A Little Hard Work Goes A Long Way!

Academic achievement is extremely important to me.  Since my children were very young, I encouraged and emphasized how much a priority education is to me.   I don’t demand straight As, but I do expect 100 percent effort and focus on academics.

In a parent-teacher conference in October, I was notified that Mia was at risk for being retained.  It was very disheartening news, but it made me more determined to help her.  My daughter would not be held back without a fight from me.  I really believe that a child cannot succeed without the collaborative support from teachers, parents, and family.  The last two months, Mia has been tutored by me, her brothers, her aunt, and her cousins. With all this extra effort, she has shown tremendous growth as shown in the October, November and December test scores below.

See the dramatic improvement in two months? She went from a 62/61 percent (almost failing) to 77 percent (strong solid C)

She was nominated by her teacher and principal to be recognized at the Fountain Valley School District Board Meeting on January 9, 2014.  This is a huge achievement, because it is not just at the school.  It is a bigger recognition with the school district. She was the only first grader in her school to get this recognition.  They called her up and spoke about her achievement and efforts for about one minute before she was given a certificate.  Every FVSD Board Member than shook her hand.



The audience in the Board Room

Board Members shaking and congratulating students.

I am so proud of her, but I am also proud of my two sons, who are a huge contributors to Mia’s success.  Mia would not have been able to do this without her brothers' help.

The team!

I acknowledge that I am a bit of a psycho mom.  I don’t expect the school to take all the responsibility in my daughter’s academic success.  I am very engaged. When they tell me she is not passing some Dibels test, guess what I do? I go on line, find out about the test, print out sample tests.  I’m very proactive and aggressive.  During the Thanksgiving break when everyone was just enjoying the time off, Mia was pulled aside three times a day for 20 minutes each to study.  Occasionally she complained, but she always did what she needed to do.

Her days consist of working with her brother, cousin, and aunt immediately after school.  She then plays and comes home for dinner. After dinner, it is her turn again to work with me so during the weekdays, it is twice a day.  On the weekends, she is pulled aside three times a day (morning, afternoon, and night). All of this has made a difference.

To celebrate this achievement, I am taking Mia, Brandon, Sienna to Build A Bear workshop because they all worked so hard.  It was a team effort, and I’m proud of them all.