Yet again, I am not blogging as much as I would like. But the end of the year is upon us, it is a GORGEOUS day, nothing can get me down!

A new student came to our school two weeks ago straight from Mexico. Their pull was the family they have here in Mt. Pleasant. What scared terrified me at first was the fact that he came in with zero English, and I had 24 hours to prepare. My mind went where it usually does in new situations – the worst possible scenario. I worried that he didn’t have any schooling in Mexico. I worried that his behavior would be poor. I worried his attendance would be worse.

Fortunately, those worries are gone. He did go to school in Mexico, and his records appear that he did fairly well there. He is succeeding in the Common Core math that is done with his peers. His behavior is good. He is ready to learn every day. He is a happy, fun child. Of course, he has his ups and downs, but overall we have zero behavioral issues. Attendance has not been a problem at all yet – he has made it to school every day.

The first week he was here (Wednesday – Friday), we took it easy. The next week though, was work time. I am working with him individually between 1-2 hours daily. Right now I am using the Oxford Picture Dictionary for the Content Areas. It is working really well so far. I have been doing a lot of speaking and listening, but reading and writing as well. I think I am going to slow down on the reading and writing for now. Though he is able to pronounce the words correctly, when he reads them, he pronounces them as if they were Spanish words. Because we only have so many more weeks of school left, I think I will just focus on the speaking and understanding of English.

Finally I feel like I can really do something to help a child. Hope this feeling continues!