Our Little Author

Jada's second author celebration was last Friday. This time, the kids had each written and illustrated their own books, and, after reading them to the audience of beaming parents, received a certificate and a medal symbolizing their ascendancy as authors. Jada's school stresses reading and writing, and the fruits are clear: little boys and girls able to formulate sentences and put them together into stories.

Jada was actually the first to read her story, so I was caught off-guard: I had to jostle forward in the cramped classroom to get a better view, almost knocking over a mom and a table in the process. Afterward, I gave her a big hug and told her how proud I was of her achievements.

I didn't get to hear all the other kids that followed, as I was snapping photos and then had to take a call. But from what I did hear, Jada seems about middle-of-the-pack, in terms of the sophistication of her stories and her ability to read them. That seems about right: she's come a long way in her communications delays, but still has some ways to go, and I kind of like that she's not near the top because there's something good about being around kids smarter than you in terms of helping you to continue to advance.

Later that evening, she said she wished she had homework. Not wanting to miss an opportunity to be a "tiger mom," I wrote a list of three things and made her read them and do them. We still have a lot of work to do on her, but it's heartening to see all of the progress, and perhaps more importantly, the desire to improve all the more.