It has been a long and pleasant summer. Long and pleasant. Pleasant. I want it back.
With September comes the beginning of the school year and the beginning of craziness for us. Two weeks ago, Chuck started with meetings, last week Chuck started with students, Calah started school, and I started with meetings, and this week I started with students and Gabe started school. Plus, dance, basketball, and soccer are all starting. Some days I'm not sure which end is up!
We are doing the four different school schedules again this year. Last Gabe did two different preschools to address his social development and speech delays. This year we have opted to not send him to kindergarten, but to put him in kinderstart (a young 5's program) at the local public school. It is full day, 5 days a week. He still has some speech problems, though he is much better. And he needs a little more social development. Plus he did just turn 5 in June. If it sounds like I am trying to justify our decision, I probably am. I know he is 5 and academically ready for kindergarten, but I really think he needs another year to develop socially and I would like him to be as close to done with speech as he can be. Kids with CAS (Childhood Apraxia of Speech) tend to have higher rates of dyslexia, and if I can get him hearing and speaking the letters correctly before learning to read, he will be much better off. I have never been one to really push my children into growing up (they are little for far too short of a time), so I am enjoying the idea of not having a kindergartener quite yet. But I have a lot of friends who have children Gabe's age. Although it shouldn't be a concern, I keep wondering what they will say and how Gabe's friends will react to him being a year below them. I know Gabe will make new friends, he is very social, but I do worry about people thinking there is something wrong with him. There isn't. We are simply giving him another year. (And don't even THINK about saying we are holding him back. That has such a negative connotation. We are GIVING him another year, it's a gift. Yes, in this case the semantics matter.)
I love his teacher. She is amazing and we are so lucky that he gets to be in her class. He seems to be adjusting ok, but he is exhausted at night. Tonight he was asleep by 7:30. Maybe he'll actually sleep in this weekend......
Calah is doing wonderfully as a third grader. This year they are learning all about Michigan, which she loves. And there is a new girl in her class, so that is exciting. She is playing basketball and dancing, so we have another pretty tired child as she gets used to her schedule. Right now her biggest challenge is responsibility. Tonight she told me that I didn't sign her agenda yesterday. And I told her that she didn't tell me I needed to. (If I would have known I was supposed to, I would have hinted to remind her to ask me.) But over all, she is doing well.
Chuck is super busy. He has 6 teaching class periods, but 7 preps and a student teacher. He'll be ok, but WOW!
And this year my adjustment is taking a bit. Way more students than I have ever had in the past, more class periods to teach than in the past, and at the end of day 3, I'm exhausted. I am still trying to get to the pool on a regular basis. I had a really nice experience shopping recently for new clothes, so that is keeping me motivated.
One more day this week, I can do it. And since we are back in a routine, I will get back to a routine of posting. :)
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