So we're having good days and not so good days in this new adventure. Some days Mac is just not able to focus on school work. Other days, she just rocks it out! I am so happy on those days. I'm thinking of adding Saturday for a couple of hours of easy stuff....and shortening the 5 hours during the week to about 4.5. That would mean 2.5 on Saturday.....but I think that would be okay.
I still think she's learning more at home than she did at school! Den's taking over teaching the social studies portion (after all he's got a teaching certificate in that subject!) I'm doing math right along with her, problem by problem........and she's working it. She's going to ask her teacher if she can do most of her "writing" on the computer as opposed to writing it out. She does much better that way.
It's all good! Oh, did I mention I am getting a two hour massage tonight? Yeah, that's how Mama survives! Have any of you ever read about massage for kids with ADHD and/or BiPolar? I've heard that it really helps with calming kids down if they receive regular massages. I'm thinking about getting her started. What do you think? Let me know.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
So, we've found a new school!
So after seeing my happy, go lucky daughter turn into a couch potato (I actually called her a pig in a blanket because she was all rolled up in a beige blanket at my Mom's Sunday morning...doing nothing after an overnight stay.) Mom said she really didn't want to go anywhere (they were going to see a movie) or do anything. She'd been like that for DAYS. Just moping around.....sadness in her eyes. I would send her off at school and watch her: head down, walking slowly............looking so lost and sad.
So Sunday when I saw her on the couch I said: THIS IS IT! I stayed up all hours of the night researching new schools, weighing the Pro's and Con's....trying to decide if I was just going to pull her out and home school her...but then I'd have to do curriculum, buy books or other materials, be the "bad guy" with lessons. UGH! I didn't really want to go that route!
And then, out of nowhere.......this little Google search turned up AZ Distance Learning Academy. It's LIKE home schooling, but it's considered a charter school, so she's still enrolled. They sit down with you and your child and figure out a curriculum designed for YOUR CHILD after TESTING them! There are several different ways to deliver the material, again customized to hour your child learns best !!!!! The teacher issues home work and tests, which you proxy at home. The teacher can do Skype sessions for one-on-one tutoring and you send in attendance on Sunday night. 25 hours a week of study are required. But you do it all at home.....or anywhere with high speed internet access! She can go from our house, to Nana's to Amy and Chelsie's!
Mac can go as fast as she wants to through the material! She will be tested on-site four times a school year and she has to do AIMS testing there as well (state tests). The best part? They'll pay us $150 a semester reimbursement for private music or art lessons! Plus all books and materials are free if returned. WOW!
She found an Arts school she wants to go to in 7th grade....and we're going to talk to them about maybe going the year she'd be a 6th grader instead. Her therapists both think skipping one grade is fine for her...so she may only do the Distance Learning for a few years, which is great. It's a solution for the in-between years left!
The good news is I found a school that we don't have to get her up for at the crack of dawn (which has been the main reason she's lost so much time historically!) as she can do this schooling from noon to 5 or 9-2 or 3 to 9: any day! So we can do school on the weekend if we so choose!
When I told her that this would be her last week at her school, she started backpedaling, with the "well, I don't want to leave. I'll be fine......." but after a wonderful session with Dr. Beth, who assured her that those feelings of anxiety were NORMAL for leaving a situation, she's doing a bit better now. Still very anxious, she hasn't sleep well at all and has stayed home more this week than going. But she's going to go tomorrow because she talked with Dr. Beth about closure....and how important that is. So we are going to take treats to school and tell everyone that we've found a school which is better suited to Mac's needs and that she will miss (some) them. (Really, only one, but we'll be nice!)
The new school called and I just need two more documents submitted and then next week we'll start the testing. I'm going to fax those docs now so our adventure can begin............YEA to new beginnings!
So Sunday when I saw her on the couch I said: THIS IS IT! I stayed up all hours of the night researching new schools, weighing the Pro's and Con's....trying to decide if I was just going to pull her out and home school her...but then I'd have to do curriculum, buy books or other materials, be the "bad guy" with lessons. UGH! I didn't really want to go that route!
And then, out of nowhere.......this little Google search turned up AZ Distance Learning Academy. It's LIKE home schooling, but it's considered a charter school, so she's still enrolled. They sit down with you and your child and figure out a curriculum designed for YOUR CHILD after TESTING them! There are several different ways to deliver the material, again customized to hour your child learns best !!!!! The teacher issues home work and tests, which you proxy at home. The teacher can do Skype sessions for one-on-one tutoring and you send in attendance on Sunday night. 25 hours a week of study are required. But you do it all at home.....or anywhere with high speed internet access! She can go from our house, to Nana's to Amy and Chelsie's!
Mac can go as fast as she wants to through the material! She will be tested on-site four times a school year and she has to do AIMS testing there as well (state tests). The best part? They'll pay us $150 a semester reimbursement for private music or art lessons! Plus all books and materials are free if returned. WOW!
She found an Arts school she wants to go to in 7th grade....and we're going to talk to them about maybe going the year she'd be a 6th grader instead. Her therapists both think skipping one grade is fine for her...so she may only do the Distance Learning for a few years, which is great. It's a solution for the in-between years left!
The good news is I found a school that we don't have to get her up for at the crack of dawn (which has been the main reason she's lost so much time historically!) as she can do this schooling from noon to 5 or 9-2 or 3 to 9: any day! So we can do school on the weekend if we so choose!
When I told her that this would be her last week at her school, she started backpedaling, with the "well, I don't want to leave. I'll be fine......." but after a wonderful session with Dr. Beth, who assured her that those feelings of anxiety were NORMAL for leaving a situation, she's doing a bit better now. Still very anxious, she hasn't sleep well at all and has stayed home more this week than going. But she's going to go tomorrow because she talked with Dr. Beth about closure....and how important that is. So we are going to take treats to school and tell everyone that we've found a school which is better suited to Mac's needs and that she will miss (some) them. (Really, only one, but we'll be nice!)
The new school called and I just need two more documents submitted and then next week we'll start the testing. I'm going to fax those docs now so our adventure can begin............YEA to new beginnings!
Friday, October 15, 2010
I think I'm getting WHY McKenna has so MANY issues at school!
Okay, so we've been in a holding pattern on the school issue for a while. We've put off pulling her out of her school and/or looking for a new school and/or homeschooling her. We had a great sleepover with a classmate of the ONE parent I spoke with regarding our issues with the school. Her daughter befriend McKenna after an absence of a few years of them being not so friendly.
So we go to her Parent Teacher conference last week and we chat with her teacher...and map out where we are since the Hospital visit....and I ask if it's true that he won't accept her Spelling/English homework unless she has her Math homework done too. He says that is the class rule and it's not fair for other students who do all the work to see her turn in only her Spelling homework. So I told him that he will NEVER see homework from her then because even if she has it completed (and sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't) that she just won't hand it in...because it's messy. Well, he says that's the rule.
Then we discuss her melancholy and her ongoing therapy...and he brings up the fact that she basically just sat down and cried for about an hour the previous week. He asked if he could help her and she just told him to leave her alone. Um, this was the first time I'd hear about this. No call home, no text, no email, nothing. I'm thinking for a child who was just hospitalized for Anxiety/Depression that perhaps this needs to be communicated in some manner!!!
That made me a LOT pissed. I told him the next time he needed to call me so I could come get her. His response was: "well, sometimes children just need to cry." ???????????????????
We also pointed out that we'd like her moved to a separate area with a desk against the wall so that she won't get distracted by other students talking and leading her to talk/not pay attention. This was something Mac and her Psychologist came up with for helping her in school. (Accommodations list which every child who falls under ADA regulations should have at school )....but since this school has never had an IEP with us, even though we've asked again and again.....we don't have an accommodations list. Oh, and she's still not by herself but rather in a row of other students!
Overall, at the time I felt better that we had some time with him and that Den and I explained how she learns and has been self learning.....we explained to him that we didn't want her left in the room for math but rather put with someone who could retrain her from the beginning...doing basic addition and subtraction since she wasn't retaining that information. He said that he didn't know if there was anyone who could give her remedial help but that she could leave when they do math. But if nobody is going to help her then where will she be with math???
Again, I was happy that we got a chance to talk with him......when I was explaining to my sister, Amy, what he'd said and what we talked about she looks at me and says: " So he said there's going to be no help in math, no accommodation for taking some but not all homework, she passes tests on subjects that she wasn't even there for so he's not teaching her the stuff she excels in and he lets her cry without calling you after she's been hospitalized? Why do you think you made any progress?"
She's right! They've dragged their feet about an IEP for a YEAR AND A HALF. They don't treat her Special needs in Math nor do they treat her giftedness in English/Spelling/Social Studies and all things NOT math! And he doesn't inform me of major breakdowns while at school!!!! And has little to no control over his class while at recess, referring to the bullying going on all the time.
It's time for a new school! We will be stepping up the effort for Mac once again! Ridiculous!
So we go to her Parent Teacher conference last week and we chat with her teacher...and map out where we are since the Hospital visit....and I ask if it's true that he won't accept her Spelling/English homework unless she has her Math homework done too. He says that is the class rule and it's not fair for other students who do all the work to see her turn in only her Spelling homework. So I told him that he will NEVER see homework from her then because even if she has it completed (and sometimes it is, sometimes it isn't) that she just won't hand it in...because it's messy. Well, he says that's the rule.
Then we discuss her melancholy and her ongoing therapy...and he brings up the fact that she basically just sat down and cried for about an hour the previous week. He asked if he could help her and she just told him to leave her alone. Um, this was the first time I'd hear about this. No call home, no text, no email, nothing. I'm thinking for a child who was just hospitalized for Anxiety/Depression that perhaps this needs to be communicated in some manner!!!
That made me a LOT pissed. I told him the next time he needed to call me so I could come get her. His response was: "well, sometimes children just need to cry." ???????????????????
We also pointed out that we'd like her moved to a separate area with a desk against the wall so that she won't get distracted by other students talking and leading her to talk/not pay attention. This was something Mac and her Psychologist came up with for helping her in school. (Accommodations list which every child who falls under ADA regulations should have at school )....but since this school has never had an IEP with us, even though we've asked again and again.....we don't have an accommodations list. Oh, and she's still not by herself but rather in a row of other students!
Overall, at the time I felt better that we had some time with him and that Den and I explained how she learns and has been self learning.....we explained to him that we didn't want her left in the room for math but rather put with someone who could retrain her from the beginning...doing basic addition and subtraction since she wasn't retaining that information. He said that he didn't know if there was anyone who could give her remedial help but that she could leave when they do math. But if nobody is going to help her then where will she be with math???
Again, I was happy that we got a chance to talk with him......when I was explaining to my sister, Amy, what he'd said and what we talked about she looks at me and says: " So he said there's going to be no help in math, no accommodation for taking some but not all homework, she passes tests on subjects that she wasn't even there for so he's not teaching her the stuff she excels in and he lets her cry without calling you after she's been hospitalized? Why do you think you made any progress?"
She's right! They've dragged their feet about an IEP for a YEAR AND A HALF. They don't treat her Special needs in Math nor do they treat her giftedness in English/Spelling/Social Studies and all things NOT math! And he doesn't inform me of major breakdowns while at school!!!! And has little to no control over his class while at recess, referring to the bullying going on all the time.
It's time for a new school! We will be stepping up the effort for Mac once again! Ridiculous!
Friday, September 24, 2010
Keep on Keeping on..........
In the words of a famous female journalist: "And so it goes..." I am not sure if we are 100% happy with the new med in the mix for K. There seems to be some problems thinking for her. Why does the chemical world need to be so hard to maneuver? She's doing better though.........but this week on the way home from school she told me that she's done at this school. Those of you who know my kid, know that when she finally verbalizes a statement of this magnitude know that this means: Decision done, game over...this is the final word!
We had already decided to move her in seventh grade to the local Arts Jr/Sr. High........but now I think we might be finding a new "home" sooner than that. Our therapist recommended an Educational Consultant whom she uses occasionally for help with some patients...I guess this woman knows the area schools in and out and can help you figure out the best "fit" for your "special needs" child. UGH! This road is certainly fun!
Short of home schooling (which has it's own set of issues) I cannot think MYSELF of a school that I think will offer her everything she needs to thrive. I guess we need to just make the right, best, decision for HER. I just watched Michael Eisner talking about partnerships. He said that if the partners don't give 50-50 they don't work. Even 45-55 does not necessarily work. I feel like her school has not offered the 50%. I feel that Den and I have been left out in the wind. I'm assuming this is how K feels as well. How sad!
My daughter is SO beyond her years! She is amazingly talented in English, Social Studies, Science,etc. However, relationships with peers and Math? Special help is required! Can someone come up with a plan to meet her educational and emotional needs? Or are we as parents, grandparents and Aunt out here alone...lonely and wondering why the educational system has let my child down?
We had already decided to move her in seventh grade to the local Arts Jr/Sr. High........but now I think we might be finding a new "home" sooner than that. Our therapist recommended an Educational Consultant whom she uses occasionally for help with some patients...I guess this woman knows the area schools in and out and can help you figure out the best "fit" for your "special needs" child. UGH! This road is certainly fun!
Short of home schooling (which has it's own set of issues) I cannot think MYSELF of a school that I think will offer her everything she needs to thrive. I guess we need to just make the right, best, decision for HER. I just watched Michael Eisner talking about partnerships. He said that if the partners don't give 50-50 they don't work. Even 45-55 does not necessarily work. I feel like her school has not offered the 50%. I feel that Den and I have been left out in the wind. I'm assuming this is how K feels as well. How sad!
My daughter is SO beyond her years! She is amazingly talented in English, Social Studies, Science,etc. However, relationships with peers and Math? Special help is required! Can someone come up with a plan to meet her educational and emotional needs? Or are we as parents, grandparents and Aunt out here alone...lonely and wondering why the educational system has let my child down?
Thursday, September 16, 2010
And so it goes.......
So here we are and McKenna is home. She's not really telling me a lot about what's going on in her mind. I think she's talking to Amy though and I have to be okay with that! I guess the "Mom knows nothing" years have begun early. I only hope that means she'll emerge from that phase early too!
I won a 90 minute massage and 90 minute facial from my salon (shameless plug here: Dolce Salon & Spa!) So I have that to look forward to on Monday. Considering I got a massage right before Kenna's hospital journey, I'm glad I won one as that one seems to have been a very, very long time ago. Then they had a deal on a pedicure I just couldn't pass up so I booked that for Saturday morning. I think that will make me feel much better!
The entire family has been coming over most every day to help us go through the house and super clean, sort and organize it. I can't believe we've only lived here for 6 years....we have accumulated over 20 years worth of "stuff!" It does feel much better purging everything. I even find myself going back over things I thought I'd keep three months ago and NOW I'm tossing them in the GO pile! There will be a few fantastic Non Profs who will benefit from our largess!
I am so glad to have Kenna home. I am blessed to have such an intelligent, artistic, gifted child. She has empathy for others and is just amazing! Not a day goes by that I don't learn something from her. One of the things that I have started to change is taking time doing some things for myself. That's why I'm going to the salon for "me" treatments! Den and I are taking time for US. We are making sure to show our love for each other every day. It's amazing how you can get so caught up in the daily crap that you start treating each other in less than nice ways!
Well, I guess I am shedding my proverbial skin and beginning anew! New organized house, new treatment for my hubby and a daughter who continues to amaze me daily! I guess learning that YOU are worthy of a little pampering can lead to unexpected results!
I won a 90 minute massage and 90 minute facial from my salon (shameless plug here: Dolce Salon & Spa!) So I have that to look forward to on Monday. Considering I got a massage right before Kenna's hospital journey, I'm glad I won one as that one seems to have been a very, very long time ago. Then they had a deal on a pedicure I just couldn't pass up so I booked that for Saturday morning. I think that will make me feel much better!
The entire family has been coming over most every day to help us go through the house and super clean, sort and organize it. I can't believe we've only lived here for 6 years....we have accumulated over 20 years worth of "stuff!" It does feel much better purging everything. I even find myself going back over things I thought I'd keep three months ago and NOW I'm tossing them in the GO pile! There will be a few fantastic Non Profs who will benefit from our largess!
I am so glad to have Kenna home. I am blessed to have such an intelligent, artistic, gifted child. She has empathy for others and is just amazing! Not a day goes by that I don't learn something from her. One of the things that I have started to change is taking time doing some things for myself. That's why I'm going to the salon for "me" treatments! Den and I are taking time for US. We are making sure to show our love for each other every day. It's amazing how you can get so caught up in the daily crap that you start treating each other in less than nice ways!
Well, I guess I am shedding my proverbial skin and beginning anew! New organized house, new treatment for my hubby and a daughter who continues to amaze me daily! I guess learning that YOU are worthy of a little pampering can lead to unexpected results!
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Letter to the Universe!
So, I have to write this. Just have to write it down and put it out into the Universe so that it's there. So God(s)(dess) hears it.......so that the Universe is One with it. Hold Kenna safe in your arms please as I am not there to do so. Keep her safely in the Universal Peace and surround her with White Light and Serenity.
I know that Stevie and her Aunts are with her in the night and when she's alone and lonely. I know Helen and Ron and Herb & Gerie surround her too and the feeling of Strength she feels in her soul is them supporting her while I can't. If a mother EVER felt like she's coming undone it is me! Please Universe....hold her safely in your arms.
The absolute worst night of my life to date was Monday night. Labor day. Beautiful family cook out, like usual....then a series of events lead to Kenna really having a stressful session of agression and then regression. She wrapped a big blanket around her head and decided to snuggle into it much like a cocoon. She went right inside herself....where I couldn't find her. A little scared girl took her place which left us no other choice than to take her to the hospital in hopes of helping our little lost soul.
I told my baby, my one and only that I would never leave her. I would be with her through all the traumatic times in her life. But at the last minute I was told that McKenna would travel into the hospital but I had to go home. I could visit for one and one half hours in the evening but for 22.5 hours a day I would NOT have any contact with my own child. I was told that this was for her BEST interest. I was told most kids did better than I would believe. I was told many things....but the only thing that I KNEW was that my baby would wake up in a foreign place with no Safeplace of Mommy's arms. No one to hold her and tell her that everything would eventually right itself and she could finally come out from under her blanket and emerge safely again into the world.
I think that I am perhaps as lost as she is during this time. I have left my child in the care of others, trusting these people whom I barely know with the MOST precious thing in my life. This is not something that I ever imagined. Well, of course I imagined it! In nightmares, I have known this was a possibility....but the reality is much worse in some ways. I walk through the day and answer questions and then do not have a comprehension of anything I have done. I cannot sleep, cannot think of anything other than getting her back whole. Getting back the child I had Monday afternoon. Getting back MyKenna!
The family is scurrying to get a new and improved Oasis ready for her impending arrival back home! Dad and Amy began painting her New, bigger bedroom a beautiful, calm purple and dark blue....with stars which will glow and light up the sky (wall). We want a secure, serene atmosphere to help her continue to get better and not stress over life's up and downs. We've been so around the block on figuring out what is happening inside our little one's head. And then to learn that Anxiety and not BP may be the issue. That the everyday stress of social situations may be more than she can take.
The team thinks that because of her unique intelligence and understanding of life, combined with her inability to ever want to be less than perfect just puts too much strain on her and she can't handle it. She had a wonderful weekend, a great family-filled Holiday and the stress of knowing school was on Tuesday just rocketed her into another world. Is it the friend who quit hanging out with her at play time? Her disappointment in herself over something imperfect in a class? The fact that she doesn't do well in Handwork?
She is so hard on herself and so tired of other kids not "getting her" that she would rather take a little time out and cover up in her great big comforter and have to be alone....all alone for the first time in her life.....to get her well. Please, Universe.........hold my child tight in her little cocoon and keep her safe. Until I can once again.
I know that Stevie and her Aunts are with her in the night and when she's alone and lonely. I know Helen and Ron and Herb & Gerie surround her too and the feeling of Strength she feels in her soul is them supporting her while I can't. If a mother EVER felt like she's coming undone it is me! Please Universe....hold her safely in your arms.
The absolute worst night of my life to date was Monday night. Labor day. Beautiful family cook out, like usual....then a series of events lead to Kenna really having a stressful session of agression and then regression. She wrapped a big blanket around her head and decided to snuggle into it much like a cocoon. She went right inside herself....where I couldn't find her. A little scared girl took her place which left us no other choice than to take her to the hospital in hopes of helping our little lost soul.
I told my baby, my one and only that I would never leave her. I would be with her through all the traumatic times in her life. But at the last minute I was told that McKenna would travel into the hospital but I had to go home. I could visit for one and one half hours in the evening but for 22.5 hours a day I would NOT have any contact with my own child. I was told that this was for her BEST interest. I was told most kids did better than I would believe. I was told many things....but the only thing that I KNEW was that my baby would wake up in a foreign place with no Safeplace of Mommy's arms. No one to hold her and tell her that everything would eventually right itself and she could finally come out from under her blanket and emerge safely again into the world.
I think that I am perhaps as lost as she is during this time. I have left my child in the care of others, trusting these people whom I barely know with the MOST precious thing in my life. This is not something that I ever imagined. Well, of course I imagined it! In nightmares, I have known this was a possibility....but the reality is much worse in some ways. I walk through the day and answer questions and then do not have a comprehension of anything I have done. I cannot sleep, cannot think of anything other than getting her back whole. Getting back the child I had Monday afternoon. Getting back MyKenna!
The family is scurrying to get a new and improved Oasis ready for her impending arrival back home! Dad and Amy began painting her New, bigger bedroom a beautiful, calm purple and dark blue....with stars which will glow and light up the sky (wall). We want a secure, serene atmosphere to help her continue to get better and not stress over life's up and downs. We've been so around the block on figuring out what is happening inside our little one's head. And then to learn that Anxiety and not BP may be the issue. That the everyday stress of social situations may be more than she can take.
The team thinks that because of her unique intelligence and understanding of life, combined with her inability to ever want to be less than perfect just puts too much strain on her and she can't handle it. She had a wonderful weekend, a great family-filled Holiday and the stress of knowing school was on Tuesday just rocketed her into another world. Is it the friend who quit hanging out with her at play time? Her disappointment in herself over something imperfect in a class? The fact that she doesn't do well in Handwork?
She is so hard on herself and so tired of other kids not "getting her" that she would rather take a little time out and cover up in her great big comforter and have to be alone....all alone for the first time in her life.....to get her well. Please, Universe.........hold my child tight in her little cocoon and keep her safe. Until I can once again.
Friday, August 20, 2010
McKenna Started School This Week!
Oh, it's the start of school and boy are we tired out already! We have the mornings down to about a 40 minute deal already. I make her lunch at night and then just pop it in her lunch sack in the morning. Pills with water and then snuggle time for about 10 to 15 minutes. My child requires a LOT of snuggle time :)
We snuggle-she sleeps- and then we rush to get her clothes changed, her hair styled (which is a breeze thanks to the pixie cut Aunt Amy gave her!), grab glasses and lunch: out the door! We don't get up until about 7 a.m. and we leave about 7:40......it takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes to drive to her school which is about 10 miles down Southern Avenue.
We talk in the car about concerns or just anything that comes up, sometimes she just stares out the window and that's fine. Usually be the third or fourth week I won't be shocked if she drifts back to sleep during the ride. My lovely daughter historically does NOT do well in the morning. It's a BP thing, usually...but she's been getting to bed pretty early and I hope this alertness continues.
We have to find a student violin to rent/buy this weekend. Mandatory for Monday! All fourth graders at her school take it. She met her music teacher and likes her and that's half the battle. She also met her Games teacher and thinks she rocks! At her school kids keep the same teacher from first to eighth grades....it's a pretty cool thing because the students and teacher really bond and know each other better each year. I guess it could be bad if you didn't mesh with the instructor but Mr. Tanner is pretty awesome...he seems very much like I imagine Thoreau was.
The school expanded with a high school this year. They are up to tenth grade now and will continue to add a grade each year as the student's advance....until they have all 12. I like the campus addition and the way they have changed the parking lot and drop off/pick up procession. It can be very frustrating to sit waiting for your child in a line you can't get out of! But they have made it a bit easier this year and for that I am extremely grateful.
I see a much more mature young woman whom I watch go off each morning. She is getting to be more sure of herself each day. I credit a strong bunch of family as well as her therapy and her online community on New Moon. I am encouraged that this year will be a great year for her. PLEASE dear Gods hear my prayers!
We snuggle-she sleeps- and then we rush to get her clothes changed, her hair styled (which is a breeze thanks to the pixie cut Aunt Amy gave her!), grab glasses and lunch: out the door! We don't get up until about 7 a.m. and we leave about 7:40......it takes anywhere from 20-30 minutes to drive to her school which is about 10 miles down Southern Avenue.
We talk in the car about concerns or just anything that comes up, sometimes she just stares out the window and that's fine. Usually be the third or fourth week I won't be shocked if she drifts back to sleep during the ride. My lovely daughter historically does NOT do well in the morning. It's a BP thing, usually...but she's been getting to bed pretty early and I hope this alertness continues.
We have to find a student violin to rent/buy this weekend. Mandatory for Monday! All fourth graders at her school take it. She met her music teacher and likes her and that's half the battle. She also met her Games teacher and thinks she rocks! At her school kids keep the same teacher from first to eighth grades....it's a pretty cool thing because the students and teacher really bond and know each other better each year. I guess it could be bad if you didn't mesh with the instructor but Mr. Tanner is pretty awesome...he seems very much like I imagine Thoreau was.
The school expanded with a high school this year. They are up to tenth grade now and will continue to add a grade each year as the student's advance....until they have all 12. I like the campus addition and the way they have changed the parking lot and drop off/pick up procession. It can be very frustrating to sit waiting for your child in a line you can't get out of! But they have made it a bit easier this year and for that I am extremely grateful.
I see a much more mature young woman whom I watch go off each morning. She is getting to be more sure of herself each day. I credit a strong bunch of family as well as her therapy and her online community on New Moon. I am encouraged that this year will be a great year for her. PLEASE dear Gods hear my prayers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)