(no subject)
Happy Halloween from Peter Pan and a Ghostbuster!
It has definitely been a busy day. Trevor woke up hacking, but otherwise seeming fine. So we went to Toby's soccer game at 10:30. Then to lunch. Then back to the field to Trevor's soccer game at 1:30. Then back to the same area we ate lunch to do grocery shopping. But by his game, Trevor was definitely starting to drag. And by the time we got home, although he insisted he felt okay, he had a fever. Nothing very high- just 99.8- but still. He's either got a cold or a sinus infection, but it's too early to tell. I dosed him well with Advil, and he was able to go out tonight. You could tell he still wasn't feeling like himself, but he wouldn't hear of not going, and he wasn't that bad.
I was surprised how early trick or treat really got going. I mean, it's a Saturday night and we turn the clocks back an hour. I thought it would go later tonight. But our doorbell was ringing by 6. The kids had fun though. We saw quite a few good costumes, with the winners being some lighted umbrella jellyfish that were beautifully done by a couple of preteen/teenage girls. Apparently they'd made them themselves with very little parental help- they were really beautiful. I also noticed there were a lot fewer princesses this year. There were still some, but it seemed like there was a lot more variety in the girls' costumes this year.
Life's been busy, and we're settling into the school year. Toby's settling in perfectly fine. He likes his teacher (I really like her so far) and had a pretty cool first project. The kids had to draw detailed treasure maps (they're doing maps in social studies), write questions about them, and then write a story about the pirate who made the treasure map. I would have liked that assignment. He's also started the French horn, and he's playing soccer (meh) and a Webelo in Cub Scouts. He seems to be very happy and well-adjusted socially, although he has some trouble at soccer. But in the neighborhood and Scouts he seems to get along really well with a lot of kids. The only fly in the ointment for him right now is he has surgery hanging over his head- he's getting his tonsils and adenoids removed the Monday before Thanksgiving. (He hates turkey, so he's okay with this timing.) But after the last six days of a fever sinus infection, even he thinks it's for the best.
Trevor's adjustment isn't quite so smooth. He does love Scouts, very very much. He has a great time camping and hanging with the boys in his den. That's been such a great activity for him. And he's doing well academically in school. And his problems aren't major. They're just... he's not where he should be yet.
Thing #1 is soccer. Howard and I really want Trevor to quit soccer. It's not that he's not good at it- although he's not. At all. Toby's not good at it either. But Toby really enjoys it, even though he kind of sucks at it. I'd still like him to try out some other things, but if he wants to continue soccer, I'm okay with it, because he does like it. Trevor very clearly is not that into it. But I think he doesn't have another option he's excited about. We really need to think about it. It doesn't have to be a sport. I've offered him art lessons, or we've talked about piano, or something. But I just want him to do something he really enjoys, and soccer clearly isn't it. But he insists he likes it. (I think he does like doing the drills and he really likes hanging out with the other kids.) It will all settle out in the end, but I want to get it through to him he really, really does not have to do it.
That sort of leads into something else- Trevor seems like he's starting to feel a little isolated from the boys at school. In some ways he doesn't seem to mind- he never got into the girls have cooties thing. His best friend is a girl, and a lot of his other friends are, too. But the boys are all getting more into sports, and he feels left out. He doesn't like sports much at all, but he wants to play with boys, too. There are a few who aren't super into them, but I think he's having a little more trouble connecting. Even at Scouts, when we were camping, a lot of his den wanted to spend their free time throwing a football around. Fortunately, he's such a sweet, happy, friendly boy that I think he gets along well with a lot of kids, but he also feels very awkward sometimes because he so does not love sports.
Finally we're also into something I am not fond of- gifted testing. We've requested he be tested, which means they'll give him the screening test probably next week. I hate waiting for that one. I feel like if he passes the screening test to see if he merits more testing, no matter what the outcome, he should have been tested for gifted. But if he doesn't, the teachers will secretly be thinking that I think my child is a special snowflake and all that. It's irrational, but it drives me nuts.
I have been a little hesitant about testing him. There is no doubt in my mind that Trevor is academically extremely smart, especially in math. Math is something that comes amazingly easy to him, and he desperately needs more stimulation. And I can't give him that. I don't fully understand all the new ways they teach the kids math. And the thing is, while I don't get it, I do see that those new ways work along Trevor's instincts. They might not work for every child, but they absolutely work for Trevor. So I don't want to screw that up and teach him wrong. Plus, I sat down with him and had him read out loud. He read a chapter from a Humphrey book. In that book he missed three words- two were names, and one was "cumulus." It's a fourth grade reading level, and he just started second grade. So he's got the smarts.
On the other hand, Trevor is also lazy when he wants to be. He doesn't have the instinct to question things outloud that Toby does. But I think he does it inside just as much, and comes to the answers more quietly. But while his one friend who will be testing for gifted complains that second grade is boring, Trevor says it's easy, but enjoys coasting. His emotional maturity is also lagging a bit, which was my mom's concern about testing him. We didn't test him last year because my mom said she thought if he got frustrated he might not handle it well, and we didn't want to turn him off school. I definitely agreed with that. He also lacks common sense in a big way.
However.
Like I said, Trevor's extremely good at math. He was adding double digit numbers in his head in kindergarten. I talked several times to his first grade teacher and she tried to stimulate him. But of course, when you've got a class of 20 students, you end up paying more attention to the ones trying to understand than the ones who already get it. But at the same time, she wasn't thrilled about the idea of us testing him for gifted yet. But she knew my concerns about math. And then at the end of last year, Trevor comes home and tells me that they tested some kids to advance in math. I asked if they tested him. No. Why? Because they only tested the kids in gifted.
The bottom line is Trevor needs the stimulation in math. He's good at it, he loves it, but because of the new teaching methods, I can't help him with it. But he's obviously not going to get what he needs unless we test him. So... I guess we get him tested. And talk to his teacher really soon.
We'll see. Fingers crossed that he just gets what he needs.
In the meantime I leave this, because it does seem right for my household:
Suppose I should start thinking about bed soon. Although I can sleep in tomorrow- yay! Hopefully Trevor will be feeling better. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!
It has definitely been a busy day. Trevor woke up hacking, but otherwise seeming fine. So we went to Toby's soccer game at 10:30. Then to lunch. Then back to the field to Trevor's soccer game at 1:30. Then back to the same area we ate lunch to do grocery shopping. But by his game, Trevor was definitely starting to drag. And by the time we got home, although he insisted he felt okay, he had a fever. Nothing very high- just 99.8- but still. He's either got a cold or a sinus infection, but it's too early to tell. I dosed him well with Advil, and he was able to go out tonight. You could tell he still wasn't feeling like himself, but he wouldn't hear of not going, and he wasn't that bad.
I was surprised how early trick or treat really got going. I mean, it's a Saturday night and we turn the clocks back an hour. I thought it would go later tonight. But our doorbell was ringing by 6. The kids had fun though. We saw quite a few good costumes, with the winners being some lighted umbrella jellyfish that were beautifully done by a couple of preteen/teenage girls. Apparently they'd made them themselves with very little parental help- they were really beautiful. I also noticed there were a lot fewer princesses this year. There were still some, but it seemed like there was a lot more variety in the girls' costumes this year.
Life's been busy, and we're settling into the school year. Toby's settling in perfectly fine. He likes his teacher (I really like her so far) and had a pretty cool first project. The kids had to draw detailed treasure maps (they're doing maps in social studies), write questions about them, and then write a story about the pirate who made the treasure map. I would have liked that assignment. He's also started the French horn, and he's playing soccer (meh) and a Webelo in Cub Scouts. He seems to be very happy and well-adjusted socially, although he has some trouble at soccer. But in the neighborhood and Scouts he seems to get along really well with a lot of kids. The only fly in the ointment for him right now is he has surgery hanging over his head- he's getting his tonsils and adenoids removed the Monday before Thanksgiving. (He hates turkey, so he's okay with this timing.) But after the last six days of a fever sinus infection, even he thinks it's for the best.
Trevor's adjustment isn't quite so smooth. He does love Scouts, very very much. He has a great time camping and hanging with the boys in his den. That's been such a great activity for him. And he's doing well academically in school. And his problems aren't major. They're just... he's not where he should be yet.
Thing #1 is soccer. Howard and I really want Trevor to quit soccer. It's not that he's not good at it- although he's not. At all. Toby's not good at it either. But Toby really enjoys it, even though he kind of sucks at it. I'd still like him to try out some other things, but if he wants to continue soccer, I'm okay with it, because he does like it. Trevor very clearly is not that into it. But I think he doesn't have another option he's excited about. We really need to think about it. It doesn't have to be a sport. I've offered him art lessons, or we've talked about piano, or something. But I just want him to do something he really enjoys, and soccer clearly isn't it. But he insists he likes it. (I think he does like doing the drills and he really likes hanging out with the other kids.) It will all settle out in the end, but I want to get it through to him he really, really does not have to do it.
That sort of leads into something else- Trevor seems like he's starting to feel a little isolated from the boys at school. In some ways he doesn't seem to mind- he never got into the girls have cooties thing. His best friend is a girl, and a lot of his other friends are, too. But the boys are all getting more into sports, and he feels left out. He doesn't like sports much at all, but he wants to play with boys, too. There are a few who aren't super into them, but I think he's having a little more trouble connecting. Even at Scouts, when we were camping, a lot of his den wanted to spend their free time throwing a football around. Fortunately, he's such a sweet, happy, friendly boy that I think he gets along well with a lot of kids, but he also feels very awkward sometimes because he so does not love sports.
Finally we're also into something I am not fond of- gifted testing. We've requested he be tested, which means they'll give him the screening test probably next week. I hate waiting for that one. I feel like if he passes the screening test to see if he merits more testing, no matter what the outcome, he should have been tested for gifted. But if he doesn't, the teachers will secretly be thinking that I think my child is a special snowflake and all that. It's irrational, but it drives me nuts.
I have been a little hesitant about testing him. There is no doubt in my mind that Trevor is academically extremely smart, especially in math. Math is something that comes amazingly easy to him, and he desperately needs more stimulation. And I can't give him that. I don't fully understand all the new ways they teach the kids math. And the thing is, while I don't get it, I do see that those new ways work along Trevor's instincts. They might not work for every child, but they absolutely work for Trevor. So I don't want to screw that up and teach him wrong. Plus, I sat down with him and had him read out loud. He read a chapter from a Humphrey book. In that book he missed three words- two were names, and one was "cumulus." It's a fourth grade reading level, and he just started second grade. So he's got the smarts.
On the other hand, Trevor is also lazy when he wants to be. He doesn't have the instinct to question things outloud that Toby does. But I think he does it inside just as much, and comes to the answers more quietly. But while his one friend who will be testing for gifted complains that second grade is boring, Trevor says it's easy, but enjoys coasting. His emotional maturity is also lagging a bit, which was my mom's concern about testing him. We didn't test him last year because my mom said she thought if he got frustrated he might not handle it well, and we didn't want to turn him off school. I definitely agreed with that. He also lacks common sense in a big way.
However.
Like I said, Trevor's extremely good at math. He was adding double digit numbers in his head in kindergarten. I talked several times to his first grade teacher and she tried to stimulate him. But of course, when you've got a class of 20 students, you end up paying more attention to the ones trying to understand than the ones who already get it. But at the same time, she wasn't thrilled about the idea of us testing him for gifted yet. But she knew my concerns about math. And then at the end of last year, Trevor comes home and tells me that they tested some kids to advance in math. I asked if they tested him. No. Why? Because they only tested the kids in gifted.
The bottom line is Trevor needs the stimulation in math. He's good at it, he loves it, but because of the new teaching methods, I can't help him with it. But he's obviously not going to get what he needs unless we test him. So... I guess we get him tested. And talk to his teacher really soon.
We'll see. Fingers crossed that he just gets what he needs.
In the meantime I leave this, because it does seem right for my household:
Suppose I should start thinking about bed soon. Although I can sleep in tomorrow- yay! Hopefully Trevor will be feeling better. Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!