Sofia

Through the crazy busyness of the week, there was a little light that made me pause and smile and reflect.  Her name is Sofia.  Sofia, a seven-year old niña, will be going into first grade this next year and is struggling in lectura (reading) so she has started coming to Club de Estudios (Study Club – the tutoring we do on Monday, Wednesday & Fridays) to get extra help.  The first day she came, it was a busy day in the office and all I knew from her older sister is that she needed help in reading and that her big sister would be back at 5:00 to pick her up.  Well, as I had many students to attend to, I started her off with a children’s book and asked that she read the first page to herself and I’d come back and ask her what it was about (this was the suggestion of Rigo…as I was unsure what I should be working on with her and as I said, I had other kids that needed my help as well).  When I returned in a couple minutes, she told me that it was difficult for her to put the sounds together to make the words.  So, I sat down with her and we started on the first word…I quickly realized this book was too hard.  I had asked her when I gave her the book if she thought it was too hard, but she replied that it was okay....I now feel that was probably just a response to please.  I decided we needed to go back to the basics so I could see where she was at.  I wrote out the alphabet and started by asking her what the name of the letter was and the sound it makes.  Guess what.  She didn’t even know all the letter names and sounds!! No wonder reading was hard for her.  We spent the next two hours working on letters and sounds in different forms while I also tried to keep the other students busy.  She never stopped working…never go frustrated…just kept trying and trying.  There was a spark in her eyes and a smile was never too far off :)  After my first day with Sofia, I just had this feeling that something wasn’t quite right…I just got this sense that her struggling with the letters and sounds was more than just lack of practice or good teaching.

The next time that Sofia and I worked together, we went over the letters and sounds again and then started on short words.  After practicing that for a little while, I decided to write out five words and then draw five corresponding pictures on the other side of the paper so that she would have to draw a line from the word to the matching picture…I thought it would make it fun for her and be a way to check that she was reading the words correctly.  We did the first word together and then I left her while I checked on another student.  Within 2 minutes she was at my side with the piece of paper and a smile.  I checked and sure enough everything was correct.  We sat down and I had her read the words to me…for some it still took a little bit to get them out, but when she did the beautiful spark in her dark brown eyes shown as the precious smile of pride spread across her face.  We did exercises like this a few more times and even tried some simple sentences with corresponding pictures.  She never failed to finish each activity perfectly and quickly, yet when I asked her to read them out-loud, there was more trouble than you would expect.  I started to realize she was often mixing up the placement of the letters…”dyslexia” kept popping into my mind.

Sofia is a quiet girl, she doesn’t say much with words, but when she walks there is an obvious joy in her step.  She seriously bounces which is emphasized by the spring of the curls of her dark hair…you just have to smile when you see her.  On Friday afternoon she was in again, but I had several tasks that NEEDED to be completed that afternoon which meant I was not able to sit for the whole afternoon with her…and Karen also had work she needed to complete that afternoon…so we decided to trade off with Sofia.  Well, at one moment I was working on a necessary task and Karen was being asked for by someone who had just come to the door, so one of our youth leaders Mynor (a great young guy – I should write about him sometime) offered to help Sofia.  Well, we were set after that…Mynor worked diligently with Sofia with such care and patience you almost just wanted to stop your work just to watch them! :)  Sofia’s joy is contagious…you could see the joy spread to Mynor and to Karen and I when Sofia was successful in a sentence or word.  We were able to compliment Mynor on his great work with her which hit a special spot for him and that same special smile we’ve seen on Sofia so often spread across his face.  Even the next day when I saw Mynor on Saturday with the youth leaders he brought up Sofia and how happy she left on Friday after working so hard on reading.  Precious.  One little girl, changed the afternoon of three people…and continues to have a lasting affect beyond that afternoon.  Such joy, such happiness, such dedication to keep trying…Sofia.

The thought of dyslexia is still very present.  On Friday Sofia continuously kept reading the word “la” as “al”.  We did a “game” for her where she had to look at a paragraph and every time she saw the letters “el” together she had to color them yellow and every time she say “le” she had to color them purple.  Well, Mynor played this game with her and consistently she mixed up the colors (even though the “el” and “le” were written out for her in the corresponding colors).  When I asked Karen what we can do, she said we should talk to the psychology department at Common Hope and see if Sofia can be tested.  Though, when I asked Karen if the school will do anything special for her if she is diagnosed, Karen said no.  She would have to attend a special school for those with learning disabilities.  Hmm..this means more work – the parents need to be on board, possible changing of schools (is there even such a school near her?).  I do not know the answers to these questions.  But first things first, we need to see if she can get tested and if it actually is the case that she has a learning disability such as dyslexia.

I wish you all the joy of Sofia in your day today.