The list seemed like a death sentence—ADHD, dysgraphia, sensory integration, language delay, dyslexia, and auditory processing problems.
The next school year, my daughter was a student in my class. Having your child in your classroom at school is NOT the same as homeschooling. I expected more of my child than I did of the other kids. I was determined not give anyone a chance to say I favored my child.
Our situation changed once again when our family was transferred from Texas to Georgia due to my husband's job. I had a teaching position lined up. Three days after arriving in Georgia, I ruptured a disc in my back. I was not able to teach. In the meantime, my husband and I decided to retain Hannah in second grade in hopes that she would have an easier time in school. This was a mistake and one that I had always counseled parents against doing. You would think I would have taken my own advice, but sadly, I didn’t. School was almost unbearable for Hannah. By January, the school still did not have her IEP completed. Actually, they had not even started it. Hannah was suffering more and more each day. She was begging us to home school her. We finally gave in and embarked on the best journey of our lives!