All of the wisdom of my mentors was comforting through about age 9.  But when you feel like you are the only mom of a nine year old boy who can’t read – you start to wonder if the "Better Early than Late" crowd who spent hours each day drilling their young scholars to memorize facts might have had it right.  In the beginning – a mentor challenged me to find a spiral notebook – pray and have pencil ready to write down my thoughts while praying.  He said it would become my mission statement and my goals.  God did pour out a mission and plan for our learning family. I have gone back to pray with pencil in hand many times – and although some details crop up as we move on – the foundation has never faltered – for our family. During the 9 and 10 year old years – I had to go back to this mission more than once. Reassurance that we were on the right path. Prayer to ask if it was time to change course. "No" was always the answer to my request for change.  When Nate was 9 we went to a week long training on how to teach kids with learning differences.  The time had come to question why he could not remember anything written or told aloud.  I learned about dyslexia and the complexity of it.  I read areas that seemed to be a written documentary of our learning struggles.  Armed with new tools on how to teach differently to a child with learning differences – change came almost immediately. He started putting together the tools of the phonograms with the letters on the page.  The reading started to unfold.  One day we were riding in the car after another trip to the Library and I heard Nathan eagerly reading a book to his brother.  I almost got into an accident.  Excitement.  He progressed above and beyond what I thought even capable this year.  He has read back to back three books from the juvenile section that are over 200 pages each.  He went to ask the librarian for more and has read those four books the last 2-3 days.  The hunger is there. He has been switching off electronics to see what is happening in his stories. Books in the car. Books on the couch. Books all over his bed.  He turned 11 in February.   – and the voices of those who have gone before echo in my memory – somewhere between the ages of 10 and 12 they will just one day read – all of a sudden – and with the skill of those who have gone through days and days of constant training. And they were right.