Last night was Bob and SJ's school orientation for the new school year. SJ has been so stressed about who his new teacher was going to be and what the workload will be. He will have Mrs. Valentine most of the day, but he will rotate to Mrs. Kennedy for Math and Mrs. Dudley for Reading.
All of his teachers seemed very nice and happy to have SJ as a student. We got a list of supplies that he will need for the school year. This is a new one for me. When Bob was in 5th grade last year, we didn't have to send in anything. I guess we will be heading to the circle store (Target) on Sunday.
I told all three teachers that SJ would be the most successful if his seat is in the front of the room. I also asked that they not place a girl in the seat next to him. (He still has a strong dislike for girls!) I also explained to his teachers that visual cues are very helpful to SJ.
Every time I went into a new teacher's room, SJ would look over at me and he looked so anxious. "What did she say?" he would ask. "She is giving me papers about your class. Everything is fine," I reassured him. I wish I had a magic pill to take away his anxiety.
His main teacher, Mrs. Valentine, told me about an app for the IPad that may greatly decrease his stress when writing extensively. He will be able to talk to the IPad and it will scribe his words. Very cool!
I was so impressed that she was already thinking of strategies for SJ before school even began. That is a true teacher! She showed SJ around the room and told him she would help him remember to turn his homework on time (if homework isn't turned in by 9:00 a.m., they automatically lose 50 %.).
When we returned home later that night, SJ was going through all the papers. He got very upset when he saw the amount of writing he will be expected to do. I told him that we would help him and his new aide would also help them. He didn't seem convinced, but it was enough to get him to go to bed.
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