As a little girl I played school every waking moment. I had a real grade book, my fifth grade teacher would send me home with real worksheets and I had a red pen for grading! I wanted to be a teacher. I started my college career as an education major. You'd think after loving school and wanting to be a teacher I'd be thrilled to sit down and teach Jackson. Don't get me wrong, we've always worked on our ABC's and 123's. We've read books together since he was a newborn. I teach him; Continue Reading
To My Son On Your First Day of Kindergarten
We've been talking about this day for months; you've daily asked if it was time to go to kindergarten. Each time we drive by your new school you exclaim, Jackson's Kindergarten! and often follow up with a fist pump for emphasis. You're so excited and I hope nothing snuffs that out. Your Lightening McQueen backpack and matching lunchbox are ready. You've met your teacher and checked out your classroom. Today I will walk you in and although I'm excited for you, I'm also a little Continue Reading
Feeling Hopeful About Kindergarten
He's been asking to go to Kindergarten all summer. We've visited his school and met his teacher. We are now eight days from the first day of school. He's pumped and I'm a big bag of mixed feelings. Last year was a difficult year. We were in a school district where kids like Jackson easily fall through the cracks. If you didn't have an Autism diagnosis or a severe disability, there wasn't really a place for you. Jackson often came across as just a behavior problem. We knew early on that the Continue Reading
We’ve Got to Do Better for These Kids
Tomorrow is Jackson's last day of PreK. It almost seems impossible that we made it to the end of the year in one piece. This year has been difficult for Jackson and our family (I'm sure his teaches would say the same thing). The year started with a lot of sad faces on his daily calendar. There were meltdowns and hard transitions. There was a lot of anger, frustration, aggression, stress, anxiety and tears (for Jackson and myself). There were doctor appointments and an ADHD diagnosis (on Continue Reading
Six Things I Learned in April
It's been quite around here this month. I had every intention to write and a blog calendar filled with ideas, but it just didn't happen. I blame it on our move. Between trying to settle in to our new home and doing a lot more driving to and from school/appointments there just aren't enough hours in the day. It's taken some time to get adjusted to our new schedule. But this little break made me realize something... There Will Be Plenty of Time to Blog Jackson starts kindergarten in August Continue Reading