I had Cory's parent-teacher conference a few days ago, and I was able to hear about all the progress he has been making.
He just makes me so proud.
He's worked hard and had a wonderful teacher, and between the two, he will be ready to start first grade in the fall. ahhhh! - what a relief! Mrs. Potter, his teacher, made several wonderful comments on how good it is to have a true parent-teacher team, where positive results are seen. She said that on that first day of school when he first hid under the desk, and there was no talking him out of it, she thought to herself "Oh, this is going to be a LONG year for Cory", but he has made such remarkable progress, she continues to be impressed. Yay for you, Cory!!! Your mom loves you!!
He continues to struggle with some of the social interactions, and prefers to sit by himself in the classroom (he's got his own special desk away from other students), but he has begun sitting at the table with other students during some activities (he's given the choice of where he wants to sit, so if he gets too overwhelmed he can remove himself). He is also having a difficult time writing, but this is no suprise since he's got hypotonia. My next project to work on is to help him strengthen his hand muscles to help make writing easier for him.
Cory excels beyond what is required in Kindergarten in counting numbers and in geometry - naming shapes and talking about the shape's attributes. Kindergarteners are graded on a 1-4 grading scale, 3 being "meeting standard", and Cory got 4's in these areas!!!
So, way to go, Cory, your hard work is paying off!
Also, I was able to register Bryson for Kindergarten this last week, so he'll be starting school in August. Wow, two kids in school, this is going to be strange... With budget cut-backs at the school, they'll be making some changes. They still will have full-day Kindergarten (which I am not a huge fan of), but they will be making the full day shorter for all the students. Instead of getting out at 3:10, they'll be released at 1:45. They are also taking out music, PE, and art (which really makes me livid!!), and now it will be the teacher's responsibility to teach them this as well.
He just makes me so proud.
He's worked hard and had a wonderful teacher, and between the two, he will be ready to start first grade in the fall. ahhhh! - what a relief! Mrs. Potter, his teacher, made several wonderful comments on how good it is to have a true parent-teacher team, where positive results are seen. She said that on that first day of school when he first hid under the desk, and there was no talking him out of it, she thought to herself "Oh, this is going to be a LONG year for Cory", but he has made such remarkable progress, she continues to be impressed. Yay for you, Cory!!! Your mom loves you!!
He continues to struggle with some of the social interactions, and prefers to sit by himself in the classroom (he's got his own special desk away from other students), but he has begun sitting at the table with other students during some activities (he's given the choice of where he wants to sit, so if he gets too overwhelmed he can remove himself). He is also having a difficult time writing, but this is no suprise since he's got hypotonia. My next project to work on is to help him strengthen his hand muscles to help make writing easier for him.
Cory excels beyond what is required in Kindergarten in counting numbers and in geometry - naming shapes and talking about the shape's attributes. Kindergarteners are graded on a 1-4 grading scale, 3 being "meeting standard", and Cory got 4's in these areas!!!
So, way to go, Cory, your hard work is paying off!
Also, I was able to register Bryson for Kindergarten this last week, so he'll be starting school in August. Wow, two kids in school, this is going to be strange... With budget cut-backs at the school, they'll be making some changes. They still will have full-day Kindergarten (which I am not a huge fan of), but they will be making the full day shorter for all the students. Instead of getting out at 3:10, they'll be released at 1:45. They are also taking out music, PE, and art (which really makes me livid!!), and now it will be the teacher's responsibility to teach them this as well.
4 comments:
Jessica I am so glad Cory is doing so well! So happy for you all! Does he have an IEP? Does he qualify for OT? Handwriitng without Tears (HWT) is a great program! I have bought bits and pieces of it for both of my kiddos... LOVE IT! Make sure they hand pick Cory 1st grade teacher... ~ MISS YA! ~ Laura
Laura - No IEP, and no talk of OT, he's going completely mainstream. I'm not sure why (maybe because they don't have an official diagnosis, other than his muscle stuff), but he does seem to be doing well integrating at his own speed. There's constant progress, so I'm not pushing the issue, whatever they're doing seems to be working.
As for picking the teacher next year, his teacher said she wanted to recommend a teacher, but everything is so chaotic there right now due to budget cuts, they don't know who will be teaching. So, the Teacher's Aide in his class will be taking him around to all the other classrooms to show him that it's just like kindergarten, and to introduce him to the other teachers. Then, as soon as they find out who his teacher is over the summer, they'll give us a call and we'll get to go in early to meet his new teacher and to familiarize him with the classroom.
Also, when we find out who his teacher is, I plan to ask his current teacher if she thinks it's a good fit. She has been on the same page as me 100% this whole time. I feel so blessed, I can't even tell you! It's been nice to see a professional in agreement with me. Knowing that I'm not totally crazy -or wrong - gives me the confidence to fight for him in the future - I'm sure there will come a time when I will have to. Thankfully that time was not this year, though!!!!
Way to go Cory...and Jess! That is wonderful that he is doing so well! I'm so glad that he has such a great teacher....at school, and at home!
Jess I love hearing about how Cory is doing in school and I can't even begin to tell you how HAPPY I am for both of you that he is doing so well! I honestly feel that the teacher makes all the difference. I am so glad he is making progress. YAY CORY! I have lots of great tricks for strengthening the hand muscles if you need any. And if they do have a diagnosis of some muscular things then the school should do an eval for OT. OT is for strengthening the small muscles. I work pretty closely with some OT's so I could even give you some good activities for him. But honestly his handwriting looks great...I mean he can't be too far behind since I could read it! Seriously I think it is so great!
I can't believe little Bryce is going to be in school...what the heck. When did they all grow up? So sad. I CAN'T Wait to see you all and your precious boys...you will be at the 4th of July won't you?? I sure sure hope so!
Love ya!
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