After venting my feelings in my post about Luke, I contacted his teacher and special ed teacher. (Actually I think I contacted her before.) Both were very willing to help and sympathetic. His special ed teacher told me that they're working with Luke on social skills and his teacher said she would ask Luke if there was anyone he wanted to sit next to in class the next day. So after he arrived at school, the teacher asked him who he would like to sit next to and Luke replied with his usual, "I don't know" (a frustrating answer for those who are trying to help him!) and he finally chose a boy named Alex, who didn't really know at the time.
After writing my last blog post I went to Adoration and prayed that Luke would find a friend, as I know all of you have done. I offered a rosary that he would have a friend that day and when the kids got home I asked them all as I always do how their day went. Everyone said, "Ok" but Luke said, "It went GREAT!!!" I have never had a response like this from Luke before! I asked why it was such a great day and he said that a little boy named Alex went up to him at recess and asked if they could be friends and offered to teach Luke some sport skills so that he could join in more. Where did this kid from and where has he been hiding?!? He has been an angel in disguise for Luke. I was and am so grateful for this little boy. Ashley (the special ed teacher) said that Alex is a good little boy who has been a great example for many kids--sticks up for the kids who aren't liked.
Later in the week, the class read a book about best friends and the teacher had them do a little exercise on who their best friends were. Luke talked about James, a little boy from his preschool who he has not seen in about a year but I know he misses him very much. This is what he wrote (with help from his para):
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One of the best things is that the day the class did the "best friends exercise", Luke told me that Alex put Luke down as his best friend! Wow! And it doesn't stop there!
The other great thing that happened is that Luke is up for a "FISH Award"! A Fish Award are for students who are recognized for going "above and beyond" in some way--it could be in school work, helping others or accomplishing a goal. Luke's award is for standing up for himself for the first time the other day: a little girl who DAILY tells Luke that she doesn't like him again told him, "I don't like you." Usually Luke just slunks away when she says this, but that day he said to her: "That's mean. It hurts my feelings when you say that." A the little girl (who I found out has some problems of her own and doesn't mean to intentionally hurt others), looked surprised and said, "Oh, I'm sorry! I won't do that anymore." His teacher overheard this and praised Luke for standing up for himself and teaching the little girl about how words can hurt others, and so he's up for a Fish Award! (Max is also up for a Fish Award for something different that I'll have to talk about in a seperate post.)
So hopefully things are now only get better; it's definitely been an answer to prayer!
Yay!!!!! Lots of good news! I'm happy to read this!
ReplyDeleteHappy News. Thankful to God for bringing friends together. Thankful for prayers answered.
ReplyDeleteSo happy to hear that Luke is learning how to handle situations in a good way. Very hard to hear that your child is having a miserable time at school, but they do learn skills from going through it. My son was bullied during elementary school also. His "difference" was that he liked to read, was smart and wasn't interested in sports. The rest of the boys in his class were hockey fanatics and anyone who didn't like hockey was "weird". He became a very good judge of character, and later, in middle school, discovered a group of boys who shared his interests and are still his good friends today. Having him learn social skills will be a great help to him. How nice of Alex to go out of his way to be friendly! And to reconnect with James. Sounds like things are looking up for Luke! :)
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