Book Report Day and Baptism Service

Well, this too has passed. Jakov is at school now, with his report in the school bag. The second story he chose was called the Swineherd, and, for different reasons,  it was not an easy read. Anyway, it's all done now. Thank you so much for praying! I don't think it will make a good grade. However, the teacher might reward his effort - he did read it all by himself, which is something many other kids don't do - their Moms read it for them. And, he did write everything required of him. Miro spoke with the teacher yesterday, and tried to explain the difficulties Jakov is facing, and she seems to have understood and is willing to help. That is wonderful and hope inspiring! Here's the book, in all its 80s glory:(

Aahhh. Moving on. And not looking back.

Now, here's a great piece of news: a baptism service on Sunday. One dear brother and sister will be baptised!! I am so happy for them both! What an enormous encouragement they are for our church here. I am so looking forward to it (thinking about, among other things, what to wear:))))!!! Our little church band will play two songs, that is great, too. It will be held at a different Church, since we don't have a baptistry, but that is no downer:) We are going there small in numbers but with great joy in the Lord. May He bless the lives and paths of our new brother and sister in Him, who is our Beloved!

Progress

We finished reading The Ugly Duckling, and now need to choose another story from the book. Actually, Jakov was supposed to read every story in that book and write a report on two of them, but that's not the way it's gonna 'go down'.

These are the kinds of things that he needs to write there: time and place of the plot, main and other characters, some of their characteristics, a few of his favourite sentences and the moral of the story.
I was surprised at how quickly he did it. No crying. No saying 'I can't do it, it's too hard!' So, I decided I was not going to correct the many spelling mistakes and investigate the fact that his favourite sentence was the first sentence of the story - the shortest and easiest for copying:))! I was happy it was done, and he was ecstatic:)!
He will probably get a D (a 2 in Croatian, 5 being the highest and 1 the lowest grade), but there's time. We will press on. Can't wait for his speech therapist to come from her vacation.

OK, the first part is over. Now we need to choose and read the next story. A short one, perhaps;)?

The Saga Continues

September - the school month. The month when you start wearing socks and quit wearing flip-flops and forget about the occasional run with no shoes at all. The end of the barefoot, carefree summer. But oh so exciting beginning of the school year. The intoxicating smell of books, school bags, pencil cases, the rush of being in the school corridors, the promise of hysterical classroom laughter, the adrenaline of exams.....aahhh, the good times. At least when you're in elementary school, and you are not yet your own worst enemy. Like you might become in high school.

But, that's my story, not my kids'. Somehow, my kids seem to be different from me! What's up with that?!? :)

Well, Josip (my 1st grader) seems to be following in his mama's footsteps, at least for now. When he's in front of his classroom, he seems hypnotized - doesn't even notice me once the thought of entering that room possesses his mind. I can't deny that that gives me such joy.

Jakov, on the other hand, seems to be ridden with different little problems that annoy him like flies when he's trying to concentrate and do something pertaining to school. He is often completely miserable. The hardest thing about looking up different learning disabilities is that he seems to have symptoms for each and every one of them. ADD, dyslexia, visual perceptual deficit, bad short term memory (related  to his stuttering), etc. I don't think it is something very severe, more like a mild case of such things combined with a personality that becomes overwhelmed easily and shrinks away from 'hard' things. And the hardest thing for him, and is related to all learning, is reading. Our reading sessions are usually soaked in tears. Last year, our friend Rachel used to help him with that, trying to make it fun, and he loved it. This year, Charlie and Barb will try. I love them all so much for thinking about Jakov like that and doing something about it. His speech therapist is also trying to help, because it seems that children who stutter are known to have a hard time reading, at least in the beginning. Anyway, please pray...

He needs to read a book of Andersen's fairy tales by next Thursday. We are still in the first story - The Ugly Duckling. His pace is so slow that he doesn't even get things he reads. Which in Andersen's case might be just as well!! Why give such incredibly SAD stories to an eight year old who probably will not know how to cope with it?!? But that's another story. He needs to have a book report on this by Thursday. Please pray with us...