She argued with a teacher about my oldest brother’s educational progress in the second grade. After two yeas in school, he still could not read and he had a speech impediment and stuttered.
When his teacher called him lazy and refused to talk to her about why he couldn’t read, she went to the principal and insisted that he be moved to a new class. She fought for him throughout his education as he continued to have reading problems. She would not quit stressing to teachers that my brother could learn if they worked with him. She found out later that he struggled with dyslexia.
When I stayed out of school to help care for my sister who was sick and received F’s because I missed too many days according to the district policy, my mother went to talk to the principal and got my straight A’s reinstated. They suspected my sister had leukemia, and my family needed my mother’s pay for rent and so we would not end up homeless and hungry. My brother couldn’t miss classes because of his learning disability. I was smart and could complete my classwork at home and watch my sister so my mother could work.
This was the norm for my family. My mom visited teachers regularly and fought for the best for us. She wanted us to have a superior education, recognizing that her involvement and her presence unlocked doors for us. She is my role model for my role as a parent involved in my child’s education.
(This is an excerpt and rough draft from my writing today for the November Writing Nonfiction challenge. I hope you are enjoying it so far. It is also my seventh personal but the 112th installment of Just Write, an exercise in free writing your ordinary and extraordinary moments. {Please see the details here.} )
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Great post! Been reading a lot about parent’s role in education. Thanks for the info here!
Wow, your brother reminds me of me. I had a learning disability and wasn’t able to read until the third grade. Luckily there was a special school for kids with learning disabilities near by and they helped me learn how to read. I’m sorry that your sister got sick. I’m glad that your mom was able to help y’all out! : )
Amen! As a retired teacher of primary grades, a retired children’s librarian in a public library, and now as a reading tutor, I take my hats off to your mother and to all those parents who go to bat for their kids when they know that they can be helped and should receive the school’s best. If a child does not learn to read, where is their foundation for success? There are a lot of parents who go to school to fight for their child but not for reasons that your mother did. They go to get their child out of trouble and find blame with anything but their child. This is another place where the child never gains a foothold because he/she thinks they can do anything and get away with it through their parents blindness/inability to see that they have done the child wrong.
BUT…I am so glad to see that you can now look back and see the benefits you and your brothers gained from a mother like yours. Amen again!
What a wonderful example your mother set for you, and what a wonderful thing you did for your sister and family!
This was a touching story of your mother’s dedication to getting the best and fairest education possible for each of her children according to their needs, and with what worked best for the family as a whole. I admire her determination very much, especially since this took place at a time when parents were less likely to buck the school system and speak up for their children.
Your mom did the right things, Mary. And yes, she was an excellent role model, the best. Our school did not have a PTO, I am not sure they were invented yet at that time. We didn’t have a principal, just the one teacher for the 7 to 10 that we had in school for the eight grades.
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Happy Thanksgiving to your and yours. ☺
How important this post is to illustrate the need to adapt the rules to allow for individual’s circumstances. This applies not only in education but also in other fields as well such as hospitals where patients needs are ignored to make life easier for the workers whether they be teachers, nurses or other professions. There are solutions and your mother clearly showed this.