Back to School 2016

Finally, back to school! HALLELUJAH!! I posted on Instagram that I am probably the only mom that was shouting for joy when the kids went back to school (bad mom status), but oh, well. I really was so ready for them to start again. 

The kids started at a new school this year due to our move. We were a bit nervous about it since the school is like 3x the size of their old school. Really, like 5-6 classes per grade (sheer craziness!). We went and toured the school to get used to it and showed the kids where all their classes are. I had met with Mishell's teacher as well as the resource teacher a week or so before school started and was impressed with them both. Remember last year was a big struggle getting Mishell the resources she needed, and we BARELY got an IEP in place right at the end of the school year, so I really wanted to be on top of things with the new school. Well, after all that prep, the school called us the night before school started to tell us that they were switching Mishell classes because the teacher she was with was not ESL certified and her IEP specifies that she needs an ESL certified teacher. OH MAN was  I upset. I mean, who is the one who didn't read her IEP BEFORE assigning her a class? And I had already met with the teacher and we had a plan in place....and blah blah. I was also initially upset because they assigned her to a class with co-teachers. It would be one thing if they each taught half day, but one teaches Monday/Tuesday and the other Wednesday/Thursday and they alternate Fridays. Have you ever heard of such a thing??? I did not think that this would be the best idea for Mishell because she needs extra care and attention and I wasn't sure how that was going to go. 

Anyway, we started school and arranged another meeting with the two new teachers a week in. After the meeting, I felt much better about the arrangements and feel the move was probably a big blessing in disguise. One teacher (Mrs. Madsen) cried as she told us how heavily Mishell had weighed on her mind that week and wanting to know how to help her. She said that in her 20 years of teaching, she has never worried so much about a student and what to do for her. The other teacher, Mrs. Robinson, was very cute and said that her 90 year old father offered to drive his golf cart to school to tutor her everyday after she mentioned a student needing "a little extra love." How cute is that? Anyway, these teachers have been phenomenal for Mishell. The resource teacher is also super super wonderful and has already amped up Mishell's IEP to include goals that were missing from her last (rushed) IEP. She is getting a lot of help.

Jace is thriving in Kindergarten with Mrs. White. Somehow I have been signed up to volunteer in his class twice a month (not my doing, but good for me!) and so I have seen how he's doing. He is a natural leader and Mr. funny. He makes friends easily and I always encourage him to look out for the friendless. He has picked up reading quickly, despite my lack of effort to help him prior to this (again, MOM OF THE YEAR). He's thriving. He has afternoon kindergarten and is just bored to death with just mom and Lizzie at home in the morning, but he spends his time playing legos or trains, coloring, or riding his bike (which he can finally do without training wheels-- yay buddy!). He's a good boy.

Hallie, the one who I least expected to struggle, has had the roughest adjustment this year and it kind of broke my heart. She had such wonderful friends in Farmington but struggled up front to make friends this year. In fact, the kids were downright mean to her. When she'd ask them to play, they'd tell her no. She told me she'd spend most recesses walking around by herself. Mishell has one that overlaps with her, so they'd play together during that one, but the others she was on her own. She has made good friends in neighboring houses, but none of them are in her class. She seems to finally be making some friends in her class, which I am so relieved about. She is doing great academically, and says that her teacher, Mrs. Allgood, is pretty good too, though not as good her as favorite teacher of last year :)

Flor goes to a different school than the other kids again. She is bussed, which is great. Her teacher is brand new and this is her first go at a functional skills class, bless her heart. She has two aids and only 5 students in the class, so that ratio at least is working in our favor! Flor seems to be settling in, but we have had major behavioral issues with her still. Every day the teacher is writing home about who she bit, hit, kicked, or pulled hair. Gotta love it. We are working on some med adjustments for her to see if that will help. It's hard to know what's what, but she has had a ton of changes in the past year, she is almost 12 (so possibly hormonal??), and she's been on her prior meds for a long time, so she may just be developing a tolerance. The doctor we see now has another patient with her 1P36 Deletion Syndrome (crazy!) and he says that the teenage years have not been nice to her family. Oh boy. We are certainly looking forward to it and I think we are getting glimpses of it already. Fun times. Flor can be the sweetest, funnest, kisses-for-everyone girl too, so we just hope for more of that than not. 

With all that, whew, how about a few first day of school pictures?

She's so dang grown up

This is the best I could get of Flor and then she took a bite of her apple, so that was the end of that.

Flor's homework. I think her teachers have realized that this is a bit out of her league. I had to laugh though, as this is totally appropriate (the scribbling) for her developmental level. She's not about to trace the word "the" in any years to come. :)

With the start of school came start of new activities for the kids too. Hallie started piano lessons, Mishell started dance, and Jace started karate. This is how his first day went ...yes, that's him laying there. Good thing it's just for fun, right? Although we have told him he has to participate from here on out, or he will be OUT...