after school speech #13

Two Wednesdays ago, SJ had his speech session.  She told us at the session that this would be our last session with her.  She was due to have her baby in a couple of weeks.  We will have a new therapist when we return to speech after the new year.  I was a little sad to be switching therapists, because she did such a nice job with him.  However, this isn't the first time we have had to switch therapists and all the previous therapists have been terrific too.

Oh well, moving on.  She said he did a very nice job at their session.  They worked on Antonyms.  She assigned him a worksheet on antonyms for homework. The answers were scrambled and he did very well with this assignment.

For example:  start _________ niifhs

He answered finish.

Next, they worked on Classifying items.  She also assigned him a homework sheet on that topic too.  He was given twenty clues and he had to fill in the blank.  He needed prompted on 4 of the 20.  One of the ones he had difficulty with was the following.

A mammal that doesn't live on land

I had to prompt him with "it may live in the ocean".  He initially said fish, but I told him no.  I said "think of a big fish that comes up for air".  He finally said whale. 

Then, they worked on Cause and Effect.  She said he had some trouble with this.  She assigned him a homework sheet on this.  He had trouble with this assignment.  I had to read him a few sentences and then have him answer the questions.  Here is an example of one of the parts.

Chloe was a lonely eight year old girl.  She was lonely because she lived on a farm...millions of miles from her friends in town.

How was Chloe feeling? (lonely)

What do you think the effect of her loneliness was? (sad, unhappy)

SJ could answer the first questions, but had trouble with all of the second answers.  We will have to continue working on this topic.

Last, they reviewed Synonyms.  She assigned him a fun worksheet that was a synonym puzzle.  It was challenging, but SJ liked this assignment.

santa land and after school tutoring #10

Two Mondays ago, I was off work for a doctor's appointment.  When I dropped SJ off at school, he was in a panic.  He just had remembered it was his Santa Land day.

I didn't have any cash on me (nothing new), so I told him that I would drop him off some money later that day.  Fortunately, one of my coworkers spotted me the cash until the next day.

When I picked up SJ at the end of the day, I repaid my coworker.  SJ was in a great mood and was telling me about all the presents he bought (except mine).  

After school, he had his weekly tutoring session.  They continued to read more of The Island: Escape.  Mrs. Banks said he did a very nice job with reading.  

After they finished their chapters, they worked on a stocking glyph.  SJ decided the color of the stocking top (green-his stocking is hung over the fireplace), color of the stocking (red-he stays at home on Christmas), color of patch on toe and heel (orange-Frosty the Snowman is his favorite Christmas song), how many stars are on the stocking (3-Frosty is his favorite character), what color the 5 snowflakes around the stocking are (dark blue-he likes to wrap presents), what color to trace the stocking (blue-he likes snow) and what to draw coming out of the stocking (4 candy canes-he thinks he is on Santa's good list this year).  Here is the completed glyph.

another note = another punishment

Last Thursday there was a note waiting for me in the office at SJ's school.  The receptionist mouthed "sorry" to me, but I half smiled and shrugged.  

SJ started crying on the way to the car, since he knew he did something that would make him lose privileges.  I read the note before I pulled out of the parking lot.  

It basically said that SJ threw a fit during inside recess.  Mr. Brown and Mrs. Banks had told the girls that they could get basketballs first.  Then, they called the boys to get balls.  Not all the boys got one and one of those boys was SJ.

He kicked the crate that holds the basketballs and started yelling about the girls.  Mr. Brown told him to go sit on the bleachers for the remainder of recess.  

I put the note away and told SJ he lost electronics for the evening.  I also told him he was going to have to apologize to Mr. Brown and Mrs. Banks the next day.  He claimed he already apologized to both of them.  I told him I would be verifying that.

I reminded him that his behavior was unacceptable and the punishment will keep getting longer each time this happens.  I asked him if any other 6th grade boys threw a fit and of course he shook his head no.

The next day, I asked Mr. Brown if SJ had apologized.  He said he had apologized to him, but he hadn't to Mrs. Banks.  I thanked him and told SJ he would be writing Mrs. Banks an apology note.  I made him write it and put it in her mailbox.

On Monday, Mrs. Banks came to our house for tutoring.  She told me how he kept raising his hand while he was sitting on the bleachers.  She and Mr. Brown were ignoring him, but different pairs of girls kept going over to talk to him.  They were asking when he could get up.  

Now, how ironic is that.  The same people he was so irritated with were the only ones who were coming to his rescue.  It didn't matter, though.  He was being punished and he couldn't charm his way out of it.

after school speech #12

Last Wednesday SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  She reviewed some synonyms with SJ.  She asked me to review those words again for homework.  The words were: vacant, revere, inspect, amateur, pupil and omit.  He still had trouble with four of them and the other two he could answer when I put it in a sentence.

She also had him do another worksheet on synonyms.  There were eight sentences with an underlined word.  SJ had to circle the word that was a synonym for the underlined word.  He only needed prompted on 2 of the 8.  An example of one of the sentences that I prompted him on was the following:

I always blush when I'm embarrassed.

His initial answer was angry, but that correct choice was humiliated.

She said they also worked on Cause and Effect.  She gave him a worksheet on that topic for homework.  He had to read the short paragraph and find out what was the cause was.  

Every day after school, Latoya walks to her apartment.  She and her dad live there.  She gets home about 4:00 and her dad is home by 6:00.  Latoya doesn't mind staying alone except when it's raining.

He had to answer this question.  What causes Latoya to be frightened of staying home alone when it's raining? He answered that she is probably scared of storms and afraid that she would lose the electricity.  He did okay with this activity.

The last thing they worked on was antonyms.  She assigned him a crossword puzzle on antonyms.  He did that completely on his own.  He only questioned what thaw meant.  I explained what it was and he said, "Oh, really."  He is funny sometimes.

thanksgiving 2013

We were hosting this year's Thanksgiving dinner.  That meant I needed both boys to help get the house ready.  My brother in law, Greg, was staying with us for the holiday.  He usually sleeps in the playroom, so it needed freshened up.  

I had SJ help me go through the toy boxes.  We put some of the outgrown treasured toys in the attic, but a lot of them we donated to Goodwill.  

I also had SJ help me vacuum and dust that room.  Then, I had the boys clean their rooms and help with vacuuming the 2nd floor.

On Thanksgiving day, our guests started arriving around 3:00.  My parents, my sisters, my brothers in law, my sister in law, our nephews and niece were our guests for the day.  

The dinner was delicious and the company was lovely.  The boys played very nicely with Gabriel and Cedar.  Laurel did her own thing.  She was busy being the holiday photog.  

Most of the guests were gone by 10.  My nephews stayed the night as well as Uncle Greg.  Gabriel slept in Bob's room and Cedar slept in SJ's room.  

The boys got up around 9:30.  We made streusel, scrambled eggs and bacon for breakfast.  After breakfast, the boys played Wii, Xbox and PS3.  They had a great time.

Around 3:00 pm, we took my nephews to my parents' house.  We were eating dinner there.  I brought a lasagna and salad.  My sister was making garlic bread too.  

Dinner was yummy.  We played Scattegories after dinner.  That was a lot of fun.  I always enjoy spending time with my sister's family.  It is too bad they live 4 hours away.  I hope you were lucky enough to enjoy spending the holiday with family too.

the autism monsters comes out of hiding

Last week I received an email from one of SJ's teachers, Mrs. Lewis.  She and Mr. Chip have been his math flex teachers (flex is when another teacher helps groups of students who are at the same math or language arts ability) for the last couple of weeks.  

They take SJ's group to the computer lab and have the kids work on their math skills.  SJ isn't having trouble with the math, but he is getting stressed out over the computer programs they are having them do.  

Back to the email.  Mrs. Lewis said that SJ was so frustrated during Monday's session.  They were working on multiplying and dividing fractions.  With the problems they were doing, he became overly agitated.  He started banging his head into the computer monitor.  

She said he had never done this before.  She said he did it three times before she got him to stop.  She said he was fine (and was the monitor), so she took him in the hall to talk to him.  She talked to him about taking a deep breath, asking for help and not getting upset.  She told me she told Mr. Brown also.

I replied to her and told her that my husband and I would have a talk with him.  I told her to remind him he would be having a cosequence for his behavior.

He was due to have flex with her and Mr. Chip again on Wednesday.  I reminded him that morning that he would lose electronics if he lost his temper during flex.  I also reminded him if he started to feel frustrated to ask for help.  I was hoping he listened.  Fortunately, flex was cancelled, so we'll have to wait and see.

after school speech #11

Two Wednesdays ago, SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  She said he was acting a little tired and grumbly.  She said his sour mood didn't last the whole session, so I was relieved to hear that.

They worked on classifying words into two categories.  They did 5 together and she assigned the remaining 15 for homework.  Here is an example of the words.

Yogurt     Food and Dairy

He only had difficulty with one of the 15.  He didn't know what sausage was.  Once I explained what it was, he was able to tell me that it is food and meat.

She also reviewed defining by using patterned definitions.  She reviewed four that he had difficulty with.  Those four were:  pliers, highway, rink and runway.  He did better after she reviewed them with him.

She also reviewed some antonyms that SJ was having trouble with.  There were 10 that he couldn't name an antonym for.  Those words were:  gloomy, shy, slim, weep, tug, slender, bashful, timid, glum and arrive.  She asked me to review them again for homework.  

Since I cancelled his next appointment (it was the day before Thanksgiving), she assigned him some extra homework.  

The first homework assignment was a cause and effect paper.  He was given 4 inventions with their descriptions.  He then had to write what the people's reactions would be.  Here is one of those inventions.  

Tennis Ball Bowling-tennis balls are used to knock down 6 inch tall pins made of light plastic.

SJ wrote that some people would find it "weird", but a lot of people would find it "fun".

She also assigned him a main idea worksheet.  He had to read an ad and state the main idea and supporting details.  He did fairly well with this activity.  

Next, she assigned him a worksheet on synonyms and antonyms.  He had to look at a picture and give a synonym and an antonym for each picture.  For example:  There was a picture of a "pretty" girl.  His answers were cute for a synonym and ugly for the antonym.

Last, she assigned him a crossword puzzle that required him to fill in synonyms to complete the puzzle.  He really enjoyed that assignment.  

after school tutoring #9

Two Mondays ago, SJ had his weekly reading tutoring session.  He was in a much better mood during this session than the week before.  

They continued to read more of The Island: Escape.  They worked on some comprehension questions.  She said he did a very nice job.  They also played a game of Farkle.  He was laughing and enjoying playing this game with Mrs. Banks.  

She told me that she was very pleased with how well he is doing.  She commended him on his "A" status in her reading class.  

She said they are almost done with this novel.  I asked her if she had decided on the next novel, but she hadn't chosen one as of then.  I hope he likes the next one as much as he has enjoyed this series.

after school speech #10

Last Wednesday SJ had his weekly speech session.  She said he had a great session.  She reviewed the words that he answered for the defining by using patterned definitions.  He did a little better with them after the review.  She asked me to review them again for homework.

She also reviewed the antonym worksheet.  She gave him definitions for the words so that he would be more able to identify the correct antonym.  Out of the 10 she reviewed, he needed prompted with 4 of them.  She asked me to review these as well for homework.  

She also assigned him a homework sheet on comparing and contrasting.  He only had a little trouble with this assignment.  Here is one of the topics.

Two fast food restaurants:  McDonalds and Dairy Queen

Compare:  You can eat at both.  They both have fries and burgers.

Contrast:  The primary food at Dairy Queen is ice cream.  The primary food at McDonalds is burgers.

Last, she assigned him a worksheet on Synonyms.  He had to read a sentence and write a synonym for the word in bold.  Here is an example sentence.

It's not safe to play in the street.

He wrote the word road.  There were 10 sentences in total.  He needed prompted on 3 of them.

after school tutoring #8

Last Monday SJ had his weekly tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  What a difference a week makes.  Not only did he have a fine day at school, he also gave not one complaint about tutoring.

They continued to read more of The Island: Escape.  She had SJ make a prediction as to what was going to happen.  He predicted that some of the kids were going to get off the island.  He was partially correct, because the character JJ did escape.  He was very proud that he was somewhat right.

They answered some comprehension questions and then played Farkle.  When his session was over, Mrs. Banks said he worked very hard for her.  I am always very pleased to her that.

dave and buster family day

On Saturday, my husband and I decided to have a family day.  Since the boys LOVE video games, we thought we would take them to Dave and Busters.

It is almost 40 minutes from our house.  SJ was complaining about the drive (nothing new), but we knew once we got there they would love it.

Well, SJ did love it.  Bob was a different story.  He was very crabby and stubbornly not wanting to play games.  That didn't effect SJ.  He went around and tried the various games.  He tends to prefer the games that reward you with tickets.

After playing games for over 90 minutes, we went into their restaurant for a late lunch.  After we ate lunch, we went back to playing games.  Bob's mood was much improved after he ate lunch.

We played 4 person air hockey.  SJ got out first and surprisingly took it well.  My husband was out second.  I ended winning the game (I am not sure how that was possible).  

We played games until we were out of tokens.  We had enough tickets for each of the boys to get something.  They got two plushies.  

It ended up being a nice outing even if it started out a little bumpy.

after school speech #9

Last Wednesday was speech day.  SJ's therapist worked on antonyms.  She went over the worksheet we had down for homework.  He still had trouble coming up with antonyms for these words:  gloomy, shy, slim, weep, tug, slender, bashful, timid, glum and arrive.  She asked me to review these words for homework.  

She also went over defining words with patterned definitions.  She asked me to review 5 of them for homework.  One of the words we reviewed was:  A highway is a place for ______.  He needed to answer with driving.

They also did a little work on completion of comparative phrases.  She did 11 with him and assigned the remainder for homework.  He had A LOT of trouble with this assignment.  We will have to continue to work on this topic.  

She also assigned him a paper on synonyms. He did very well with that assignment.  She also assigned an additional antonym worksheet.  He only had trouble with a few of those.  

bad, bad day plus after school tutoring #7

Last Monday, I was greeted at the end of the day by Mrs. Banks.  (That is never a good sign).  Apparently, SJ had been difficult all day, but especially at the end of the day.  

He had to go to reading flex with Mrs. Hare.  Mrs. Hare is a reading teacher, but her room is in the hallway with 1st and 2nd grade.  He didn't want to go with her, since she is a "baby teacher".  Mr. Brown tried to talk to him, as well as his aide, Mrs. Q.  

He was difficult during flex time.  He continued to cry about it.  Mrs. Banks tried to talk to him, but he was not settling down.  She warned him that I would be there shortly.

So when I got off the bus, she was waiting for me.  She told me what happened.  I could see that he was very upset. I told him to settle down.  I told him if he was still crying when I got to the office there would be an additional punishment.

I apologized to Mr. Brown and Mrs. Banks and then I walked out the kindergarteners.  Fortunately, SJ had calmed down when I got to the office.  

I talked to him about what happened.  I told him he had to write an apology to the teachers and he would be banned from electronics for 24 hours.  

Thirty minutes after we got home, Mrs. Banks arrived for tutoring.  He didn't want to go downstairs, but I made him.  He wasted 15 minutes of their session with his crabbiness, but then he got to work.

They read a few more chapters of The Island: Escape.  They answered comprehension questions and played a short game of Farkle.  

Although he had such a bad day, he at least ended on a better note. 

halloween party at school

Two Fridays ago, it was the Halloween party at SJ's school.  I got picked to be a party mom and I was thrilled.  (It is SJ's and my favorite holiday and it is his last Halloween party in elementary school.)

I arrived around 2 at his school.  I was dressed in my Velma costume.  The other mother and I got the kids ready for the parade.  They paraded through the school and outside of it for the parents to see them dressed in their costumes.  

When their parade was over, they came back to the room.  We had set up some games for the kids to do.  The other mom brought in "gross out" boxes.  I brought in a candy corn guess game.  This is what my finished product looked like.  

The kids enjoyed both games.  The winning guess on the candy corn was 600.  There were actually 666 in the jar (a must for Halloween).  

The rest of the time, they hung out socializing and eating their treats.  

It was a weird feeling for me that day.  On one hand, I was so happy to be there. On the other hand, I was sad that this was the last one.  I guess it is all a part of growing up.  (I don't have to like it, though). 

trick or treat 2013

Two Thursdays ago, it was Halloween night.  SJ was super excited!  As soon as he got home from school, he put on his Halloween costume.  

This year he was going as a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle.  He went as one a few years ago, so I was surprised when he chose one again.

This time he went as Leonardo (the one with blue accessories).  He was telling people when they asked him who he was going to be he would say, "Leonardo.  Not DiCaprio or DaVinci."  So funny!

It was a very rainy night that evening.  He was going to walk around with one of our neighbors, since Bob feels "too old" for the tradition.  He hung out at our house to pass out candy.

We had decorated our garage as a Haunted Garage.  We had Bob hide in the garage to scare the slightly older trick or treaters.  The kids loved the haunted garage. 

When SJ was done (he was soaking wet), he helped out with the scaring of the kiddos.  After we were all done with trick or treating, we went over to Willie's house to hang out.  

SJ changed into a martial arts outfit, since his costume was still wet.  We had a great time at Willie's house.  We only stayed about an hour, since it was a school night.  

Even though it was wet and gloomy, we still enjoyed our Halloween night.

halloween party for sj

Two Saturdays ago, SJ had a Halloween party at our house.  He invited 10 friends, but only 8 could attend.  We started out the party with a zombie brain eating contest.  Only 4 of the boys were willing to try it.  It was very fun to watch.  

Then, the pizza arrived.  The boys had pizza, chips and drinks.  After they ate, we went downstairs for apple bobbing.  Again, only a few of the boys were willing to participate.

We went back upstairs.  I had snacks made up for the boys.  I had caramel apples, witch hats (pretzel thins stuck in miniature Reese peanut butter cups) and gluten free vanilla cupcakes.  

Next, I gave all the boys flashlights and sent them outside to play "ghosts in the graveyard".  I had tombstones set up with lollipop ghosts hidden in the yard.  They stayed outside for almost 30 minutes, but then it started raining.  

They came inside and we sent them into our Haunted Garage one at a time.  They really enjoyed that.  (We really enjoyed seeing their reactions.)  

The last thing we planned for the boys was a movie.  My husband put on The Invisible Man.  The boys really enjoyed the movie.  I think they enjoyed the party and I know that SJ did.  All the planning, building and baking was worth seeing his happy face.

after school speech #8

Last Wednesday SJ again had his speech therapy appointment.  When his session was finished, she said SJ told her about our Haunted Garage (for Halloween only), his upcoming school Halloween party and trick or treating. She said he worked very hard during their session.

They worked on defining by using patterned definitions. He was given a sentence and he had to complete it.  For example:  A bee is an animal that _____.

He answered with "buzzes".  Out of the 15, he only needed prompting on 4 of them.

They also worked on describing things.  He did very well with that activity.  He had to describe two things he may find in an art store, a library, a restaurant, etc.  No prompts needed.

They also worked on antonyms.  There were 24 words and he only had difficulty with 3 of them.  Yeah!

She assigned us a worksheet on classifying.  There were 10 clues and then SJ had to name the category.  He needed prompted on only 2 of them.  One of the ones that gave him trouble was the following.

Companies make their business mining silver, copper and iron.  What are these things called?____.

He didn't know that they were minerals. Overall, I was very happy with how well he did.

after school tutoring #6

Last Monday, SJ again had his weekly tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  She said he did a very nice job, but she had something interesting to tell me.

She said they were about to begin reading more of The Island: Escape when SJ made a declaration.  He said, "I think we should change the way we read," he said.  "What should we do?" Mrs. Banks asked.  "I think we should each read a whole page instead of every other paragraph.  You know, I am a 6th grader," he said.  "I am aware that you are a 6th grader," she replied.  

She told him that would be fine if they read a page at a time.  "Who is going to read first?" she asked him.  He flipped through the pages of the first chapter.  He then said, "I will read first."  

So he read first and they read two more chapters of the book.  Then, they answered some comprehension questions.  

I was so happy to hear about his declaration.  I am glad he is feeling more confident in his reading abilities.  The tutoring is really helping him tons.  It is well worth every penny.

after school speech #7

Last Wednesday, SJ had his weekly speech session.  His therapist said he did a nice job during their session.  

First, she reviewed the classifying words that he had done for homework.  He still had trouble with 4 of the 18.  One that he had trouble with was:

Plates and bowls are _________.

He needed to answer with dishes. I reviewed those same sentences and he still couldn't quite get the concept.  We will have to continue practicing that skill.

Next, they worked on a describing activity.  SJ had to circle the word that matched his sentence.  He did very well on this activity.  Here is one of the sentences.

This is something small and soft.

His choices were pillow, marble, marshmallow or rock.  He correctly circled marshmallow.

Then, she had him fill in words for a Mad Lib type activity.  These were his words.

Season-Fall

Equipment-soccer ball

Place-NYC

Place-Empire State Building

Building part-door

Thing you read-book

Thing you write-word

Writing utensil-pencil

Appliance-refrigerator 

Furniture-couch

Place-San Diego

Time word-minute

This is the story with his words in it.  

It was fall break and Jessica couldn't think of anything to do.  She tried calling her friends on the soccer ball, but no one was NYC. Jessica went into her Empire State Building and closed the door.  "Maybe I should clean my NYC," she thought.  "No way!  I'm not that bored," she said to herself.  Next Jessica thought of reading a book, but she had read all the books in her NYC.  "I've got it!  I'll write a word," she decided.  Jessica took out a pad of paper and a pencil.  After she sharpened the pencil in the refrigerator, she sat at her couch.  "Hmmm," she said out loud, "now who should I write to?"  Just then the soccer ball rang.  It was her friend Kim.  Kim wanted Jessica to go to the San Diego with her. Guess the word could wait until minute.

She said he really enjoyed that activity, so she asked me to do it again with different words for homework.  

Finally, she had him do a worksheet were he compared himself to two friends.  Then, he needed to answer questions. These were the questions.

1. Which friend are you most like?  Topher

2.  What is the one way you and your friends are alike?  They both like math.

3.  What is one way you and your friends are different?  They have dogs.

4.  What I one way your friends are alike?  They both like chips for a snack.

5.  What is one way your friends are different? They have different hair color.

This was an interesting little assignment.  It got SJ to talk to his friends and enabled him to learn some important things about them.  

after school tutoring #5

Last Monday, SJ had his after school tutoring with Mrs. Banks.  When she arrived, he went downstairs without a complaint.  (So proud!)  

They continued to read more chapters from The Island: Escape.  They read three chapters and did some comprehension questions.  They only have a few chapters remaining in the book.  

When the session was done, Mrs. Banks told me he worked very hard for her.  She said he didn't check the time once.  (He usually looks at her cell phone several times during their session.)  She said he seemed genuinely surprised when their time was over.  I am so glad that he is enjoying that novel.  It makes tutoring much more tolerable.

bad day in mr. london's class

Two Wednesdays ago (same day as speech), I checked my email around 10:15.  There was an email from Mr. London.  He is not his homeroom teacher, but he does teach him one subject.  

Apparently, he was having the students work on questions before they could start their homework.  SJ answered one question incorrectly and one that he wasn't supposed to do.  

When he asked SJ to redo the question, SJ became angry and attempted to grab the pencil, which he was using to change something on SJ's paper, out of Mr. London's hand.  

He told him he had to let go of the pencil and go to his seat.  When he got to his seat, he told SJ that he had to write me a note telling me what he did in class.  I had to sign it and he had to return it to Mr. London the following day.  

This was all a surprise to me.  SJ hadn't said a word to me about any trouble at school.  He was already asleep, so I checked his binder for the note.

It was in there (at least he partially listened to Mr. London).  I talked to my husband about the incident.

When SJ awoke the next day, I told him about the email.  "Oh, I forgot to tell you Mom," he said.  "Well, you are going to have a consequence," I told him.  I told him that he is never to argue with a teacher and he is especially never allowed to try to take things out of their hands.  

I made him write an apology note to Mr. London.  I also signed the note that was to be returned.  Then, I told SJ his consequence.  It was no electronics for 24 hours.  He was upset, but I reminded him that every action has a reaction.  This is his current currency.  Hopefully, he will learn from this and not do this again.

after school speech #6

First, I want to apologize for being so behind on my updates.  I am trying to catch up today.  Two Wednesdays ago, SJ had his speech therapy session.  

His therapist said he worked very hard for her.  They worked on antonyms.  She showed him a picture and he had to circle the word that was it's antonym. See the following worksheet.

The only word he had trouble with was the picture of the hen pushing a chick in a stroller.  It said make-believe.  SJ had to be prompted to identify real as the antonym.  She asked me to review those words, which I did for homework.  

She also worked on classifying.  He had to fill in group names for the sentences.  For example:  A tape measure is a _____.  He needed to answer with tool.  She did 4 with him and assigned the remainder for homework.  When I did the rest with him, he needed prompted on 4 of the 14. 

She said his vocal tone was much more typical when they were making conversation.  I am glad he is improving with that skill too.

oh no, the petechia returns

Two Fridays ago I got a disturbing email from Mrs. Banks.  Apparently his entire grade was in their auditorium when they announced the winners of the Fire Safety posters.  No surprise, but SJ didn't win (art in not his best talent).  

When the names were announced, he moaned and complained for the remaining 30 minutes of the assembly.  They went out to recess.  She said he was squatted down on the ground and began hitting himself with his ball cap.  She tried to explain to him that only 3 students won per grade.  He was among the 78 who didn't win.  

She tried to get him to calm down, but he refused.  She made a deal with him.  He had 30 minutes (the recess period) to settle down.  If he didn't settle down, he would lose 5 behavior points and a note would be sent home.  

She said he did settle down and played for 10 minutes of the recess.  When it was time to line up, he started to get worked up again.  She reminded him that his 30 minutes were up and he would lose the points if this behavior continued inside.  

She said she could hear him stomping his feet coming in, but when he saw her he calmed down.  This is when she noticed his red blotchy skin.  She told his aide to watch his skin.  Shortly after, it was still splotchy while he was with his aide.  

When he got to reading, it was less red but Mrs. Banks could see the broken blood vessels.  She knew from last year that they were petechia.  

She asked him if he tried to choke himself or hold his breath when he was mad.  He denied it, but the skin doesn't lie.

I had a long talk with him that night.  I reminded him how dangerous it is to hold your breath.  The petechia is only a small consequence of holding his breath.  I reminded him to use him calming techniques instead of getting to that point of anger. I also gave him a punishment of no electronics for the weekend.  Hopefully that currency is powerful enough to get him to stop holding his breath.  

after school speech #5

Last Wednesday SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  His therapist worked on classifying words.  She said he did very well with that.  She completed 10 out of the 20.  She assigned the remaining 10 for homework.  

She also worked on antonyms with him.  He did well, but had trouble identifying "real" as an antonym for "make believe".  She asked me to review that word.  I did and he still had trouble identifying that real was it's antonym.  I don't know why he is having trouble with that word.

She told me she was pleased that he used an appropriate tone when he was working with her.  

She assigned him a worksheet on comparing two words.  He had to say what they had in common and what made them different.  For example:  helicopter-airplane.  He said they both fly, but the helicopter has blades.

She also assigned him a worksheet on antonyms.  He had to complete nursery rhymes with antonyms.  He did very well with this assignment.  

When we completed the homework on classifying, he only had trouble with 2 out of the 10.  He had trouble with this one:  cast/crutches/scenery/props. He had to tell me that crutches didn't belong. He got confused over what "cast" meant.

after school tutoring #4

Last Monday, SJ had his after school tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  He complained before she got to our house, but he went downstairs without an utterance when she arrived.

They continued to read more of The Island: Escape.  She said he willingly read.  He looked at the book, flipped through the pages and said they should read two chapters.  She was pleased with his eagerness to read (so was I), so they read two chapters.  

They did the comprehension questions that were based on those chapters.  That took the whole tutoring session, so they didn't do any glyphs or Mad Libs.

When his session was over, he ran upstairs and said something very funny.  He said, "She's still downstairs."  As if he thinks Mrs. Banks wants to stay at our house.  He is too much.

computer malfunctions

Last Thursday morning I was approached by SJ's computer teacher.  Apparently, SJ had been very difficult for Mr. Rom.  

Mr. Rom told me that SJ had been very grumpy each week.  He had been grumbling out loud and pounding on the keyboard when agitated.  

He told me he placed his seat near his desk, so SJ would have easier access to him when troubled.  He also placed him next to a girl who is normally a quiet, nice girl.

He wanted to know if we were doing anything different at home.  I told him about the gluten free diet, but nothing else.  I did remind him that SJ is sensitive to sounds and sometimes kids on the spectrum hear things typical people don't.  He said there is a definite hum in the room.  If he can hear it, it could be grating to SJ.

I told Mr. Rom that I would talk to him to see if there is a valid reason for his behavior.  I also told him to feel free to remind SJ that bad behavior will be a cause for an at home consequence.

At the end of the day, I asked SJ about the problems in computer class.  He told me he was upset that his seat was so far from the door (he always likes to be first). He also said he didn't like being next to a girl (always a complaint, but oh well).  He additionally said he was having trouble with one of his passwords.  

I reminded him that he doesn't get to pick his seat and if he is not first he won't die.  I told him that Mr. Rom put him near him, so he could help him easier.  I told him that if he was having trouble he still wasn't allowed to growl or hit the keyboard.  

I also told him that if this happened again he would lose electronics.  No exceptions.  He said he understood.  I hope that he does or it will be bye bye to

Wii, PS3 and You Tube.

after school speech #4

Last Wednesday, SJ had his weekly speech therapy appointment.  He had missed the week before due to a fever.  

She started the session with some work on classifying words.  He had to read a sentence and find the word that doesn't make sense.  For example:  

Baseball is a season we play in the summer.

He had to change season to sport.  She did 5 with him and assigned the remaining sentences for homework.  He did this assignment fairly easily.  

They also worked on matching words to correct definitions.  She also assigned him a sheet of these for homework.  He only had trouble with a few of the words. He had trouble with matching reed to tall grass near a lake with long leaves and quarrel to a disagreement or argument.  

She also assigned him five words that he had to give synonyms and sentences.  He did okay with this assignment.  One of the words was drag.  His synonym for it was move.  His sentence was the following:  I have to drag the anvil.

After speech, we stopped at Target to picked up his Halloween costume.  He selected a TNMT Leonardo costume.  He wanted Donatello, but they only had Leonardo and Michaelangelo.  He tried it on as soon as he got home.  He was in such a great mood.  That is a rarity on speech days.  

after school tutoring #3

After SJ's terrible day on Monday, I was expecting him to be difficult for Mrs. Banks.  After he apologized to her, he worked very nicely.  Thank goodness!

They read a few more chapters of The Island book.  She said he answered the comprehension questions with little complaints.  

She knew he was paying attention, because some of the questions were for later chapters.  She was pleased that he was understanding what he was reading.  

Then, they did an autumn glyph.  SJ had to decide the color of the man's clothing (blue-summer is his favorite season), the color of the boy's shirt (green-when he hears autumn, he thinks of Thanksgiving), the color of the man's hair (black-he had played in leaves before), the color of the rakes (green-he likes Halloween best), the color of the flying leaves (red-he likes Thanksgiving dinner), the color of the raked leaves (red-football is the sport of autumn) and the color of the title (purple-we have been camping in the fall).  See the finished glyph.

monday aftershocks

Monday was another bad day for SJ.  I first learned about this from Mr. Brown.  He told me that SJ had a pretty significant meltdown.  He said it lasted for over 15 minutes.  He also told me SJ's aide had a note for me.  

I am not going to write verbatim what she wrote, but it did give me a good synopsis of the meltdown.  

1. He started to get agitated when Mr. London asked for his signed test. (You need a parent signature on bad tests.) She said he finally settled down after he said I still had the test at home.

2. He was in Mrs. Banks class taking a reading test.  He didn't finish (half the class didn't finish) and started crying.  He didn't want to go to lunch.  (He had a obsession over finishing things.)

3. She told him he had to go to lunch, so he was running up the hall.  When she told him not to run, he started crying again.  

4. After lunch, he was crying when she walked into math class.  He was mad about the change in seating that Mr. London made.  She took him to the hall where he continued to cry for 25 plus minutes.  He was complaining as he was crying.  He muttered that he wanted a seat by the door, a seat where he could see the clock, wished school wasn't so boring, wants to finish reading test now, etc.

5. She finally got him calm enough to return to the classroom, but he continued to mutter to himself.

6. He had another meltdown with Mrs. Banks.  He got angry with her about not finishing the test.  He wanted her to give him clues.  He wanted to use the book.  When she couldn't do those things for him, he ripped his paper out of her hand. She told him that wasn't acceptable.  He continued to cry for a few minutes, but eventually settled down.  

When I heard about all of this, I told him there would be a consequence.  I banned him from electronics for all the minutes he wasted at school.  I also made him apologize to Mrs. Banks.  

I hope this is the worst of the meltdowns.  Otherwise, he is going to get more and more serious consequences. 

family breakfast friday

Friday morning was a special day at SJ's school.  They have a Parent/Grandparent Breakfast for each grade.  Since SJ is in 6th grade, his breakfast was last and fell on last Friday.

I go to this breakfast with him every year. (Bob stopped wanting us to go after 4th grade.) I always enjoy sitting down with the boys and their friends.  

When we arrived at his school, both of us were hungry.  We went through the line and made out selections.  I took scrambled eggs, sausage and hash browns.  SJ took two regular (non-gluten free) donuts.  He was in heaven.

We found a seat at a table with Marshall (a frequent classmate of SJ's).  I chatted with Marshall's mom and SJ busily ate his donuts and drank his orange juice.  Topher's family got there shortly after we sat down.  They joined us at our table.  

After we were done, we were allowed to go to our kid's home room.  Mr. Brown was in there.  SJ showed me the room, his seat and a poem he wrote.  I was quite impressed.  

As I was headed to my job, I got a little sad that this is my last parent breakfast.  Although I was sad, I am overjoyed that we had these moments.

boom...sj finally exploded

On Wednesday, I had checked SJ's Power School account and noticed he did poorly on one of his Reading assignments.  When I arrived at his school, I asked Mrs. Banks about it.  She explained what he had missed in the assignment, but also told me he was very difficult when she was trying to test his Reading progress.  

Then, Mr. London, his Math teacher, stopped me.  SJ had a math test that day.  Mr. London told me that SJ was getting very frustrated during the test.  He was pounding his fists on his legs and  getting very upset.  He tried to calm him down, but SJ wasn't hearing it.  He also told him he could stop and finish the test the next day.  I knew that SJ wouldn't have gone for that option.  He always wants to finish things.  Mr. London said he walked away and saw that SJ just guessed at the remaining problems.  (Needless to say, he guessed incorrectly and did very poorly on the test.)  I thanked Mr. London for telling me and assured him that we would have a talk with SJ.  

Next, I saw Mr. Cleft, his Music teacher, on my way to the office.  He told me that SJ was very uncooperative in his class.  He told me that he reminded SJ that he is trying to make things easier for him, but he has to give a little as well.  I told him that I would talk to him too.  

SJ was crying and upset when I got to the office.  I told him to go to the car and started talking to him about his behavior with all three teachers.  I reminded him that his teachers are just trying to help him.  I also told him that he would have to apologize to all of them the next day. (He did apologized to Mrs. Banks and Mr. London the next day.  He said he would apologize to Mr. Cleft at his next class.)

When we got home from school, he told me he had a headache in Math and Music class.  I took his temperature and sure enough he was 100.6.  That explains some of the drama, but it doesn't explain his not listening.  

I knew this day would come.  I am glad it took 4 weeks and could have been fueled by his fever.  I gave him Motrin and he was back to himself a few hours later.

after school tutoring #2

On Monday SJ had his reading tutoring session with Mrs. Banks.  We were having a bee problem at our house. A few of the bees were getting into the basement, so I was going to have Mrs. Banks tutor him in our diningroom.  The only problem was that I was babysitting the Franklin kids after school.  Mrs. Banks said she had no problem tutoring him while the kids were there.  She was more concerned at how SJ would be.  I was as well.  I thought the kids would be loud and distracting.  I am glad to say the kids behaved beautifully.  

SJ, however, was slightly distracted.  He kept taking bathroom breaks and wanted to "check" on the kids.  After the kids were picked up, his attention was better. They began reading the first two chapters of next book in The Island series.  It is titled The Island: Escape.  They did some comprehension questions after they finished the chapters.    

They also did a Mad Lib type activity.  SJ gave words to fill in the blanks.  These were his words.

adjective-best

verb-ski

noun-dog

adjective-great

noun, plural-boys

noun, plural-cats

adjective-bad

adjective-sad

noun, plural-girls

adjective-boring

verb, past tense-played

verb, past tense-chewed

noun-banana

verb, past tense-ate

noun, plural-dads

adjective-happy

verb, -ing form-singing

noun-person

This the completed Mad Lib type story with SJ's words.

It was the most best place in the world, thought Jay.  He helped ski his suitcase and other items from the marina' parking lot to the slip where the dog waited.  He was finally going to THE COTTAGE.  That's how he always thought of it in is mind.  

The great woods, boys, and sun-warmed cats were a magical place in the summer sun.  Bad blueberry bushes nestled in sad hollows while girls and crayfish lived in the small pond that was divided from the main lake.  

The lake was perhaps the most wonderful part of the cottage.  Sometimes the water was boring and gray.  Other times the water was as still as a mill-pond.  This day the wind had played the surface.  Jay chewed down on the side of the banana and ate his dads in the water.  The lake was happy.  It would be fun to go singing.  

The person from the marina to the cottage only took a few minutes, but Jay was breathless when they arrived.  Everything was just as he remembered.  Summer was great, but to him this was the best part of summer.  

They also worked on a back to school glyph.  SJ had to decide on the color of the backpack (teal-hmm, he wonders where and by whom he sits), the color of the boy's hair (brown-he knew more than half of his classmates), the color of clothing (blue and red-he went to this school last year), the color of the desks (brown-yes, he knows someone who has been his class before), the letters between the boys (NE-his desk faces northeast), the number in the left corner (4-how well he thinks he will do academically) and the number in the right corner (3-how well he thinks he will get along with his classmates this year).

This is his completed glyph.

night with the dads & sleepover at topher's

On Friday, I was going to see a show downtown with a bunch of my lady friends.  That meant my husband was in charge.  He and the other dads were all going over to Topher's house.  The boys were also going to spend the night to celebrate Topher turning 12.

Even though my husband was in charge, I had the boys pack up their sleepover stuff and I packed snacks that SJ could have.  Bob had a soccer practice that night, so he dropped SJ at Topher's before he took Bob to soccer.

I am not exactly sure what the boys did to entertain themselves while the moms were out.  My husband said that they played some version of Capture The Flag outside and did lots of video gaming.  

When the moms arrived at Topher's house, the boys were in their pajamas.  We stayed briefly and then headed home.  

I picked up the boys the next morning after my hair appointment.  It took longer than I thought, so I hoped the boys didn't overstay their welcome.  

As we drove home, they were both going on and on about how much fun they had.  Bob told me that SJ even slept in the basement with the other boys.  That was nice to hear, especially since he was camped out on their Lazy Boy recliner when we left. I am glad they both had a great time.  

after school speech #3

Last Wednesday SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  I showed his therapist what we had worked on for homework and she took him back.  

When the session was over, she told me that they worked on comparing a pair of words.  He had to give ways that they are alike and how they differ.  She did three pairs with him.  They were: orange-banana, clock-watch and newspaper-magazine.  She said he did well with this activity.  She assigned the remainder to him for homework.

She also did a worksheet on classifying.  He had to fill in the blanks for group names.  For example:  A hammer is a tool.  She did 5 with him and assigned the remaining 13 sentences for homework.  

She also assigned him a worksheet on matching words and definitions.  He has done this type of homework many times. Some of the words can be challenging for him.

She said she was pleased with his effort that he gave her today.  I was very happy to hear that.

broken glasses...again

Five minutes before we were to leave for school on Tuesday morning, I called SJ to come downstairs.  I assumed he was goofing around in his room.  When he didn't come down, I went to retrieve him.  He was on his bed.

"What are you doing?  We are going to be late," I said.  "I am trying to fix my glasses," said SJ.  Sure enough, he had broken his glasses once again.  And by once again, I mean for the fifth time. 

I was pretty upset for two reasons.

1. He broke his glasses again.

2. He waited until 5 minutes before we leave to tell me.

After I calmed down, I tried to find duct tape to temporarily fix them.  (I couldn't find it anywhere.)  I then decided to try masking tape.  It wasn't working.  I spotted the shipping tape and threw it in my car.

I found Bob's rec specs in my car's console.  "Maybe you can use these," I told SJ.  I wasn't sure how close their prescriptions were, but he said they may work.  When we got to school, SJ grabbed the rec specs and I grabbed the tape and broken glasses. 

SJ's aide was walking towards us.  I told her about the glasses and she was kind enough to hold the glasses while I taped them.  I also told Mr. Brown about the glasses when he walked by.  

At the end of the day, he still had on the rec specs. I told him that we would go to Walmart after the kids were picked up.  We drove to Walmart and explained to the tech what happened.  They had the same pair he currently had.  She said that since we had purchased the current pair she could pop out the lenses and put them in the pair they had.  

I also had his new prescription with us.  SJ picked out an orange and black pair.  When the lady tried to fit them on him, she said they were a little small for his face.  She suggested that he look at men's frames.  

Oh great, I thought.  This could take potentially forever.  They didn't have many colorful frames, so I thought SJ wouldn't pick any.  He was down to two frames and eventually he did make a selection.  

She fitted him and I paid.  I was surprised at how inexpensive they were.  Yeah for us!  Once his new pair comes in, the newly mended ones will make a great back up pair.  Because I know SJ.  The new glasses will be broken sooner than later.

after school tutoring #1

Monday was SJ's first after school tutoring session with Mrs. Banks as a 6th grader.  He was complaining quite a bit before she arrived.  I ignored his complaints and told him he could play until she arrived.  

She got to our house a little after 4:15.  She told him that they were going to finish The Island: Survival book.  He asked her how many chapters they had left.  They only had two.  He told her that he could read if she would read too.  She said she could absolutely do that. 

They finished the book and completed the packet worksheet.  She was very pleased with his effort.  She told me she wasn't sure if she would do the third book in The Island series.  I hope she does, because he really seemed to enjoy it.

Saturday = smiles, Sunday = sadness

Saturday we had our friends over for dinner and to hang out.  We had Topher's family, Willie's family and Meryl's family arrive a little after 6.  

My husband made a marinated pork tenderloin on the rotisserie.  He also had a dozen or so baked potatoes on the grill.  Our friends brought salad, fruit, buffalo chicken dip, drinks and dessert.  

After we finished the yummy dinner, the dads went into the basement to watch the game, the girls were playing in our office, the boys started playing video games and the moms chatted in the diningroom.  

After a while, we kicked the boys off the electronics and made them play outside. SJ was very happy to do that, but Bob would have rather been back inside.  They were playing basketball and war with the Nerf guns.

They came back in after an hour and returned to the playroom for more video games.  They did that the remainder of the evening.  SJ and Bob had a great time with their friends.  

Sunday Bob had two soccer games.  I don't usually make SJ go unless they are home games.  He had two games on Sunday, so I only made him go to the first one.  Bob and I went up in a separate car since he needs to arrive 30 minutes prior to the game start.  

SJ and my husband showed up as the game was to begin.  Unfortunately, it hadn't started yet.  They were running behind.  SJ was moaning and complaining about being there.  He finds soccer "boring", but I want him to be there to support Bob.  The game began almost 30 minutes late.  SJ continued to whine until my husband sent him to the snack bar to get a drink.  

The drink helped lighten his mood.  He drank his drink and played on the iPad until the last 20 minutes of the game.  Willie and his dad arrived at the field (Willie's game started a little after Bob's) and told us that his sister, Ami, and Topher's sister, Mags, were at the park.  SJ asked if he could join them.  He stayed there for the remainder of Bob's game (so much for supporting Bob).  

My husband drove him home and I drove Bob home.  When it was time for game #2, we thought it would be best to leave him at home with my dad.  I don't think I could take any more of his complaining.  

after school speech #2

Last Wednesday, SJ had his weekly speech therapy appointment.  SJ's therapist said he did a nice job.  She reviewed some of the words that he had been having trouble with.  

Out of the 21 that she reviewed, SJ was able to give a synonym and an antonym for 18 of the words (86%).  She did have to give him sentence cues with these words. The ones that he couldn't get were: rarely, aid and erosion.  She asked that we review these same words for homework.  

She also told me that SJ's tone is getting much better.  He sometimes sounds robotic.  I am glad that she is working on it.  

When we did his homework yesterday, he again got 18 correct.  I did use sentence cues for each word.  The ones that he couldn't answer correctly were: erosion, allow and rarely.  I don't know why those are troubling him, but we will continue to work on them.

crash, therapy and PTO

Last Monday, I had to take SJ to see his psychotherapist after school.  It was a very rainy evening.  We made our way on the highway. Halfway to the appointment, the rain got worse. I was happy to get off the highway when we did.  SJ and I were at a red light. There was a car coming in the other direction, but I couldn't tell if it was going straight or turning.  I inched up to see and then the person behind us crashed into our car.  It was very loud and jarring.  I thought my back end would be accordianed in.  I made my right hand turn and pulled into a gas station.  The other car pulled in too.  

Initially, I didn't see any damage, but the other driver pointed out the rear side bumper.  Sure enough, there was a 6-7 inch crack.  Great. Just what I need right now.  The driver was very apologetic and asked how SJ and I were.  I assured her that we were fine.  She seemed stressed about how much the repair was going to cost.  I got her insurance information and drove the half of mile to the therapy office.  As we were driving there, SJ asked if she would be arrested.  I told him she would not, but she was going to have to pay for the repair. 

SJ had his appointment and then the therapist called me back.  He was very pleased with SJ's progress.  He said he was tantrum free 94% of the time.  He told me that he talked a lot about Mr. Brown.  He asked if I had any concerns.  I told him about the homework tantrum.  He gave SJ a preparedness paper.  It has a checklist that will help him remember what he needs to pack in his binder.  He told me that SJ should only return on a as needed basis.  It will all depend on his stress level.

After his session, I had to go to a PTO meeting. My husband had Bob at soccer, so I took SJ with me.  SJ was complaining about going to the meeting, but there was no option.  He stayed in the lobby while I attended the meeting.  It went on for about 60 minutes.  We finally returned home around 8:30.  What a long day!

friends there and here

Saturday evening we went to our friends' house.  It was at Willie and Ami's house.  We were supposed to go there last weekend, but SJ was too sick to go.  Topher's family was also there, as well our friends who have two daughters, Meryl and Goldie.  

They were going to order pizza, so I made some gluten free pizza for SJ to eat while we were there.  Shortly after we got there, we had dinner and the boys were busy in the XBox.  

The girls were downstairs playing "Four Weddings" and SJ bounced back and forth between the basement playing Wii and upstairs playing XBox with Bob, Topher and Willie.  

As usual, we had a great time that evening with our friends.  We stayed at Willie's until about 11:30 at night.  

The next day Bob had two away soccer games.  I don't usually have SJ go to the away games, so I told him he could have a friend over.  He wanted to have Jonah over.  I called his dad and he was free.  I arranged for him to come over from

1-5.  My husband was home with the two boys.  

He said they played well together.  They watched a movie, built some Legos, played with Nerf guns and did some racing on the PS3.  

I was glad that SJ got to have two days hanging out with his friends. I am happy that he is becoming more socially aware of others.  I am glad that he wants to have friends.  I am so proud of his progress.  

waiting for the bomb to explode (sort of)

SJ is surprising me.  Usually when he starts a new school year, he inevitably has a few meltdowns with all of the newness.  I was half expecting to get an email each day from Mr. Brown or any of his other teachers.  The emails never came.  No news is good news.  

The holiday weekend came and SJ got the flu. He had a fever and was complaining of leg pain.  We were supposed to go to a friend's house, but I cancelled.  SJ spent Saturday through Monday coughing and not feeling 100%.

Tuesday morning came and he was still coughing.  He didn't have a fever, so I gave him some cough medicine before taking him to school.  

I told his aide that he may be difficult since he wasn't feeling well.  She said okay and I told him to try his hardest that day.  He had a fine day.  Again no emails.

For homework, he had to log on to the school website to access his science book.  He and I were having a lot of trouble getting the access code to work.  SJ was getting so frustrated.  He wanted me to call Mr. Brown at home.  I told him that i would not call him for that. Fortunately, I was able to finally get into the site.  Maybe this was the tantrum I was expecting.  

Wednesday he was feeling much better.  Mrs. Banks stopped me at the end of the day to tell me how beautifully SJ has been working in reading class.  Wow!  I wasn't expecting that.  What great news!

After school, he had speech and then we returned home. I had to pick Bob up from soccer.  I left SJ at home with my husband.  When we got home, SJ was very upset.  Apparently, he left his reading packet at school.  

"Can we go get it?" he asked.  "No.  School is closed.  You can do it tomorrow," I told him.  He ran upstairs crying.  When I got upstairs, my husband informed me that he had been crying for 40 minutes.  Oh boy.  

SJ was convinced that his packet was due today.  I checked the website to see if it was due today.  It looked like it was due Friday.  I showed him, but he still wasn't convinced.  I called Mrs. Banks to see if the website was incorrect. She didn't answer, so SJ kept getting more agitated.

I assured him that the website was accurate, but he was escalating fast.  Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Banks called back.  She verified that the packet wasn't due until Friday.  I thanked her and told SJ.  Finally, he calmed down.  

There it was.  That was what I was expecting.  It always happens every year.  At least it happened at home this year.  

after school speech #1

Last Wednesday, SJ had his after school speech appointment.  I was a little worried about his cooperation since it was the first day if school.  My worry was unwarranted.  He worked very hard. 

She went over some of the troublesome words during the session.  She reviewed 14 words with him. He was able to correctly give a synonym for 7 of them.  Those words were: wade, babble, slam, link, tidy, exactly and quarrel.  With prompts, he could give a synonym for 4 of them.  Those words were: aid, doze, vacant and blend.  The remaining three that he couldn't give a synonym for were: thoroughly, rarely and rehearse.

For homework, she assigned him a worksheet where he had to select the correct definition for each word.  There were 4 words.  He got two of them correct.  Those two were migrate and erosion.  He couldn't correctly give me a definition for curfew or inevitable.  I had to use those words in a sentence for him to answer the question.  

She also assigned him 7 words to give a synonym, antonym and to be placed in a sentence.  These were his answers.  

allow-let-forbid-I will allow you to play video games.

mend-fix-break-I will mend the roof.

depart-leave-arrive-I depart the house to go to school.

shiver-cold-hot-Everybody shivers in the winter.

decrease-less-increase-I will decrease this bottle of water.

miniature-tiny-huge-Guys, it is time to play miniature golf.

true-honest-false-You broke that glass.  Is that true?

He did need prompting on three of the words for antonyms.  We will continue to work on that.  

first day of sixth grade

Wednesday was the first day of school. This day is always stressful for me, because I know that transitioning to a new school year is so tough for SJ. When I went to orientation on Monday night, I made a point of talking to Mr. Brown at the end of the presentation. (He is his home room teacher, as well as Science.)  I prepared him that SJ would probably be difficult for him at some point in the first week of school.  

Wednesday morning was very hectic. Bob is now going to a different school than SJ.  He is at the Jr. High now.  I had to get him up at 6 a.m.  He had to get dressed, eat and be at the bus stop by 6:45.  He didn't actually get out of bed until closer to 6:15, so he didn't eat that much.  He did make it to the bus stop on time.  

I woke SJ at 7 a.m.  He was super tired too.  He didn't get out of bed until 7:20. He ate around 7:35 and was dressed by 7:50.  We were in my car at 8:06.  Not too bad for the first day of school.  

I start my day at his school.  I did my drop off duty and reminded him to have a good day when the 8:35 bell rang.  I was hoping he would get through this day with only a little distress.  

I saw his aide at the end of the day. She said he did very well.  He introduced himself to Mr. Brown as he entered his home room.  She also told me that he introduced himself to the new sixth grade teacher, Ms. Kirkland, when he had her for Language Arts. That made me so happy to hear!  

Then, I saw SJ.  He was so sad.  How can this be?  When we got outside, he told me that Mrs. Banks told the sixth graders that they can't wear tank tops to school. (This is only a problem for SJ.  He loves tank tops!) I explained that is because kids in his grade are getting older and they need to be more covered up.  "Well, I will just have to put them on when I get home each day," he said.  "That sounds good to me," I said. If that is all he is sad about on the first day of school, that is not too bad!

sleepover, soccer and swimming

I only worked a half day on Thursday. When I returned from my CPR training, I made lunch for my dad and the boys.  Bob had 7th grade orientation that night, so my dad took SJ to his house after lunch.  

I had to work a full day on Friday, so I had the boys spend the night at my parent's house.  When Bob's orientation was over, I met my parents at Target and deposited Bob in their vehicle.

The boys always have a nice time with my parents.  My mom usually takes them out to lunch or some place fun.  

While I was working, my mom was going to take them mini golfing.  The boys claimed to be tired, so they hung out until lunch time.  My mom took them to McDonalds and Subway.  

When my husband and I got home from work, we stopped for fast food and continued to my parent's house. Surprisingly, the boys were seated at my parent's diningroom table eating steak and sides.  My husband and I went outside to eat.  We didn't want to interrupt them behaving so nicely.  

After dinner, Bob had his first of 4 soccer games.  SJ isn't really into watching soccer, so I left him with my dad.  Bob's team won.  Yeah!  

We picked up SJ after the game and drove home.  Bob had two games on Saturday. We opted to only have SJ attend the second game.  

I took Bob to the first game.  Again, his team won.  Double yeah!  Afterwards, we had about 90 minutes until the second game.  I stopped to get him lunch near my mom's house.  We ate at her house.  She opted to come with us to game 2.  

My husband and SJ met us at the field. SJ never really enjoys watching soccer.  I had him watch for a few minutes.  Then, he asked if he could go to the play area. (There was a great playground at the soccer field.) I reminded him of the stranger rules and said have fun.  He stayed at the playground for most of the game.  He did see the last few minutes.  

An opponent on the other team got badly injured, so the game was delayed until the paramedics arrived.  There was only a few minutes remaining.  They completed the game, but Bob's team lost.  

After the game, I took my mom home and my husband took the boys home.  We were invited to a neighbor's for a swim party that evening.  SJ spent most of the party in their pool.  He only got out to eat. What a full few days!

summer reading tutoring #8

Last Thursday, SJ had his last reading tutoring session of the summer.  I had to work that morning, so I had Super Pappy running the kid errands.  

I dropped off SJ at Mrs. Banks house on my way to work.  I told my dad to pick him up at 10 a.m.  I was a little concerned that he would not find her house, so I called her around 10:30.  My dad did pick him up on time.  What a relief!

Since I had Mrs. Banks on the phone, I asked her how the session went.  She said he was a little resistant at first.  He wanted her to give "him a break".  She reminded him that he would have a few weeks off.  That settled him down.  

They did a few more chapters of The Island: Survival.  She said SJ was a little worried about not finishing the novel.  She reminded him that she would be tutoring him again and they could continue the novel then.  He seemed fine with that.  

They also worked on a Look and Find sheet where he had to answer some questions.  This is the picture.

Here are a few of the questions with his answers.

1. What is on the edge on the pool? Penguin and sunscreen 

2. What helps the kids see underwater? Goggles

3. What depth would you guess the water is? 5 ft

4. What has flags? The house

5. How many rings do you count? 3

Overall, she was very happy with the effort that SJ put in the summer.  I am happy that he hopefully didn't lose any skills over the summer.

summer speech #9

Last Wednesday was SJ's last summer session before school starts.  She continued to work on words that are troubling SJ.  

She assigned him 12 words that he couldn't name a synonym for.  For his homework, she asked me to have him give a synonym, antonym and a sentence for each word.  These were the words and SJ's answers.

Core-center-outside-The Earth's core is deep.

Numerous-many-one-A book has numerous pages.

Courteous-kind-mean-You should always talk to people who are courteous.

Hazard-dangerous-safe-Don't go near the hazard.

Labor-work-play-Today is Labor Day.

Rehearse-review-act-We have to rehearse for the play.

Blame-frame-talk-Don't blame him.

Tame-gentle-wild-Your dog is tame.

Flood-hazard-empty-Why is the basement flooded?

Serious-scientific-funny-That guy is really, really serious about it.

Ordinary-regular-different-Is Superman ordinary?

Tidy-clean-messy-I will tidy up my whole room.

Out of the twelve words, I had to prompt him on seven of them.  I also reviewed some of the synonyms that he had trouble with.  We did 23 together. He was able to answer 10 independently, 12 with prompts and only one he couldn't answer at all. That word was aid.

She said he worked very hard for her.  He told her about going to Kennywood and his new classmates.  He told her he was excited to have a male teacher.  

Normally after speech, we stop at Target or somewhere else.  SJ wanted to stop at GameStop to get a new 3DS game.  However, Bob had left his soccer cleats in my car.  We had to go straight back home and stop at the soccer field.  That was fine, but SJ really wanted to go to GameStop.

After we got to the field, I had my husband take SJ to GameStop.  He picked up Mario and Luigi Dream Team.  No worries.

Unfortunately, SJ did not open the box until after 8 p.m.  The box was empty.  SJ was so upset.  My husband drove him back to the store, but they were closed.  SJ returned home crying and very upset. 

I told him that Pappy would take him the next day. He wasn't hearing it at first.  He kept saying that he was going to "pound" the clerk.  I reminded him that everyone makes mistakes.  He wasn't listening, but he eventually calmed down.  What a day!

yeah...kennywood day

Last Tuesday, we had a Kennywood day.  We went with two of our couple friends that we do many things with.  We met them at a local gas station to car pool.  I jumped into a car with the girls and other two moms.  My husband had SJ, Bob, Topher and Willie in our car. 

After we arrived at Kennywood, we dropped off our coolers that had our packed lunches and drinks in one of the pavilions.  As soon as that was handled, we were off to ride.  

The kids started with Sky Rocket.  Bob is not a coaster rider, so he waited with my husband and Willie's dad.  After that ride, we hit most of the rides that we passed.  They road the bumper cars, Volcano, Alien Encounter, Phantom's Revenge, Pirate, Music Express, Wave Swinger, Whip, Aero 360 and Racers.

Bob sat out for every coaster.  SJ only sat out on rides that went upside down.  The kids all wanted to ride the paddle boats.  Right before SJ got on the boat, he realized he lost his hat. I told him we would look for it and got him back in line. Bob rode with Willie, SJ rode with Topher and Ami and Mags (Topher's sister) rode together.  It was very hot, but they had a great time in the paddle boats.  My husband looked for the hat, but it was no where to be found. 

When they were done, we made our way back to the pavilion for lunch.  When everyone was finished, we continued to ride.  

We rode more rides and returned to ride favorites again.  SJ, Topher, Willie, Mags and the dads rode Noah's Ark, so Topher's mom and I took Bob and SJ to ride things in Lost Kennywood.  

We finished riding and went to meet the rest of our group at Noah's Ark.  When they got off, they got some snacks.  My husband got Potato Patch fries and a funnel cake.

After the snack, Topher's dad arrived.  We walked over to the Sky Coaster (a bungee ride) and the other two dads signed up to ride it.  While we were waiting, the boys played at the shooting arcade.  

The other families (minus the moms) took their turns on the very scary Sky Coaster.  We watched from the bridge as they were dropped.  They had a great time.  

Then we ate some dinner.  We ate at the big restaurant in the park.  All the kids ate  together and the adults sat at a separate table.  It was crowded, but surprisingly a nice dinner.

We continued to ride until it got dark.  SJ had such a great time with Topher and Willie.  (Bob not so much, but he is not an amusement park kid).  

At the end of the night, SJ and I went to lost and found to see if his hat was turned in.  We ran over there in the dark. I was so out of breath.  I asked the girl, but no one turned it in.  SJ was so sad!  It broke my heart to see him so sad over his hat.  I assured him that someone will probably turn it in.  (I can now sadly report that no one ever called us to say the hat was turned in.)

Even though we had the sadness of the lost hat, the rest of the day was filled with friendship, smiles and lots of laughter!

swimming, flipping and movie watching

This past weekend SJ got to do three of his favorite things.  On Friday, I took SJ to the pool after I got home from Bob's ortho appointment.  

When we first arrived, our friends weren't there yet.  No problem for SJ.  He was right in the water (even though it was very cold!).  Shortly after we arrived, Topher's and Willie's families arrived.  SJ was so excited that his friends were now at the pool.  Our neighbor, Tommy, and his mom came a little while later.  The boys had such a great time at the pool.  

The next night Topher's mom invited us over to hang out.  Willie's family was over there as well.  Topher has a trampoline at his house.  SJ loves trampolines.  We used to have one. It got rusty, so it had to go.  

SJ was back and forth between the trampoline and playing with the boys. The boys were playing flashlight tag and video games. The trampoline kept pulling SJ back.  He was even jumping on it when it was dark.  I allowed him to do flips on it until it got too dark.  I was afraid he would land on the frame.  

On Sunday, SJ talked my husband into taking him to see Planes.  SJ liked it, but my husband was only so-so about it.  SJ loves going to the movies.  

SJ was one happy boy this weekend.  He got to do his favorite things.  I am so happy when he is happy!

a school friend visits

Last Thursday, SJ had a classmate over to play. Ari had been in SJ's 5th grade class. He also goes to our pool.  They always play very nicely at the pool, so I asked his mom if he could come over.  

Ari arrived around 11 a.m.  SJ was in the basement when Ari got to our house.  I told him he could go downstairs and I chatted briefly with Ari's mom.  

She left and the boys played Little Big Planet Karting for about an hour.  While they were playing, I made lunch for them and Bob. I made chicken fries for Ari and   Bob and gluten free chicken tenders for SJ.  I also made fries for all 3 boys.  

When the boys finished lunch, Ari and SJ went upstairs to play Legos for a while. When they were bored with that, they went outside and played war with Nerf guns.  I was thrilled that they were playing outside on the beautiful day. 

An hour later, they were back inside to play more video games in the basement. They continued to do that until Ari's mom arrived.  

I made sure I told Ari's mom how nicely they played together.  I am hoping that Ari had a fun time and will be over again soon.

summer speech #8

Last Wednesday, SJ had his weekly speech therapy session.  This was his last daytime appointment. We will be switching to evening appointments this week.  

She reviewed some words that SJ has been having trouble with.  She decided to have SJ write the words on a sheet of paper.  She had him list the word with a definition or synonym, an opposite word and an association or example.  

The following words were the ones they reviewed:

tidy-neat-messy-tidy room or tidy clothes

thoroughly-completely-nothing-thoroughly cleaned, thoroughly brushed my teeth or thoroughly tried

rarely-hardly ever or almost never-often-rarely finish my test or rarely go swimming

exactly-really-not quite-exactly what I want to do

wade-walk in water or mud-wade in the kiddy pool

babble-to make sounds that have no meaning-a baby babbles

link-one of the loops on a chain-link on a fence or necklace

She also reviewed synonyms.  She went over a few with him and assigned the remainder for homework.  Out of the five she did with him, he only had trouble with the word aid.

She wants me to pick a few of the words that he has trouble with and have him give a synonym, opposite and an association.