After breezing through the first grade, everyone was surprised
when James began having difficulty in the second grade. His
teacher quickly brought up the possibility of a learning disability,
but neither his mother nor the Charity Family Life staff were
convinced that a learning disability was the root of his problems.
We believed that a combined lack of focus and a lack of drive
was the reason he was falling behind. Charity Family Life
staff pledged to do whatever they could to help James regain
focus and determination, and his mother asked the school to
give him one more chance to catch up before they tested him.
James’s teacher relented and she began sending large quantities of supplemental work for James to work on at Charity Family Life. One of our dedicated instructors spent extra time with James each day, encouraging him, pushing him to do his best, and helping him as he struggled through tears and frustration. But all the hard work paid off and we began to see academic progress.
However, though James progressing academically, his behavior was regressing. His poor behavior escalated as things at home got worse. Charity Family Life staff brought these behavior problems to his mother’s attention, but, for whatever reason, she didn’t want to or was unable to deal with them. Instead, she took James out of our program and enrolled him in an after-school tutoring program at his school.
A few weeks later, the school social worker called Charity Family Life with her concerns about James. She said that academically he was falling behind again and that his behavior was atrocious, and she asked if we could do anything to help him. We informed her that he was no longer in our program. We said that while he was welcome back at any time, there was nothing we could do for him unless his mom re-enrolled him in our program. The social worker agreed to do what she could to get James back in our program -- and asked if she could refer other struggling students to us.
After several more weeks of poor behavior and floundering grades, James’s mom re-enrolled him in our program. From that point forward, James’s grades and behavior improved drastically. James and the Charity Family Life staff continued to work hard throughout the school year to keep James focused and motivated.
One afternoon, at the end of the school year, James came running into CFL with a big grin on his face and a ribbon pinned to his shirt. He proudly told the CFL staff that his teacher had given him the "Most Improved" award.
Without Charity Family Life to see the potential in this young man -- and to nurture it to fruition -- James would most likely be repeating the second grade and possibly diagnosed with a learning disability. Instead, he was promoted to the third grade with increased self-confidence, focus, and determination.
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