Watch D.O.G.S. is a program that engages fathers in schools. Positive male role models are important for boys as well as girls, and having a positive male influence in a learning environment can be a powerful experience for a child. Primarily, the Watch D.O.G.S program has been an elementary-level program, completely run by volunteers, not administered by the school directly but usually via PTA organizations. I am signing up as a volunteer for the Evergreen School District and will be present at Covington Middle School with my daughter for one entire day, if not more.
My takeaway from the introduction meeting is not necessarily how wonderful this program is, which is definitely the impression I got about the program. It's not really the potential or the thought of influencing a child's life. It's how many men were there, estimating about 30, and how many of those took volunteer forms to fill out. Some wanted to fill them out immediately. It was amazing.
I am thrilled with the level of dad involvement at Covington. We have all heard the stereotypical dad scenario, overworked and not interested in being too involved with the children because the wife has that handled. This day and age, that is not as much the situation. Between two-income households where both parents are working, changes in work hours, and shifts in the dynamics of child-rearing, you would think it was obvious why men have that stereotype. However, it is more common, even if not enough so, to see a dad that has the responsibility of homework, parent-teacher conferences, extracurricular activities and, yes, even being the one volunteering at the school.
Consider joining the Watch D.O.G.S. program in your school, or start one up! Show your kid, and all the kids out there, that there is a positive male role model in town, and it's you!
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
Girlies updates
Alayna
We had originally been told that it would take about 2 months to get Alayna into the gait lab at Shriner's and to get her first set of casts. We were expecting that we'd be able to start PT and work on stretching and then to the casts. Well, last week, the day after our appointment actually, Shriner's called and set up ALL of Alayna's appointments.
Alayna goes in on the 7th to do the 2 hour gait lab, then she'll get molds done of her feet for the AFOs (ankle foot orthotics), lastly they'll stretch her feet and ankles and put the first set of casts on. She goes in the following week to get those casts removed and another set put on. A week later she goes in again to get the second set of casts off and new ones put on. A week later she goes in again to get the final set of casts off and get her AFOs. I'm really hoping for the best with all of this. I'd like to avoid surgery at all costs.
I also found a product called de-rotation straps. http://www.360oandp.com/products/186/SureStep-De-Rotation-Straps.aspx They're supposed to work very well, much like AFOs, and can hide well under clothing. Speak of that, I'm hoping that Alayna's jeans will fit over her casts, but I'm not sure how far up the casts will go and how thick they'll be. I've never had a cast before.
Brooklyn
I'm beginning to think that coming off of all of the medication may not have been the best choice, and that makes me ridiculously sad. I DESPISE giving my daughter medication, but based on the behavior of the last week, I think that some type of medication for the afternoons might be necessary. She's more out of control, even with the OT activities. Joe's taking an extra long lunch on Monday so that he can come to Brooklyn's behavior therapy with me so that we can talk to her therapist. We're also going to see her doctor next Thursday to discuss if maybe a low dose medication might help her out of control behavior at home after school and on weekends.
We did have a break through at therapy this last week. Brooklyn told her behavior therapist that she really misses me when she's at school, that she only gets to be with me all day long on the weekends and everyday used to be like the weekends :( My poor girl. Tomorrow I'm going to start volunteering in all of the kids' classrooms, so hopefully it'll help her get through the school day.
Brooklyn's OT suggested that we may want to look into martial arts lessons for her. The hope here is that it will give her body the proprioception it craves in an environment where she and others are safe; and also hopefully teach her that her aggression is wrong in a way that may work better. One of the biggest rules of martial arts is that you aren't allowed to use the skills to hurt others. So, we've been looking into martial arts studios in the area for her. But now both Aiden and Alayna want to do martial arts as well, LOL. We've found a place that offers one lesson a week for $45 a month or two lessons a week for $85 a month. I'd prefer to do one lesson a week for right now as we currently have enough weekly and bi-weekly appointments right now.
I'd REALLY like to get her into teakwon-do at the community center, but she has to be 7 to go there. The price is great though, $92 for 8 weeks of lessons 2 days a week.
I've also found another program that teacher jujitsu and karate, but it's $77 every 4 weeks. But, she can't go here until she's 6 (which is only a month and 10 days away, EEEKK!) and it's two days a week.
We're going to contact all the programs we've found and talk to them about Brooklyn. We need to be sure that where ever she's going can handle her special needs.
We had originally been told that it would take about 2 months to get Alayna into the gait lab at Shriner's and to get her first set of casts. We were expecting that we'd be able to start PT and work on stretching and then to the casts. Well, last week, the day after our appointment actually, Shriner's called and set up ALL of Alayna's appointments.
Alayna goes in on the 7th to do the 2 hour gait lab, then she'll get molds done of her feet for the AFOs (ankle foot orthotics), lastly they'll stretch her feet and ankles and put the first set of casts on. She goes in the following week to get those casts removed and another set put on. A week later she goes in again to get the second set of casts off and new ones put on. A week later she goes in again to get the final set of casts off and get her AFOs. I'm really hoping for the best with all of this. I'd like to avoid surgery at all costs.
I also found a product called de-rotation straps. http://www.360oandp.com/products/186/SureStep-De-Rotation-Straps.aspx They're supposed to work very well, much like AFOs, and can hide well under clothing. Speak of that, I'm hoping that Alayna's jeans will fit over her casts, but I'm not sure how far up the casts will go and how thick they'll be. I've never had a cast before.
Brooklyn
I'm beginning to think that coming off of all of the medication may not have been the best choice, and that makes me ridiculously sad. I DESPISE giving my daughter medication, but based on the behavior of the last week, I think that some type of medication for the afternoons might be necessary. She's more out of control, even with the OT activities. Joe's taking an extra long lunch on Monday so that he can come to Brooklyn's behavior therapy with me so that we can talk to her therapist. We're also going to see her doctor next Thursday to discuss if maybe a low dose medication might help her out of control behavior at home after school and on weekends.
We did have a break through at therapy this last week. Brooklyn told her behavior therapist that she really misses me when she's at school, that she only gets to be with me all day long on the weekends and everyday used to be like the weekends :( My poor girl. Tomorrow I'm going to start volunteering in all of the kids' classrooms, so hopefully it'll help her get through the school day.
Brooklyn's OT suggested that we may want to look into martial arts lessons for her. The hope here is that it will give her body the proprioception it craves in an environment where she and others are safe; and also hopefully teach her that her aggression is wrong in a way that may work better. One of the biggest rules of martial arts is that you aren't allowed to use the skills to hurt others. So, we've been looking into martial arts studios in the area for her. But now both Aiden and Alayna want to do martial arts as well, LOL. We've found a place that offers one lesson a week for $45 a month or two lessons a week for $85 a month. I'd prefer to do one lesson a week for right now as we currently have enough weekly and bi-weekly appointments right now.
I'd REALLY like to get her into teakwon-do at the community center, but she has to be 7 to go there. The price is great though, $92 for 8 weeks of lessons 2 days a week.
I've also found another program that teacher jujitsu and karate, but it's $77 every 4 weeks. But, she can't go here until she's 6 (which is only a month and 10 days away, EEEKK!) and it's two days a week.
We're going to contact all the programs we've found and talk to them about Brooklyn. We need to be sure that where ever she's going can handle her special needs.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Feet and legs and school conferences
Today was Alayna's appointment at Shriner's Children's Hospital in Portland, OR. We saw a great orthopedic surgeon who used to be the Chief of Staff at the Honolulu, Hawaii Shriner's hospital. It was a LONG visit. It started with checking in, I of course thought, "I'm not driving, I don't need my purse." Um... Yea, our insurance cards are in my purse. (Joe has fax the cards into the hospital tomorrow.) Thankfully they were really great about that. Joe had to fill out a limited power of attorney form for me to be able to bring Alayna in for any other appointments.
They called us back a bit early, which was great because we arrived a good 30 minutes before our appointment time. They took Alayna's height and weight and all of our papers. The first doctor who came in to see Alayna was a doctor who was studying here in the US from Australia. He was really nice. He asked us about Alayna's life, from birth to now. He pushed, pulled, and prodded her arms and legs checking her range of motion and reflexes. She has little to no reflexes in her arms. After all of that he had Alayna walked up and down the hallway to watch how she walks. She does walk with a heel-toe gait on her right foot most of the time, but her left foot is almost always flat. He also noticed our concerns with her hips.
We went back into the room and waited some more. The nurse who works with the doctor we'll be seeing came in to check on us and explain how everything will work. Since Shriner's in Portland is a teaching hospital we'll end up seeing LOTS of doctors. Around this time we also discovered that Shriner's has a little table with snacks out in the hallway. Coffee, hot water for cocoa and tea, ice water, goldfish crackers, fruit roll ups, crackers, raisins, etc. Bella had all sorts of snacks while we waited, LOL
Finally the doctor came in and did some of the same stretches as the first doctor. She also watched Alayna walk up and down the hallway. She ordered x-rays of Alayna's hips. At that time I took Bella up to the third floor to the Halloween party they were having for the kids at the hospital. Bella got to paint a pumpkin, eat cookies, pick a toy, and play. We headed back down to check on Alayna and walked in on the tail end of a VERY important conversation between the doctors, the physical therapists they brought in, and the nurse.
As far as Alayna's hips are concerned they ARE turned out, at this point the doctors think it would be best to leave them alone though as it's something that Alayna can live with. With her muscles, ankles, and feet we have three options; treatment depends on our goals. Prior to any treatment they want Alayna to go in for a gait lab, which basically means they're going to record her walking and running to determine how to best help her. On to the options.
Option 1. Leave them alone and find a way to help Alayna work around it; however people who have the same problems as Alayna tend to have a lot of problems with walking, running, and tiring quickly (which Alayna does have trouble with).
Option 2. Is to do casting. Alayna will go in for casts to be placed on both feet and ankles. They will stretch Alayna's muscles out and then put the casts on. Alayna will have the walking boot over the casts. The goal of the casts is to stretch her muscles little by little. She will wear the set of casts for 10-14 days at which point we'll go back up to the hospital and get the casts off. They'll stretch her ankles and feet again and then put on new casts. We'll do this for about 6 weeks. At which point Alayna will get braces to continue the stretching.
Option 3 (which no one is really fond of) is surgery. The surgery to loosen her muscles to allow her to walk flat on her feet would take about an hour and she'd go home later that day. The surgery to turn her feet in the way they should be would be about 3-4 hours. It would require a 3-4 day hospital stay, and Alayna would leave the hospital using a walker.
In the event that option 2 doesn't work, we may still end up with option 3.
Joe and I have decided that we're going to go with option 2. Obviously we're working our tails off to meet Alayna's needs so we don't really like option 1 at all, and option 3 seems to be REALLY invasive, especially considering that we have another option.
Shriner's is going to call us to schedule the gait lab. That'll be a good 2 hours, after the gait lab Alayna will get her first set of casts. We aren't sure how far out that will be scheduled, but the doctor said it could be up to 2 months. The plus side to that is we'll have established physical therapy at that point and it'll give us a couple months to see how regular PT and follow through of exercises will work in helping Alayna.
OK, onto school conferences.
Brooklyn:
OK, so Brooklyn did NOT tell anyone about what happened to her face. I've spoken with everyone possible about it. Miss Karla said she does talk to Brooklyn almost every day, but that Brooklyn did not come to her.
Brooklyn still rarely speaks in class. She has show some GREAT reading skills and excellent math skills. Her writing skills... Not so hot. She can write ALL of her letters upper and lower case. When it's writing time the kids draw pictures and then write a bit about what their pictures are about. Brooklyn just writes her alphabet (upper and lower case) along the bottom of her picture. We discussed how Brooklyn can write words at home, but generally asks us what words she should spell first. So, her teacher said she could start doing that with Brooklyn when she draws.
I feel better about Brooklyn's teacher after today's meeting. I'm still not 100% about her, but I definitely feel better about her. We're still working towards an IEP for Brooklyn. I'm a bit frustrated that it's taken so long, especially after they have been so great at getting Alayna's done so quickly.
Aiden:
Aiden is doing great. His teacher had a LOT of great things to say about him :) He has EXCELLENT math skills, although he still needs to focus on memorizing his multiplication facts (which is where he and his class are right now). His teacher said that she's confident that she can put anything possible in front of Aiden to read and she knows that he could read it and understand it. His writing is still a struggle, but we're working on that both at home and at school. He's going to start speech therapy at school with the speech therapist for the stuttering. He hasn't out grown it and it's getting in his way of reading aloud.
Alayna:
There's never anything bad to say about Alayna :) Her teacher had each of the kids make their own goals with math, reading, and other. Alayna's goals are: to get better at geometry, have better fluency in reading, and to get better at making friends. We decided to keep those goals, but just amend the friend one to "make at least one good friend". We also agreed on how we would help Alayna meet those goals both in the classroom and at home.
Alayna's mom also showed up at the conference, so that was great. We were able to talk to her about the options we were given at Shriner's and the contacts that Alayna's eye doctor prescribed. She agrees with us that casts would be the best option and that we should try the contacts.
We are FINALLY home, dinner is done, homework is done, and I am ready to crash!
They called us back a bit early, which was great because we arrived a good 30 minutes before our appointment time. They took Alayna's height and weight and all of our papers. The first doctor who came in to see Alayna was a doctor who was studying here in the US from Australia. He was really nice. He asked us about Alayna's life, from birth to now. He pushed, pulled, and prodded her arms and legs checking her range of motion and reflexes. She has little to no reflexes in her arms. After all of that he had Alayna walked up and down the hallway to watch how she walks. She does walk with a heel-toe gait on her right foot most of the time, but her left foot is almost always flat. He also noticed our concerns with her hips.
We went back into the room and waited some more. The nurse who works with the doctor we'll be seeing came in to check on us and explain how everything will work. Since Shriner's in Portland is a teaching hospital we'll end up seeing LOTS of doctors. Around this time we also discovered that Shriner's has a little table with snacks out in the hallway. Coffee, hot water for cocoa and tea, ice water, goldfish crackers, fruit roll ups, crackers, raisins, etc. Bella had all sorts of snacks while we waited, LOL
Finally the doctor came in and did some of the same stretches as the first doctor. She also watched Alayna walk up and down the hallway. She ordered x-rays of Alayna's hips. At that time I took Bella up to the third floor to the Halloween party they were having for the kids at the hospital. Bella got to paint a pumpkin, eat cookies, pick a toy, and play. We headed back down to check on Alayna and walked in on the tail end of a VERY important conversation between the doctors, the physical therapists they brought in, and the nurse.
As far as Alayna's hips are concerned they ARE turned out, at this point the doctors think it would be best to leave them alone though as it's something that Alayna can live with. With her muscles, ankles, and feet we have three options; treatment depends on our goals. Prior to any treatment they want Alayna to go in for a gait lab, which basically means they're going to record her walking and running to determine how to best help her. On to the options.
Option 1. Leave them alone and find a way to help Alayna work around it; however people who have the same problems as Alayna tend to have a lot of problems with walking, running, and tiring quickly (which Alayna does have trouble with).
Option 2. Is to do casting. Alayna will go in for casts to be placed on both feet and ankles. They will stretch Alayna's muscles out and then put the casts on. Alayna will have the walking boot over the casts. The goal of the casts is to stretch her muscles little by little. She will wear the set of casts for 10-14 days at which point we'll go back up to the hospital and get the casts off. They'll stretch her ankles and feet again and then put on new casts. We'll do this for about 6 weeks. At which point Alayna will get braces to continue the stretching.
Option 3 (which no one is really fond of) is surgery. The surgery to loosen her muscles to allow her to walk flat on her feet would take about an hour and she'd go home later that day. The surgery to turn her feet in the way they should be would be about 3-4 hours. It would require a 3-4 day hospital stay, and Alayna would leave the hospital using a walker.
In the event that option 2 doesn't work, we may still end up with option 3.
Joe and I have decided that we're going to go with option 2. Obviously we're working our tails off to meet Alayna's needs so we don't really like option 1 at all, and option 3 seems to be REALLY invasive, especially considering that we have another option.
Shriner's is going to call us to schedule the gait lab. That'll be a good 2 hours, after the gait lab Alayna will get her first set of casts. We aren't sure how far out that will be scheduled, but the doctor said it could be up to 2 months. The plus side to that is we'll have established physical therapy at that point and it'll give us a couple months to see how regular PT and follow through of exercises will work in helping Alayna.
OK, onto school conferences.
Brooklyn:
OK, so Brooklyn did NOT tell anyone about what happened to her face. I've spoken with everyone possible about it. Miss Karla said she does talk to Brooklyn almost every day, but that Brooklyn did not come to her.
Brooklyn still rarely speaks in class. She has show some GREAT reading skills and excellent math skills. Her writing skills... Not so hot. She can write ALL of her letters upper and lower case. When it's writing time the kids draw pictures and then write a bit about what their pictures are about. Brooklyn just writes her alphabet (upper and lower case) along the bottom of her picture. We discussed how Brooklyn can write words at home, but generally asks us what words she should spell first. So, her teacher said she could start doing that with Brooklyn when she draws.
I feel better about Brooklyn's teacher after today's meeting. I'm still not 100% about her, but I definitely feel better about her. We're still working towards an IEP for Brooklyn. I'm a bit frustrated that it's taken so long, especially after they have been so great at getting Alayna's done so quickly.
Aiden:
Aiden is doing great. His teacher had a LOT of great things to say about him :) He has EXCELLENT math skills, although he still needs to focus on memorizing his multiplication facts (which is where he and his class are right now). His teacher said that she's confident that she can put anything possible in front of Aiden to read and she knows that he could read it and understand it. His writing is still a struggle, but we're working on that both at home and at school. He's going to start speech therapy at school with the speech therapist for the stuttering. He hasn't out grown it and it's getting in his way of reading aloud.
Alayna:
There's never anything bad to say about Alayna :) Her teacher had each of the kids make their own goals with math, reading, and other. Alayna's goals are: to get better at geometry, have better fluency in reading, and to get better at making friends. We decided to keep those goals, but just amend the friend one to "make at least one good friend". We also agreed on how we would help Alayna meet those goals both in the classroom and at home.
Alayna's mom also showed up at the conference, so that was great. We were able to talk to her about the options we were given at Shriner's and the contacts that Alayna's eye doctor prescribed. She agrees with us that casts would be the best option and that we should try the contacts.
We are FINALLY home, dinner is done, homework is done, and I am ready to crash!
Wednesday, October 24, 2012
School and Brooklyn
Yesterday my girl came home from school with what looked like a scratch from a fork on her face. It was 3 lines one on top of the other, each about an inch long across her face. I instantly ask her what happened to her face, she says, "I don't know." I keep asking leading questions: Did you get hurt at school? Did someone scratch you with a fork? Did you get hurt in the classroom? Did you get hurt at recess? Every answer was "I don't know". I kept coming back to the questions and I finally got it out of her that it happened at recess. A couple hours later I find out she got hit in the face with a stick at recess. An hour or so after that I find out that Lincoln, a kid in another classroom, hit her in the face with a stick at recess and that she told the recess duty and that Lincoln was sent in from recess.
I ask her if she told HER teacher, and she says, "Yes, I told Mrs. Lind." OK great. The teacher knows. I think, "Duh, why didn't I think of it earlier! They probably sent a note home!" I usually only check Brooklyn's backpack on Fridays, as that is the only day they send anything home with her. I look, NOTHING! Well, now I'm starting to get a bit mad. My girl was hit in the face with a stick, the marks are VERY obvious to anyone looking AT her, and there's no note.
See, a couple weeks into school Brooklyn accidentally scratched another kid with her pencil. Brooklyn likes to swing things around and was swinging her pencil around (not the safest activity) and scratched a boy on the leg. The teacher asked Brooklyn and the boy what happened, Brooklyn clammed up and refused to talk (this is pretty typical). Because the teacher couldn't find out if it was on purpose or an accident Brooklyn lost half of her recess. I had gone into school to volunteer at the book fair, and when I went in the teacher saw me and told me about it. BUT, she did it in front of other parents who could hear every word, and I then had to wait an hour (until the end of the day) to talk to Brooklyn about it.
After school I got her from class and we were waiting for the other kids, so I was talking to her about what happened. I was also there when the teacher told the boy's mom what happened, obviously Brooklyn could ALSO hear this as she was standing right next to me. It didn't break the skin, but they cleaned it up and put a bandaid over it. Brooklyn finally said it was an accident, but not she's scared of her teacher because she thinks she's going to be in trouble again. I went up to the teacher with Brooklyn and told her that, the teacher tried to make Brooklyn feel better and said that Brooklyn wasn't in trouble and that tomorrow was a new day.
OK, well, that's kind of a LOT for a simple pencil scratch on the leg. My girl got HIT IN THE FREAKING FACE WITH A STICK AND THIS MORNING THE MARK WAS STILL THERE!! It's reasonable to assume that anyone LOOKING at her would notice THREE 1 inch long raised scratch marks across her face!
Obviously I'm really pissed. I do not tend to think rationally when I'm angry, especially when it's about my children. So, I waited for Joe to get home and we discussed it, I'm still really pissed, and now he's mad too. Again, this isn't because Brooklyn got hurt at school, it happens. Heck, Aiden ran into a pole at school splitting his forehead open requiring a good 8 stitches to put it back together. The issue here is that we should have been contacted in some way to let us know our child was hurt at school. I mean, look at everything the teacher went through to make sure both parents knew about the pencil scratch that didn't even break the skin? It seems pretty obvious to me that it's reasonable to assume that MY child would get the same treatment. Apparently not. I shouldn't have had to ask leading questions for a good 3-4 hours to find out what happened to my child.
So, Joe sent an email, explaining all of this in a much nicer, more appropriate way, and asked for a response from the teacher. This morning we got one. Would you like to read it? Here it is, all ONE sentence: "I was not informed about the incident but will look into it today." Yep, that's ALL she had to say about it. I'm sorry, did you not SEE the mark on her face? Silly me, I assumed that the teacher would LOOK at my child. Plus, Brooklyn says she told her teacher (although I can't know for sure, but it's not very Brooklyn like to lie and when she does it's to try getting out of trouble, not anything like this). The marks are about an inch long and about an inch to an inch and half tall ON HER FACE!!
Here's my problem, I feel like Brooklyn's been written off already by this teacher. She heard she has a kid coming into her classroom with ADHD and made a pre-judgement about her. The teacher has been a teacher for 32 years, she has a LOT of experience teaching and I'm not knocking that. But, every step of the way I've had issues. I try talking to her about Brooklyn, I get brushed off. I try talking to her again about Brooklyn's academic skill sets at home verses what she's doing at school, I get brushed off again AFTER I'm told that it's impossible for Brooklyn to be doing the level of work she's doing at home. Now this?
I'm SERIOUSLY supposed to trust this woman with my child, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week??
OK, so I'm very emotional right now, which really doesn't help. I don't know if I'm over reacting or not. To be honest, I do tend to over react, especially when it comes to my kids. I get into "angry momma bear" mode and kinda get stuck there. Call me crazy, but I expected that the teacher would treat an injury to my child as just as important as an injury to another child. This, coupled with the above mentioned issues of being brushed off by the teacher and I'm LIVID!
We're supposed to have parent teacher conferences tomorrow and I'd like nothing more than to go into the school and DEMAND that my child be moved to another classroom. I don't want to be THAT parent. I'd like to be able to calmly and rationally discuss things... However, that's not generally how I work. I imagine that Joe's going to have to take lead on most of the talking with Brooklyn's teacher. If I don't feel as if my questions and concerns are answered tomorrow, I'm making an appointment to speak with the principal or assistant principal about getting a different teacher.
I ask her if she told HER teacher, and she says, "Yes, I told Mrs. Lind." OK great. The teacher knows. I think, "Duh, why didn't I think of it earlier! They probably sent a note home!" I usually only check Brooklyn's backpack on Fridays, as that is the only day they send anything home with her. I look, NOTHING! Well, now I'm starting to get a bit mad. My girl was hit in the face with a stick, the marks are VERY obvious to anyone looking AT her, and there's no note.
See, a couple weeks into school Brooklyn accidentally scratched another kid with her pencil. Brooklyn likes to swing things around and was swinging her pencil around (not the safest activity) and scratched a boy on the leg. The teacher asked Brooklyn and the boy what happened, Brooklyn clammed up and refused to talk (this is pretty typical). Because the teacher couldn't find out if it was on purpose or an accident Brooklyn lost half of her recess. I had gone into school to volunteer at the book fair, and when I went in the teacher saw me and told me about it. BUT, she did it in front of other parents who could hear every word, and I then had to wait an hour (until the end of the day) to talk to Brooklyn about it.
After school I got her from class and we were waiting for the other kids, so I was talking to her about what happened. I was also there when the teacher told the boy's mom what happened, obviously Brooklyn could ALSO hear this as she was standing right next to me. It didn't break the skin, but they cleaned it up and put a bandaid over it. Brooklyn finally said it was an accident, but not she's scared of her teacher because she thinks she's going to be in trouble again. I went up to the teacher with Brooklyn and told her that, the teacher tried to make Brooklyn feel better and said that Brooklyn wasn't in trouble and that tomorrow was a new day.
OK, well, that's kind of a LOT for a simple pencil scratch on the leg. My girl got HIT IN THE FREAKING FACE WITH A STICK AND THIS MORNING THE MARK WAS STILL THERE!! It's reasonable to assume that anyone LOOKING at her would notice THREE 1 inch long raised scratch marks across her face!
Obviously I'm really pissed. I do not tend to think rationally when I'm angry, especially when it's about my children. So, I waited for Joe to get home and we discussed it, I'm still really pissed, and now he's mad too. Again, this isn't because Brooklyn got hurt at school, it happens. Heck, Aiden ran into a pole at school splitting his forehead open requiring a good 8 stitches to put it back together. The issue here is that we should have been contacted in some way to let us know our child was hurt at school. I mean, look at everything the teacher went through to make sure both parents knew about the pencil scratch that didn't even break the skin? It seems pretty obvious to me that it's reasonable to assume that MY child would get the same treatment. Apparently not. I shouldn't have had to ask leading questions for a good 3-4 hours to find out what happened to my child.
So, Joe sent an email, explaining all of this in a much nicer, more appropriate way, and asked for a response from the teacher. This morning we got one. Would you like to read it? Here it is, all ONE sentence: "I was not informed about the incident but will look into it today." Yep, that's ALL she had to say about it. I'm sorry, did you not SEE the mark on her face? Silly me, I assumed that the teacher would LOOK at my child. Plus, Brooklyn says she told her teacher (although I can't know for sure, but it's not very Brooklyn like to lie and when she does it's to try getting out of trouble, not anything like this). The marks are about an inch long and about an inch to an inch and half tall ON HER FACE!!
Here's my problem, I feel like Brooklyn's been written off already by this teacher. She heard she has a kid coming into her classroom with ADHD and made a pre-judgement about her. The teacher has been a teacher for 32 years, she has a LOT of experience teaching and I'm not knocking that. But, every step of the way I've had issues. I try talking to her about Brooklyn, I get brushed off. I try talking to her again about Brooklyn's academic skill sets at home verses what she's doing at school, I get brushed off again AFTER I'm told that it's impossible for Brooklyn to be doing the level of work she's doing at home. Now this?
I'm SERIOUSLY supposed to trust this woman with my child, 6 hours a day, 5 days a week??
OK, so I'm very emotional right now, which really doesn't help. I don't know if I'm over reacting or not. To be honest, I do tend to over react, especially when it comes to my kids. I get into "angry momma bear" mode and kinda get stuck there. Call me crazy, but I expected that the teacher would treat an injury to my child as just as important as an injury to another child. This, coupled with the above mentioned issues of being brushed off by the teacher and I'm LIVID!
We're supposed to have parent teacher conferences tomorrow and I'd like nothing more than to go into the school and DEMAND that my child be moved to another classroom. I don't want to be THAT parent. I'd like to be able to calmly and rationally discuss things... However, that's not generally how I work. I imagine that Joe's going to have to take lead on most of the talking with Brooklyn's teacher. If I don't feel as if my questions and concerns are answered tomorrow, I'm making an appointment to speak with the principal or assistant principal about getting a different teacher.
Monday, October 1, 2012
We have the OT report FINALLY!
I spoke with Brooklyn's therapist today about the OT report as well as all of my notes about Brooklyn and how they related to Asperger's Syndrome. I also spoke with her about the medications Brooklyn is on, and my desire to have her off of them, especially considering that Brooklyn's behavior at school is no different on or off her medication. So, I have to talk it over with Joe and then talk it over with Brooklyn's psychiatrist about taking her off of the Adderall but keeping her on the Tenex/Guanfacine, and having her take it at lunch and again after school when she gets home.
I'm going to try to observe Brooklyn at school, both in the classroom and out on the playground. I want to see how she interacts with the other kids in both the classroom environment and out on the playground.
Well, we FINALLY got the OT report from Brooklyn's evaluation.
Here's the results:
Brooklyn has officially been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder (AKA Sensory Processing Disorder).
She's in the 1st percentile for personal responsibility and the 14th percentile for adaptive domain.
I don't know exactly what all of the numbers mean, but basically a score outside of typical performance shows a difference between her and her typically developing peers.
The rest of the scores are a bit weird, basically the higher the "score" the more "typically developing" she is.
Factor
Sensory seeing: 21 out of 85 (definite difference)
Emotionally reactive: 55 out of 80 (probable difference)
Low Endurace/Tone 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Oral Sensory Sensitivity 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Inattention/Distractability 24/35 (probably difference)
Poor Registration 28 out of 40 (definite difference)
Sensory Sensitivity 20 out of 20 (typical performance)
Sedentary 17 out of 20 (typical performance)
Fine motor/perceptual 11 out of 15 (typical performance)
Sensory Processing:
Auditory Processing 30 out of 40 (typical performance)
Visual processing 37 out of 45 (typical performance)
Vestibular Processing 37 out of 55 (definite difference)
Touch processing 56 out of 90 (definite difference)
multisensory processing 20 out of 35 (definite difference)
oral sensory processing 50 out of 60 (typical performance)
Modulation
Sensory Processing Related to Endurace/tone 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Modulation related to Body position and movement 28 out of 50 (definite difference)
Modulation of movement affecting activity level 22 out of 35 (probably difference)
Modulation of sensory input affecting emotional responses 15 out of 20 (probable difference)
Modulation of visual input affecting emotional responses and activity level 14 out of 20 (probable difference)
Behavior and emotional responses
Emotional/social responses 60 out of 85 (probably difference)
Behavioral outcome of Sensory Processing 19 out of 30 (probably difference)
Items indicating Thresholds for response 9 out of 15 (definite difference)
I'm going to try to observe Brooklyn at school, both in the classroom and out on the playground. I want to see how she interacts with the other kids in both the classroom environment and out on the playground.
Well, we FINALLY got the OT report from Brooklyn's evaluation.
Here's the results:
Brooklyn has officially been diagnosed with Sensory Integration Disorder (AKA Sensory Processing Disorder).
She's in the 1st percentile for personal responsibility and the 14th percentile for adaptive domain.
I don't know exactly what all of the numbers mean, but basically a score outside of typical performance shows a difference between her and her typically developing peers.
The rest of the scores are a bit weird, basically the higher the "score" the more "typically developing" she is.
Factor
Sensory seeing: 21 out of 85 (definite difference)
Emotionally reactive: 55 out of 80 (probable difference)
Low Endurace/Tone 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Oral Sensory Sensitivity 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Inattention/Distractability 24/35 (probably difference)
Poor Registration 28 out of 40 (definite difference)
Sensory Sensitivity 20 out of 20 (typical performance)
Sedentary 17 out of 20 (typical performance)
Fine motor/perceptual 11 out of 15 (typical performance)
Sensory Processing:
Auditory Processing 30 out of 40 (typical performance)
Visual processing 37 out of 45 (typical performance)
Vestibular Processing 37 out of 55 (definite difference)
Touch processing 56 out of 90 (definite difference)
multisensory processing 20 out of 35 (definite difference)
oral sensory processing 50 out of 60 (typical performance)
Modulation
Sensory Processing Related to Endurace/tone 45 out of 45 (typical performance)
Modulation related to Body position and movement 28 out of 50 (definite difference)
Modulation of movement affecting activity level 22 out of 35 (probably difference)
Modulation of sensory input affecting emotional responses 15 out of 20 (probable difference)
Modulation of visual input affecting emotional responses and activity level 14 out of 20 (probable difference)
Behavior and emotional responses
Emotional/social responses 60 out of 85 (probably difference)
Behavioral outcome of Sensory Processing 19 out of 30 (probably difference)
Items indicating Thresholds for response 9 out of 15 (definite difference)
Thursday, September 27, 2012
Non-verbal at the worst times!
Brooklyn does this thing where she becomes non verbal when she's upset. Not just angry, but also sad or scared. She won't talk, won't make eye contact, basically she just does her best to give you the cold shoulder. Joe and I have found our ways around it, usually we can give her the space she needs and she'll tell us what's up or we can talk her out of it at times.
Well, today at school it happened with the teacher. Brooklyn is not overly vocal at school. In fact Brooklyn wont speak to the teacher unless it is ABSOLUTELY 100% necessary (asking to go to the bathroom, responding to a question, etc). Today Brooklyn scratched another child with a pencil. The boy sitting next to her had a good size red mark on his leg, but it didn't break the skin. The teacher asked Brooklyn what happened and Brooklyn became 100% non-verbal. Refusing to make eye contact, refusing to say sorry to the boy, refusing to even give her side of the story. Brooklyn missed part of recess in punishment for hurting the boy.
I ran into the teacher while I was volunteering at the book fair and she explained what happened to me. Thankfully this gave me a bit of time to think about how it would be best to approach Brooklyn later that afternoon. When I got her from class we stood away from all the people, and while we were waiting for Aiden and Alayna I asked her about what happened. She went non-verbal. So, I held her hands (something that tends to help at times) and asked if she meant to hurt him, she finally said no. I asked her if he did something to her; hurt her, took something from her, said something mean, etc. She said no, it was an accident I didn't mean to do it.
So, my girl was punished for an accident :( I feel bad for her. But, I told her that if she doesn't tell her teacher what happened, if she doesn't give her side of the story this type of thing will happen. She may get into trouble for something she didn't mean to do. And this poor boy, thinking the girl next to him just got mad for some reason and tried to slice his leg open with a pencil... Brooklyn also said she was scared she'd get into more trouble, either with me or with the teacher. I can say I really like how her teacher handled that. She took Brooklyn's hand and said "Sweetie, it's over. You already got in trouble for it, you can't get in trouble for it again."
Don't get me wrong, Brooklyn has had her issues with aggression. Generally Aiden is her target, less often her target is Bella. Those are really her only two targets, and only when she feels "justified". They didn't listen, Aiden tried to tell her what to do, someone took a toy, etc. Brooklyn has never had any aggression problems towards other kids. Her entire 6 months of pre-school last year she never reacted aggressively to any of the kids there, even when she would have been justified in doing so.
I wish I knew what was going through her head. I wish she could verbalize her thoughts and feelings for me. I wish I could do something to help her.
Well, today at school it happened with the teacher. Brooklyn is not overly vocal at school. In fact Brooklyn wont speak to the teacher unless it is ABSOLUTELY 100% necessary (asking to go to the bathroom, responding to a question, etc). Today Brooklyn scratched another child with a pencil. The boy sitting next to her had a good size red mark on his leg, but it didn't break the skin. The teacher asked Brooklyn what happened and Brooklyn became 100% non-verbal. Refusing to make eye contact, refusing to say sorry to the boy, refusing to even give her side of the story. Brooklyn missed part of recess in punishment for hurting the boy.
I ran into the teacher while I was volunteering at the book fair and she explained what happened to me. Thankfully this gave me a bit of time to think about how it would be best to approach Brooklyn later that afternoon. When I got her from class we stood away from all the people, and while we were waiting for Aiden and Alayna I asked her about what happened. She went non-verbal. So, I held her hands (something that tends to help at times) and asked if she meant to hurt him, she finally said no. I asked her if he did something to her; hurt her, took something from her, said something mean, etc. She said no, it was an accident I didn't mean to do it.
So, my girl was punished for an accident :( I feel bad for her. But, I told her that if she doesn't tell her teacher what happened, if she doesn't give her side of the story this type of thing will happen. She may get into trouble for something she didn't mean to do. And this poor boy, thinking the girl next to him just got mad for some reason and tried to slice his leg open with a pencil... Brooklyn also said she was scared she'd get into more trouble, either with me or with the teacher. I can say I really like how her teacher handled that. She took Brooklyn's hand and said "Sweetie, it's over. You already got in trouble for it, you can't get in trouble for it again."
Don't get me wrong, Brooklyn has had her issues with aggression. Generally Aiden is her target, less often her target is Bella. Those are really her only two targets, and only when she feels "justified". They didn't listen, Aiden tried to tell her what to do, someone took a toy, etc. Brooklyn has never had any aggression problems towards other kids. Her entire 6 months of pre-school last year she never reacted aggressively to any of the kids there, even when she would have been justified in doing so.
I wish I knew what was going through her head. I wish she could verbalize her thoughts and feelings for me. I wish I could do something to help her.
Monday, September 24, 2012
Morning after pill made available to kids as young as 14, at schools
http://foxnewsinsider.com/2012/09/24/new-york-city-schools-offering-morning-after-pills-to-students-as-young-as-14/
First off, the morning after pill doesn't KILL anything. There's nothing to KILL at that point. The egg isn't even fertilized! Please, educate yourself before you open your mouth. Let's have a quick educational lesson: the morning after pill works the same way as a regular birth control pill. It is actually just a higher dose of what's regularly called the "mini-pill" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progestogen-only_pill) which is used most often by breastfeeding mothers. It works by delaying ovulation and making it hard for the sperm to get to the egg to fertilize it. In the event that the egg does get fertilized this pill also makes the lining of the uterus hard for a fertilized egg to attach to, thus never resulting in an actual pregnancy.
So, now that you know how it works, you can now decide if you think it's OK for 14 year olds to have access to it.
As the mother of 4 children, 3 of whom are girls, the eldest of which is 12, I think this is most DEFINITELY a parental issue. Do I want the schools teaching my kids about sex? No way! There's the basic sex-ed talk in 5th grade and then health in 9th grade (although, it may be 8th now, it's been a LONG time since I've been in school, LOL). I can exempt my kids from those classes if I'd like. However, I don't want sex to be a scary word. I don't want it to be taboo. I want my kids to be able to come to me and ask questions, I want them to be responsible and understand there's more to sex than the actual act itself.
But, I also know that I am in the minority here as far as parents go. My husband and I actively talk to our children. Sex isn't some taboo subject that they're just told no about. I know chances are that my children will probably have sex before marriage. My goal is to make sure that WHEN they decide they are ready they have the information necessary to make intelligent decisions. Sex is to make babies, if you aren't even old enough to get a job, you shouldn't be having sex. If you aren't old enough to work full time, you shouldn't be having sex. If you don't plan to raise a baby WITH your partner, you shouldn't be having sex. Because let's be honest, condoms and birth control BOTH have failure rates that result in pregnancies.
Here's the deal. Most sexually active teens are doing it by choice. And I'd say more than half of those kids have parents that are probably not all that involved in their lives. Generally those parents either don't care if their kid is having sex or they prefer to think that their kid isn't. I call that "ostrich syndrome", the If-I-Don't-See-It-It's-Not-Happening style of parenting. So, when their kid ends up on 16 and pregnant its a HUGE shock to them. Think about this: if a kid is scared to tell their parents they're having sex do you think it's going to be ANY easier to tell their parents they're having sex AND pregnant? I think a fairly logical solution is to make birth control available to those teenagers already having sex.
Having access to birth control doesn't mean that your kid IS going to have sex, and removing any access to birth control doesn't mean your kid ISN'T going to have sex. The best option here is EDUCATION! Educate kids on sex. Don't just tell your kids no. Talk about the diseases that DO destroy lives. Untreated syphilis can KILL you, it can literally make you go crazy. How about AIDS? There's no cure. Look at a person's face and determine if they have AIDS, you can't. How about genital warts or herpes? Think those cold sores are yucky? Wait until you have some in your pants. For women, STDs are even more dangerous. Women don't have the same symptoms as men as infections in women are on the INSIDE of the body. So, it's easier for women to end up with lifelong consequences of STDs, infertility and even death in a worst case scenario.
Education is the answer here. But, what does along with education is being able to trust your child to make the right decisions. You can't control your child. Every choice they make is a decision THEY get to make. And as they get older they start making more and more decisions on their own. You can't walk around behind them telling them to make this decision or that one their entire lives. The best option you have is to give your child the information they need to make the best decision for them. If they think it's a good idea to have sex, they should at least be doing it responsibly with birth control and condoms.
Do I want my children, ANY of them, having sex as teenagers? No way, not a chance! And I will be doing my best to encourage them to wait. However, if they decide not to wait, I'd like to make sure that 1. They trust me, as their mother, enough to be honest with me, and 2. That they are being smart about it. And that means making sure they have access to birth control and condoms.
Friday, September 21, 2012
Big updates, sorry, I've been slacking!
OK, updates for Miss Brookie. She is LOVING school and doing awesome at school, ZERO behavior or academic issues. She's really thriving on the routine and structure of school. Downside, her teacher is not so great. The one time I tried to talk to her about Brooklyn's skill levels she brushed me off. Her only response was that the math Brooklyn is doing at home is much too hard for a 5 year old. Um really? Then how come she can get the answers correct? It's not like she's doing multi digit multiplication. She's just doing double digit addition to 99 and subtraction from 19.
Because she's not having any issues with school (behavior or academic) our hands are kinda tied. She wouldn't qualify for an IEP or 504 plan which would be the only way for us to force the teacher into giving her harder course work. Our other options are to keep doing more complicated work with her at home and try to get her evaluated for being moved up to 1st grade, or to to keep doing more complicated work at home and wait for her to get bored and have issues at school.
Updates about Alayna! OK, so LOTS of appointments coming up. Physical therapy evaluation today, occupational therapy evaluation on October 4th, followed by an IEP meeting that same afternoon. Casey Eye Institute eye check on October 15th, and an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon at Shriner's Hospital on October 25th. This makes for a VERY busy family. All that doesn't include all of Brooklyn's appointments (weekly behavior modification and HOPFULLY soon bi-weekly OT).
Alayna is doing OK in school. She's made some friends, a few who live in the same apartment complex as us. She's struggling a bit with the homework. She often needs help with the spelling assignments as they are multiple steps and she gets lost after 1-2 steps. She has struggled with double digit multiplication, I'm not sure she learned it last year as she had no idea how to do it and I had to teach her this year. Her teacher is REALLY awesome. She's been great every time I've had to speak with her about how Alayna was doing in class. She's going to attend the IEP meeting, so it'll be nice to get her take on how Alayna is progressing.
Alayna is doing OK in school. She's made some friends, a few who live in the same apartment complex as us. She's struggling a bit with the homework. She often needs help with the spelling assignments as they are multiple steps and she gets lost after 1-2 steps. She has struggled with double digit multiplication, I'm not sure she learned it last year as she had no idea how to do it and I had to teach her this year. Her teacher is REALLY awesome. She's been great every time I've had to speak with her about how Alayna was doing in class. She's going to attend the IEP meeting, so it'll be nice to get her take on how Alayna is progressing.
Alayna is joining the "friendship" club at school. I think it should help as she really struggles with friends. She's just not at the same level as kids in her peer group (2 years behind her age group) and it causes issues with maintaining friendships.
So, those are the updates for now. I will update again once we know anything from any of the many appointments.
Monday, September 10, 2012
Meltdowns....
We had meltdowns all weekend. I think it's due to all of the changes lately, one half day of school just wasn't the best idea for introducing Kindergarten to the incoming students. We have made it part of our bedtime routine to talk with Brooklyn about the next day. What are our plans, what time are we getting up, etc. This seems to have helped her. Well, last week was NOT a normal week.
Brooklyn went to ONE half day of school last week. So, she had VASTLY different days all week. Monday was different because Joe was off due to Labor day. Tuesday she came with Alayna and I to Alayna's intake appointment at the same clinic Brooklyn goes to. Wednesday the big kids went to a regular full day of school, and then Brooklyn met her new therapist for the first time. Thursday Brooklyn had a half day of school, and Friday it was just Brooklyn, Bella, and I at home. So, all weekend we had meltdown central at the Ryder house. Tears, sobbing hysterically, MUCH more aggression. Nothing I did helped her.
Brooklyn really enjoyed her half day of school last Thursday. She even made a friend, which is kind of a big thing. Brooklyn doesn't always do so well with other kids. She's much more intense than the typical child. Friday afternoon we found out who her teacher is, what sucks the most is that the only kid she made friends with isn't even in her class.
Anyways, I am trying to come up with ideas on how to help avoid meltdowns. Talking her through the plans for the following day every night seems to be helping. But, this last weekend was awful. Lots of meltdowns.
This is the first full week of school on, what will become, our regular schedule. I'm hoping that as she gets used to the schedule, we'll cut down on meltdowns.
****EDIT****
Well, most of the night tonight was full of meltdowns. I'm thinking maybe Brookie was tired and worn out from school, she went to sleep SUPER easy tonight and right on time. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Brooklyn went to ONE half day of school last week. So, she had VASTLY different days all week. Monday was different because Joe was off due to Labor day. Tuesday she came with Alayna and I to Alayna's intake appointment at the same clinic Brooklyn goes to. Wednesday the big kids went to a regular full day of school, and then Brooklyn met her new therapist for the first time. Thursday Brooklyn had a half day of school, and Friday it was just Brooklyn, Bella, and I at home. So, all weekend we had meltdown central at the Ryder house. Tears, sobbing hysterically, MUCH more aggression. Nothing I did helped her.
Brooklyn really enjoyed her half day of school last Thursday. She even made a friend, which is kind of a big thing. Brooklyn doesn't always do so well with other kids. She's much more intense than the typical child. Friday afternoon we found out who her teacher is, what sucks the most is that the only kid she made friends with isn't even in her class.
Anyways, I am trying to come up with ideas on how to help avoid meltdowns. Talking her through the plans for the following day every night seems to be helping. But, this last weekend was awful. Lots of meltdowns.
This is the first full week of school on, what will become, our regular schedule. I'm hoping that as she gets used to the schedule, we'll cut down on meltdowns.
****EDIT****
Well, most of the night tonight was full of meltdowns. I'm thinking maybe Brookie was tired and worn out from school, she went to sleep SUPER easy tonight and right on time. We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Alayna coming home!
Today, the new parenting plan officially giving Joe custody was signed by a judge! We have to wait about a week to get a certified copy from the court house. We are all VERY excited, especially Alayna. Don't get me wrong, she loves her mom, and her mom loves her; but Alayna's life at our house is very different than the one she lives at her mom's.
At her mom's house, she's an only child. She doesn't get a lot of interaction with kids outside of school, and they (from what we know) lead a very adult focused life. At our house, we have 3 other kids. There is ALWAYS something child friendly going on. We live a very child focused life. Very few of the activities we plan are for Joe and I; a good 98% of them are for the kids.
We've already spoken to the local school about Alayna and her special needs. She will be getting a full IEP evaluation (PT, OT, speech, social skills, academics, etc) EVERYTHING will be evaluated. We're expecting that she'll qualify for PT for gross motor skills, possible OT for sensory, speech/social for social skills development, and academic support. Alayna is very bright, but we don't know that she's ever really been pushed to reach her full potential.
The plan is to get her as much support through the local public school as possible and then decide if she needs more outside support. We'd also like to get her into counseling to help her work through all of the huge changes going on in her life right now. We think it would help her to have someone not involved (Joe, me, or her mom) to talk to about her concerns and feelings without having to worry about the feelings of the person she's talking to.
We are all very excited to have her home full time; however during the summer she'll be home every other week so that she can also spend time with her mom. Once school starts in September she'll be visiting her mom every other weekend.
And next week, Alayna turns 12 years old! I'll have a nice big post about that. I can't believe how big she's gotten and how fast time has gone. My little princess that could barely walk and talk when I first met her is almost all grown up!
At her mom's house, she's an only child. She doesn't get a lot of interaction with kids outside of school, and they (from what we know) lead a very adult focused life. At our house, we have 3 other kids. There is ALWAYS something child friendly going on. We live a very child focused life. Very few of the activities we plan are for Joe and I; a good 98% of them are for the kids.
We've already spoken to the local school about Alayna and her special needs. She will be getting a full IEP evaluation (PT, OT, speech, social skills, academics, etc) EVERYTHING will be evaluated. We're expecting that she'll qualify for PT for gross motor skills, possible OT for sensory, speech/social for social skills development, and academic support. Alayna is very bright, but we don't know that she's ever really been pushed to reach her full potential.
The plan is to get her as much support through the local public school as possible and then decide if she needs more outside support. We'd also like to get her into counseling to help her work through all of the huge changes going on in her life right now. We think it would help her to have someone not involved (Joe, me, or her mom) to talk to about her concerns and feelings without having to worry about the feelings of the person she's talking to.
We are all very excited to have her home full time; however during the summer she'll be home every other week so that she can also spend time with her mom. Once school starts in September she'll be visiting her mom every other weekend.
And next week, Alayna turns 12 years old! I'll have a nice big post about that. I can't believe how big she's gotten and how fast time has gone. My little princess that could barely walk and talk when I first met her is almost all grown up!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Kindergarten
Today was Brooklyn's Kindergarten orientation. It went well. She had a bit of an issue separating from me at first, but did great. They took all the kids off on a tour of the school, they go to play in the gym while meeting the PE teacher and play in the music room while meeting the music teacher The parents got to learn about Kindergarten curriculum.
Apparently I was the only person in the room who had questions about what happens when your child knows all of the things you plan to teach them.
With writing the teachers were talking about how they'd do handwriting practice every day and that the initial focus was to get the kids to draw a picture, then add details in, then add in letters for the beginning word sounds, then words, then sentences, then finally sentences with details. Um.. Brooklyn's writing sentences. I was the only one with a question about the teachers meeting the needs of kids who have already passed those areas.
With reading they mentioned that they have kids who range in skill from about the age of 3-8 and that they were prepared to meet the need of the kids in those skill levels. Brooklyn's reading Kindergarten-1st grade 1 page "stories". I was the only one who's child is already reading.
In math... They are going to teach the kids how to count objects, to understand the idea of numbers. That they'll eventually teach the kids how to add small numbers (like the dots on a domino, how many are on the left, how many are on the right, how many total). Then, towards the end of the year they'll finally get to do actual addition. Brooklyn is doing double digit addition with no carrying, and double digit subtraction with no borrowing. She can count objects to over 100... I was the only person who had questions about the teachers meeting the needs of kids who have already passed those areas.
The principal, assistance principal, and Kindergarten teachers say they shouldn't have a problem meeting Brooklyn's needs curriculum wise. I really hope they can. I don't want to have to butt heads with the school to make sure that her academic needs are being met.
There were no complaints from anyone about Brooklyn's behavior. Although, I don't know if she actually interacted with the other students. But, my baby girl is well on her way to being a Kindergartner!!
Apparently I was the only person in the room who had questions about what happens when your child knows all of the things you plan to teach them.
With writing the teachers were talking about how they'd do handwriting practice every day and that the initial focus was to get the kids to draw a picture, then add details in, then add in letters for the beginning word sounds, then words, then sentences, then finally sentences with details. Um.. Brooklyn's writing sentences. I was the only one with a question about the teachers meeting the needs of kids who have already passed those areas.
With reading they mentioned that they have kids who range in skill from about the age of 3-8 and that they were prepared to meet the need of the kids in those skill levels. Brooklyn's reading Kindergarten-1st grade 1 page "stories". I was the only one who's child is already reading.
In math... They are going to teach the kids how to count objects, to understand the idea of numbers. That they'll eventually teach the kids how to add small numbers (like the dots on a domino, how many are on the left, how many are on the right, how many total). Then, towards the end of the year they'll finally get to do actual addition. Brooklyn is doing double digit addition with no carrying, and double digit subtraction with no borrowing. She can count objects to over 100... I was the only person who had questions about the teachers meeting the needs of kids who have already passed those areas.
The principal, assistance principal, and Kindergarten teachers say they shouldn't have a problem meeting Brooklyn's needs curriculum wise. I really hope they can. I don't want to have to butt heads with the school to make sure that her academic needs are being met.
There were no complaints from anyone about Brooklyn's behavior. Although, I don't know if she actually interacted with the other students. But, my baby girl is well on her way to being a Kindergartner!!
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Why Adam and Eve are universal
Where do we fit the story, or even the concept, of Adam and Eve into the modern evolution theory or education in general, both at the elementary level and through to college? Wow, that's a loaded question. But it's easy to answer: Adam and Eve as a concept, the first two humans on Earth who fostered the children that would populate their world, is a universal idea that can transcend context.
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