IEP & Easter

Alright, I'll have to admit it. We aren't going to plant the wheat. The reason being that the whole yard is getting swept away by the heavy rains & I don't know if wheat growing is our priority right now. Soil retention is more like it. So other plans will have to be made with the wheat kernels I bought. I can't really figure out what to do with them, maybe sprout them & eat the sprouts? Sprinkle them on cereal? Put them in a bag & hang it from my neck for a handy snack? Any suggestions will be appreciated!

We had Teddy's IEP on Tuesday afternoon. It went very well, he's doing great in school. His OT (Ms. Amber) who he's had since kindergarten is very impressed with the progress he's making with writing & sensory integration. Alan & I sat there wide eyed, since he won't write at home much (too hard!) & his sensory issues seem to be getting worse at times for us, rather than better. She showed us his writing workbook (Handwriting Without Tears, for anyone who's interested) & I couldn't believe my eyes. That couldn't be Teddy's writing! It was fairly small & well formed. Amazing!

Academics wise, he's doing great in his special ed classes. His math teacher, Mrs. B, said he's catching on well to many different concepts, he's even starting to understand double digit addition. Yeah! He likes numbers a lot, I think because they don't change around on him like letters do. He's reading well & starting to do independent reading for Ms. Y, so that's great. We've been really happy with his progress in reading, he's doing a great job.

He only spends time in the regular ed classroom for morning work, story time, & social studies/science. Ms. Y said they'd try starting out with the same amount of time at the beginning of 3rd grade, but that things start going really fast & getting really hard in 3rd grade so the prognosis isn't too great of him being able to follow along in there much. Science & social studies start to become much more reliant on the kids reading text, & a lot more independent. Those are things that will probably be too much for him, but we will see this fall. As Ms. Y said, we'll give it a try.

3rd grade is also the first year they administer the MAP (the standardized test for Missouri). Ms. Y is trying to make sure he can take the MAP-A, which is an adjusted test for kids with challenges. The problem is that the school district is only allowed a certain amount of those tests to give. So if they have other kids they think have more challenges than Ted, they could run out & he'd have to take the MAP-3. Alan & I both think this would be a disaster--there's no way he would even be able to complete the MAP-3, since the teachers can offer no assistance at all to the kids taking it. The MAP-3 involves reading complex directions, & it's timed. It would just be a lesson in frustration to Teddy, & make his already lower self-esteem sink further down. Luckily all this testing won't be done until a year from now, so I'm sure we'll be able to get it settled by then.

Oh yeah, Easter! Teddy got a horse (Seabiscuit, to be exact!) from the Easter Bunny. He likes 'Biscuit a lot! He loved looking for eggs too, though he could care less about the candy. He was so excited Saturday night! Unfortunately he woke up sick in the middle of the night, but he recovered enough by the morning to still do the egg hunt. But that night he fell asleep on the couch at 6:30 PM & didn't wake up again until 7:30 AM!! Poor guy was beat! He's fine now, & getting his class pictures taken today at school. I forgot about the pictures, so we didn't get his hair cut. It's got a tendency to just stick up, no matter how long it gets. This winter I tried to let it grow out, thinking it would eventually lay down. But no! It just kept getting taller & taller! When he finally went to the barber (Rick), he yelled out, "Who's that coming through my door? Rod Stewart?!" It was pretty bad off! Luckily his hair isn't to that level yet, so when his pictures come back he'll just look a little Rod Stewart-y.