A migraine was beginning to stir in my head today.. someone was slowly adding migraine vegetables to the steaming hot broth. I was able to get in sleep on Scott's lunch (he was tele-commuting), then slept with Willow directly after that for her nap (Bash in school & Judah with aide). So everything worked out perfect in that aspect! When I got up my back hurt pretty bad. And it just got worse. We went in to talk to Sebastian's teacher after school. I was walking down the hallway holding my back while doing a great rendition of the 9 month pregnant lady straddle. Back pain lasted up until about 9pm. The aide stayed late (she came in late), so that was really helpful. Again, things just sort of fell into place, giving me space & time to deal with that horrid pain as well.
A friend came over prepared for a play date with us this afternoon. Unfortunately our communication had gotten all messed up. I thought she was just going to drop something off here today. I felt so bad that her kid was here expecting to have a play date!! This situation has never happened before! Gah! Disappointing a little kid is the worst! I was in bed with the migraine vegetables cooking in my head when she came. I didn't see or talk with her. But Scott & the aide filled me in on what had happened.
The aide took Judah to an art place for kids today. She said he did pretty well but had a hard time focusing. She wants to take him again, to help him learn to focus when there is a lot going on around him (lots of things to do). The owner remembered him. She said he did better than the last time. I took J & W there a long time ago for a play-date. Man, bad time. Judah got in the bead room, throwing handfuls of beads into the air. They crashed down on the wooden floor.. sounding like a loud rain stick, the noise echoed in the room. It was so bad. Judah sat in other kid's painting pallets, painted his head, etc. I actually wrote a letter to the owner when we got home. She responded saying that we were welcome anytime and that she was glad I had written. Judah was continually making his way into the bead room to make bead rain when we were there. The owner actually mentioned re-doing the bead room as she swept it for her 7th time in 20 minutes, ha. She knew Judah when he walked in today, even though he has no hair now & had long curls then, and he wasn't even with me - he was with someone she had never met! Like I said, we were there a long time ago. We just make a damn good impact at some places, that was definitely one.
Judah was talking & singing (on key even!) through a "Your Baby Can Read" video this afternoon. His words are getting clearer. The aide said he is becoming able to tell her what he needs/wants. She said he talked so much today (they were out most of her shift). They went to the art place & then to the library to see a movie. Unfortunately he started screaming during the movie, getting very excited, likely because he knew the Muppet characters but hadn't seen the movie. And obviously the kids there stimulated him, that always happens. She took him to the kid area in the library after 15 minutes of the movie.
Sebastian had an afternoon with Gramma & Papa after school today. He came home & began reading a book loudly from his room. It was in English but he was pretending to read it in Spanish. I sat with him once I heard this - he continued reading. I lightly offered help once but he didn't want it. I did recognize some of the Spanish words he was saying & pairing with one another.
This morning when I asked Willow what she wanted to do she told me "talk on phone with Judah". That's what they had done yesterday at the library, so sweet that she enjoyed it so much!
This morning Willow came to me in bed with a large tower of mega-blocks. "I made a tower!!" She laid it on the bed. "It's for you!!" Seriously, sweetness coming out of every part of her body! But she did hit a speed bump today when she was denied more graham crackers. I couldn't pick her up because of my back pain. That made it even more upsetting for her. The aide checked out another library book today. Willow requested that I read it to her 2 times. Judah began to get interested as well - even stepping away from his beloved "baby" video.
Our aide & her boyfriend are very into D&D (tabletop even). What are the odds that we would happen to meet someone (2 people even!) as into that as Scott? What are the odds that one of them would show up to work at our house on a daily basis? I was almost surprised that Scott didn't bombard the aide with D&D talk since he worked from home today.. of course, I wasn't with them at all times, lol.
Sebastian's teacher gives check marks mainly for good behavior. She takes away check marks for not listening, talking in class, having "bad behavior", etc. Once a kid hits 15 check marks they get a prize on Friday. Then their check mark status starts over. This is on a chart for the whole class to see. Sebastian was doing well on this chart. He had a bit more check marks than almost half the class. When we talked with the teacher she was defensive at first. She didn't know why we were there. I asked how Sebastian was doing & instead of answering she asked us what was going on with him, what the problem was basically. She said she often has to instruct him in English & repeat the instructions & also do examples for him. She said that she encourages students to help one another. She said he can raise his hand or come up to her - and that he doesn't come up to her. She said there were other kids who did backwards numbers as well - she didn't think that was anything to be concerned about. She said the other 1st grade teachers have their own behavior methods - they do not use the check mark system. She said Sebastian was one of the probably 4 kids in the class who has quite a bit of difficulty understanding.
His teacher mentioned a few times that she was not supposed to speak English in the classroom. I felt like she was hiding behind an invisible rule instead of being focused on how to best help Sebastian. She had kind of a.. "Well, I do this.. and I give them this.. what more can I do" attitude, along with, "You tell me.. you tell me what you want..". She hid some behind the "I have 29 kids" excuse. Scott & I were both thinking.. "We know you have 29 kids, we bought snack for 29 kids this week!!" haha. I was surprised to hear that she had no aide with her during class. I thought she had told us that she did when we had talked during open house. I asked about volunteering. She said that would be good. Unfortunately it felt like a "Yes you can volunteer, I'll give you something to do." answer, instead of a "I would love for you to come experience Sebastian's class! I'll make sure you have some way to contribute while you're here if you like."
We are going to ask to set up a time to talk with the other dual language teacher. If it seems like a good idea we will try to get him transferred to that class. I'm hoping to volunteer in his class as soon as possible, but have to figure that out - need someone to watch Willow. We are also going in for Sebastian's well-child check-up soon & will talk with his doctor about how he responds to following instructions. He does similar with us at home - have to tell him many times to do something before he actually does it. Being rushed for time seems to happen often with him, even from the very beginning of the day. We have to tell him 10 times to brush his teeth, so it takes a lot longer than it should. We struggle to keep him on task in the morning. We are going to start getting his morning routine going probably about a half hour earlier to ensure that he isn't feeling rushed & that their is less stress for everyone. He's just rushed in different ways throughout his day I think. The classroom one is the most stressful. Obviously we aren't there with him in class, so I'm not sure how to work on that with him, other than working on following directions with confidence & in a timely manner.
I didn't leave the talk with his teacher feeling like everything would be fine & that it was just a minor speed bump & that the stress of starting a new school year was to blame. There are definitely some things to work on - and I am very adamant about working on them right now. Unfortunately I have a horrible memory (seriously - I'm seeing a neurologist for this!!) & as hard as I try, I still REALLY STRUGGLE to keep my life organized. Any help we can get is always appreciated.
Apparently an awesome progress day for Judah - I wasn't with him much today.
Judah had one large bm.
Judah missed fish oil, oxy-mag, sleep med, vitamin b-6 powder, skin rash med, didn't do eye-drop, beta & molasses.
A friend came over prepared for a play date with us this afternoon. Unfortunately our communication had gotten all messed up. I thought she was just going to drop something off here today. I felt so bad that her kid was here expecting to have a play date!! This situation has never happened before! Gah! Disappointing a little kid is the worst! I was in bed with the migraine vegetables cooking in my head when she came. I didn't see or talk with her. But Scott & the aide filled me in on what had happened.
The aide took Judah to an art place for kids today. She said he did pretty well but had a hard time focusing. She wants to take him again, to help him learn to focus when there is a lot going on around him (lots of things to do). The owner remembered him. She said he did better than the last time. I took J & W there a long time ago for a play-date. Man, bad time. Judah got in the bead room, throwing handfuls of beads into the air. They crashed down on the wooden floor.. sounding like a loud rain stick, the noise echoed in the room. It was so bad. Judah sat in other kid's painting pallets, painted his head, etc. I actually wrote a letter to the owner when we got home. She responded saying that we were welcome anytime and that she was glad I had written. Judah was continually making his way into the bead room to make bead rain when we were there. The owner actually mentioned re-doing the bead room as she swept it for her 7th time in 20 minutes, ha. She knew Judah when he walked in today, even though he has no hair now & had long curls then, and he wasn't even with me - he was with someone she had never met! Like I said, we were there a long time ago. We just make a damn good impact at some places, that was definitely one.
Judah was talking & singing (on key even!) through a "Your Baby Can Read" video this afternoon. His words are getting clearer. The aide said he is becoming able to tell her what he needs/wants. She said he talked so much today (they were out most of her shift). They went to the art place & then to the library to see a movie. Unfortunately he started screaming during the movie, getting very excited, likely because he knew the Muppet characters but hadn't seen the movie. And obviously the kids there stimulated him, that always happens. She took him to the kid area in the library after 15 minutes of the movie.
Sebastian had an afternoon with Gramma & Papa after school today. He came home & began reading a book loudly from his room. It was in English but he was pretending to read it in Spanish. I sat with him once I heard this - he continued reading. I lightly offered help once but he didn't want it. I did recognize some of the Spanish words he was saying & pairing with one another.
This morning when I asked Willow what she wanted to do she told me "talk on phone with Judah". That's what they had done yesterday at the library, so sweet that she enjoyed it so much!
This morning Willow came to me in bed with a large tower of mega-blocks. "I made a tower!!" She laid it on the bed. "It's for you!!" Seriously, sweetness coming out of every part of her body! But she did hit a speed bump today when she was denied more graham crackers. I couldn't pick her up because of my back pain. That made it even more upsetting for her. The aide checked out another library book today. Willow requested that I read it to her 2 times. Judah began to get interested as well - even stepping away from his beloved "baby" video.
Our aide & her boyfriend are very into D&D (tabletop even). What are the odds that we would happen to meet someone (2 people even!) as into that as Scott? What are the odds that one of them would show up to work at our house on a daily basis? I was almost surprised that Scott didn't bombard the aide with D&D talk since he worked from home today.. of course, I wasn't with them at all times, lol.
Sebastian's teacher gives check marks mainly for good behavior. She takes away check marks for not listening, talking in class, having "bad behavior", etc. Once a kid hits 15 check marks they get a prize on Friday. Then their check mark status starts over. This is on a chart for the whole class to see. Sebastian was doing well on this chart. He had a bit more check marks than almost half the class. When we talked with the teacher she was defensive at first. She didn't know why we were there. I asked how Sebastian was doing & instead of answering she asked us what was going on with him, what the problem was basically. She said she often has to instruct him in English & repeat the instructions & also do examples for him. She said that she encourages students to help one another. She said he can raise his hand or come up to her - and that he doesn't come up to her. She said there were other kids who did backwards numbers as well - she didn't think that was anything to be concerned about. She said the other 1st grade teachers have their own behavior methods - they do not use the check mark system. She said Sebastian was one of the probably 4 kids in the class who has quite a bit of difficulty understanding.
His teacher mentioned a few times that she was not supposed to speak English in the classroom. I felt like she was hiding behind an invisible rule instead of being focused on how to best help Sebastian. She had kind of a.. "Well, I do this.. and I give them this.. what more can I do" attitude, along with, "You tell me.. you tell me what you want..". She hid some behind the "I have 29 kids" excuse. Scott & I were both thinking.. "We know you have 29 kids, we bought snack for 29 kids this week!!" haha. I was surprised to hear that she had no aide with her during class. I thought she had told us that she did when we had talked during open house. I asked about volunteering. She said that would be good. Unfortunately it felt like a "Yes you can volunteer, I'll give you something to do." answer, instead of a "I would love for you to come experience Sebastian's class! I'll make sure you have some way to contribute while you're here if you like."
We are going to ask to set up a time to talk with the other dual language teacher. If it seems like a good idea we will try to get him transferred to that class. I'm hoping to volunteer in his class as soon as possible, but have to figure that out - need someone to watch Willow. We are also going in for Sebastian's well-child check-up soon & will talk with his doctor about how he responds to following instructions. He does similar with us at home - have to tell him many times to do something before he actually does it. Being rushed for time seems to happen often with him, even from the very beginning of the day. We have to tell him 10 times to brush his teeth, so it takes a lot longer than it should. We struggle to keep him on task in the morning. We are going to start getting his morning routine going probably about a half hour earlier to ensure that he isn't feeling rushed & that their is less stress for everyone. He's just rushed in different ways throughout his day I think. The classroom one is the most stressful. Obviously we aren't there with him in class, so I'm not sure how to work on that with him, other than working on following directions with confidence & in a timely manner.
I didn't leave the talk with his teacher feeling like everything would be fine & that it was just a minor speed bump & that the stress of starting a new school year was to blame. There are definitely some things to work on - and I am very adamant about working on them right now. Unfortunately I have a horrible memory (seriously - I'm seeing a neurologist for this!!) & as hard as I try, I still REALLY STRUGGLE to keep my life organized. Any help we can get is always appreciated.
Apparently an awesome progress day for Judah - I wasn't with him much today.
Judah had one large bm.
Judah missed fish oil, oxy-mag, sleep med, vitamin b-6 powder, skin rash med, didn't do eye-drop, beta & molasses.
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