I am going to brag on my dyslexic son for just a minute - I noticed a few posts on here that some are fighting dyslexia, and as a mom with a dyslexic son, I can SOOO relate! This is the same son who has fallen in love with the NN chickens and started himself a small flock of them
(just to keep it chicken related!)
Ian is just 13 and has been fighting his dyslexia all his life. It is such a struggle, but with homeschooling the last two years, I think it has taken some of the pressure off. I knew that he could read well enough to do his work, even if it was slow going. He HATES to read out loud, though. Okay, no problem - I've never pushed the envelope too far outside his comfort zone.
Well, last night was our homeschool reading group meeting - first one since before Thanksgiving what with the holidays, illness and blizzards! LOL We usually meet twice a month. Sometimes we read the book ahead of time and discuss it at the meeting, but with Shakespeare, we get together and read the parts while discussing at the same time.
Last night we started A Midsummer Nights Dream (one of my favorites
) The boys have seen the video of my husband and I playing Lysander and Hermia in a local production years ago. They've also seen the movie with Mickey Rooney playing Puck.
Anyhow, as we were deciding the parts last night Ian ASKED to read Puck!!!!!
I looked at him and asked if was SURE, because Puck was a very big part (and he had a script with very TINY print - an additional problem for a dyslexic). He was adamant and everyone agreed he should do it.
I was totally blown away! He read like he had no issues whatsoever - I had tears in my eyes much of the time. This was such a HUGE step - to read in a crowd of his peers and their parents, to read SHAKESPEARE no less! He had to be helped and prompted on a few words, but no more so than most of the other kids - I think it was one of the proudest moments of my life as a mom
On the way home hubby told him how proud he was of him, but asked Ian what drove him to do it.
His answer was "Cortez."
Cortez???
Yes, he said that when Cortez reached the new world, he burned his ships to show his commitment to going forward - there was NO turning back. He decided that he had to do this and once he'd made the commitment to read the part, there was no turning back for him, no matter how difficult it might have been.
*SIGH* I wish I was as grown up as my kids sometimes.
