Honor Roll!

R. made the A/B honor roll this term...whoo-hoo! He brought up all of his grades...every single one of them. We are so proud!

Oh, and he made it into the middle school we wanted for him. It has an emphasis on Global Awareness and is a partner with our local zoo (it is located right next to the zoo, in fact). I think it will be a good fit for him...I am getting excited about this new school and this new challenge for him.

Principal for the Day!

In what could be termed an amazing bit of irony, R. has been named "Principal for the Day" at his school this week! After all the trouble we've had with this principal over the years...sigh. Anyway, the good news is that he earned this by his good behavior at school, so I'm so thrilled and proud. Of course, R's first suggestion when he told me about this was that he should use his powers to cancel school that day! Cute kid...

He has been doing so well lately...no issues with outbursts at school in such a long time. He has finally made the connection between doing his homework as soon as he gets home and having free time to play video games, etc. He is maturing and it is so good to see that happening. We're now crossing our fingers in hopes that he gets into the middle school that we applied for in the lottery. We should know something on Feb. 16 when they do the drawing. And as soon as we know something, we will start meeting with the teachers, counselors, and principal there to discuss best strategies for him next year.

But, for now...we are happy that he is Principal for the Day!

So far, so good

R. has survived his re-entry back to school, and seems to be doing well. His resource teacher even told me that he is not spending that much time in her class because he is doing his work in his regular classroom...YAY! I cannot tell you what a great relief this is; I just hope it continues. I turned in his application for the magnet lottery this past week, so I'm in hopes that we'll get our first choice when it comes to middle school for him next year.

Movie update: isn't it tragic news about Heath Ledger? I loved him in Brokeback Mountain, and I'm so sad that he won't be around to see his little girl grow up. He will be missed.

D. and I saw The Diving Bell and the Butterfly last weekend...go see it! An amazing film in terms of cinematography, but also a unique character study. You are required to be present in this film like no other film I've ever seen.

HE HAD A GOOD DAY!!!

I can't believe it...we're only 1 1/2 weeks into the school year, and today, R. had a good day! He did his morning routine, did his work, and earned his prize he was working for today. HOORAY! I can't tell you how much this means to me. Just yesterday, the resource teacher was coming up with yet a new plan because R. had taken something from a classmate and ripped it up. It escalated into R. running at his teacher, but Mr. W (his teacher) followed the BIP (Behavior Improvement Plan) exactly, and a crisis was averted. But, today he followed the rules, did his work and earned a prize.

BIG SIGH! I know that it is just one day, but sometimes one day is all you need to have hope for the next one.

Better days

So, finally, someone came up with a better solution. R's resource (newspeak for special ed) teacher now meets him at the school doors each day and takes him to his regular classroom. He is comfortable with her since he's known her for over a year, and there is no "going from me directly to New Teacher" anxiety with R. anymore. I wouldn't say he goes to her happily, but there is no fight like there was last week. Big sigh of relief.

More R-isms:

(Talking at the dinner table about him being hungry during the school day):

Me: So, why do you think you are hungrier this year at school?

R: I think it's because lunch is sharper than it was last year.

Me: Sharper? What do you mean?

R: You know how they say "eleven o'clock sharp?" Sharper!

Me: Oh, you mean it's earlier than last year!

R: Right!

The way his mind works....

First day of school

Conversation in the car on the way to first day of 4th grade:

Me: So, do we need to go over your rules while you are at school?

R: No, I hate school. Why do I have to go?

Me: Well, it is your job, just like my job is to go to work and make money to support our family. Everyone has to either go to work or go to school.

R: What about kittens? Do they have to go to school or go to work?

Me: Well, no.

R: Then, why can't I stay home like the kittens?

Sigh. He didn't want to walk up the stairs (stopped halfway on them and didn't want to budge), he didn't want to go in his classroom, he didn't want to sit in his seat. It took me about 15 minutes, but I finally got him in his seat. And, then I left. Bless his new teacher, and I hope that he has better luck than I did this AM. I haven't had a call from school yet, so--fingers crossed.

All I could think about as I left the school was: I am so envious of all you other parents of kids who are calmly or excitedly sitting in their chairs right now.

Read this article!

It's a good one.

Kids come back from their dad's in a week...am I ready yet? Mostly. I am going to try a new "chore chart" system this year (but I'm not going to call it that). I've decided to use a visual chart/schedule for R. posted on a bulletin board in his bedroom, so that he can see what he needs to accomplish everyday. It's a modified version of FlyLady (whose system I've started using over the summer--it's working for me so far!). We'll see how it goes.

Appointment with Dr. J. (psychologist) today, and we'll be meeting with R's new teacher next week. Fingers crossed that this year goes better than last!

Another Brick in the Wall

I know I have a readership of about one now (Hi, Mom!), but if anyone reaches my blog due to the SSA issue (Standard School Attire), you can find more information at the MPASS website.

New Year

An update on R.: he was suspended on his 2nd day back at school due to hitting his teacher. As I explained yet again to the principal how suspension to R. is like a reward (he gets to stay with mom! And doesn't have to go to school which he hates!), she basically admitted to me that the suspension was more about setting an example for the other kids than helping R. to deal with his problems. Anyway, I didn't fight it, so he was at work with me for one day, and he had in-school suspension for one day--both of which he enjoyed. I had him write an apology letter to his teacher, and had a long talk with her about some of the possible causes for the hitting incident. She was very gracious and she told me that she didn't want him suspended, but that it was the principal's decision. Whatever. At this point, I am just trying to keep R. off her radar screen and hope that we don't have any further incidents this year. When he got his most recent report card, he had brought all of his grades up (to A's and B's), so that was a definite plus. Also, after the suspension incident, I made an appointment to go see a new psychologist. We have seen Dr. J. 3 times now (once with just D. and me and twice with R. and me), and I think it is working for R. He really seems to like Dr. J., and looks forward to his visits with her. I hope she can give him some tools to deal with his aggressive and fearful feelings.

Sigh. Some good days, some not-so-good days. And so it goes...

A Very Good Day

R. had a very good morning today...he went into the school building without his headphones and with minimum fuss (albeit with no jacket on and it's cold here today...brrr!), walked right into his classroom, put his homework in the basket, said hello to his teacher, and sat down at his desk and got to work. Hallelujah. An everyday occurance for some kids is a day of celebration for R.

Big IEP meeting on Friday and R's tonsillectomy on the following Monday. Keep your fingers crossed for all of us!

R-ism

Today: phone call from school (of course, I'm freaking out as soon as I see the prefix on the caller ID, hoping that R. is not in trouble)

School secretary: Hi, this is R's school. R has had a small accident in the bathroom and is a little wet. The principal said that it was nothing much, but R wants a change of clothes.

Me: Is he there? Put him on the phone.

R: Hi, mommy.

Me: Are you just a little wet? Can you make it through the day?

R: No, I have pee on my underwear AND my pants.

Me: Well, it sounds like just a little...it's like water and it will dry.

R: It's not like water! You can't drink it!

Me: (big sigh)

I finally convinced him that he could make it through the day and didn't need to change his clothes. Note to self: make sure he has an extra change of clothes in his backpack tomorrow!

Mama Tiger

I couldn't even blog yesterday afternoon, I was so upset.

When I went to pick up R. from school early yesterday (to go to the dentist where he behaved AMAZINGLY well!), I found him in the principal's office wearing his headphones and typing text from a book into his adaptive computer. The principal then accosted me about why R. was refusing to do his work in the classroom and said, "well, if he refuses to do his work, then why is he here?" I'm looking at him contentedly typing into his computer on her floor and thinking, "if he's so utterly defiant, then why is he doing his work so happily right now?" Anyway, things went downhill after that. She kept pushing me to explain exactly what R. could and could not do and why, I kept telling her to read his file to get those answers and that I had to take him to his dentist appointment and why don't we schedule a meeting to talk about these things? I felt completely ambushed. She acted like this was just the last straw, when I had been so happy earlier that his behavior had evened out and he was not hitting, etc. any other kids this week.

The good news is that through my frustration yesterday, I did what I do best which is to call everyone I can think of...which led to me talking to a behavioral consultant today at our local Children's Hospital who deals with kids on the spectrum. D. and I are meeting with her in a few weeks, and she has already promised to serve as support for his classroom teacher and resource teacher. Plus, she already has some good ideas to keep him on task in the classroom.

Also, his teacher emailed me this morning to say that he was doing so much better today, and that they had figured out that he could dictate his writing to her (or another kid) and then have R. type their writing into his computer. How creative! And a much better solution than rushing to judgement and questioning the child's placement in a public school. Mama Tiger was out in full force today and yesterday...you don't want to mess with her!

**shout out to my friend, Sheri, for the Mama Tiger reference.