Our problems started when Stelios was three and an abusive nursery school teacher broke his confidence down to the point where he was hardly talking. Stelios didn’t take part in any classroom activities which meant he fell behind tremendously. By age six he had already visited occupational therapists, a clinical psychologist, a speech therapist, a play and language therapist. Medication was suggested and failing Grade 1 became a reality. Stelios passed Grade 1 by the skin of his teeth.
In Grade 2 he had a special remedial teacher appointed by the school and things looked a little better, but we knew something would have to be done. We had to choose between drugs or help from outside. In the third term of Grade 2 we enrolled him at Edublox.
The year-end report card was a little better but the real surprise came with his first report in Grade 3. My husband and I were in tears. As the teacher handed us the report card we looked at her thinking she had given us someone else’s report card. She kept talking and later looked confused at us saying, “So what do you think of the report?”
We replied, “This is not our child’s.”
“Yes it is, is there a problem?” she asked.
We started laughing and then crying. It was the best report card of his short school career. His marks had jumped by more than 20% on all subjects. He went from 3’s and 4’s on his report card to two 5’s and two 6’s. We were in absolute disbelief and shock. Finally, he got the marks we always knew he could get, and without any medication.
Another big change I noticed this year is his self confidence! He started playing rugby and tennis at school whereas before he was a “loner”, because he was lagging behind all the other kids.
Christa Charalambous
Klerksdorp
Stelios’s report card:
Christa Charalambous Stelios's mother
