The first week.....

Well, we made it through!!!!

The first week of school has been tough, but good.  It's always difficult to get back into the routine of things here at home.  Plus the kids have to learn new routines at school with new teachers who do things a different way than they are used to.  Some even have to get used to a new school altogether!  It's been exciting and frustrating all at the same time.

JJ is doing fine.  Middle school is old hat for him now.  He likes being an 8th grader, BMOC.  He's even starting to care about how his hair looks.  He fell right back into the routine.  I just have to get him to start putting forth his best effort.  Now, he's in Probe (gifted) math.  This year he is taking high school algebra, so he will get high school credit for this.  It isn't easy, but I know he can do it.  He was working on a math sheet and was just getting really frustrated.  Now, math is my thing, so I was trying to help him.  I was sitting next to him and working out the same problems so that I can help him figure out the process or where he went wrong.  The first problem is that he writes so small that he gets numbers and signs confused.  I suggested that he use another sheet of paper and use as much room as needed in order to be able to read what he has done.  Not sure if he will, but it helps me.  He's just making silly mistakes.  I'm hoping that it's just getting back into the swing of it and that he will start paying more attention to it as he goes.

Elijah is doing ok as well.  I got an email from his teacher today saying that she is enjoying him and that he is really working hard.  I hope that's true.  I am just getting the frustrated 3rd grader who doesn't want to answer the homework questions that he's been given.  He said his first day was awesome because he saw his friend on the playground.  I don't get much info about actual school.  He will continue therapy starting on the 18th and I'm still hoping that will help.  His logic center seems to be missing, so we may have him evaluated if things don't get better.

Zach really seems to be embracing middle school.  He has already joined Chess Club and yesterday decided that he wanted to join the orchestra as well and possibly play the cello.  That was quite a shock.  But, after making sure he understood the year long commitment, we agreed.  Couldn't hurt, right?
He's already had to do a poster project for Probe language arts.  He wasn't happy because he was told it was due the next day.  The only real requirement was to be creative.  He spent about 10 minutes on it and then went to watch TV.  I took a look at it and immediately called him into the kitchen.  Seriously, it looked like something that a 1st grader would turn in.  I can't even begin to describe it to you.  So his dad and I talked to him and gave him some ideas on how to use the computer and technology to assist in making visual aids for school.  With a little direction from mom, he ended up with a poster that was 100 times better than the first.  No kidding!  He was glad (as was I!) that he decided to do it over.  He was very excited to take it to school today and present it.  We'll see how it went around 4:30.  (Also, he forgot to take his meds today, so that could be interesting.)

So, some frustrations, some good things, trouble with car pool and various other things, but it's been a good week and we made it!

Oh, and I got GARTH BROOKS tickets today!!!!  Woo hoo!!!!!