School update

You all know the WF has issues at school. We started talking about getting him real help in the spring but had to wait for school to start again this fall to have the actual meetings and paper signings. Starting in September, he finally started taking a battery of tests every week for math and writing. He also met with the OT several times and was evaluated by the speech path.

We had our IEP meeting yesterday afternoon and what came of it is that he has hyper flexible joints, which is causing some of his motor control issues. He also has low tone and needs core strengthening work. They suggested some kind of focused training program like Tae Kwon do, swimming lessons or gymnastics. I'm on the fence about forcing him to do something he obviously has no interest in, especially something that is going to cost me a fortune. The OT suggested that he needs a desk that allows him to stand and work, since he simply won't sit and ends up laying across the desk or kneeling in his chair and none of that is helping his hand writing.

The speech path said despite observing him in several situations and even trying to induce some stress to trigger his stutter, she was unable to observe any stuttering that impedes communication.

He ended up being labeled as having a specific learning disability, so he will now be getting 60 minutes of individual writing instruction each week. He is also going to start using voice recognition software and dictating all of his writing. Part of his writing instruction will involve learning to edit those dictated documents, since VR doesn't always have any idea what you are saying. We have crossed fingers that since he is using his own laptop (we bought it for him last year when he was supposed to be typing everything but it has spent most of it's time taking up space on his desk), it will actually learn his speech patterns and will get better as he uses it. He will also be allowed to use spell check on those documents, which was something his 504 plan prohibited.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that he isn't getting any accommodations in math. He scored within the normal range on all of his math tests, despite not knowing most of his math facts. He can find the answer but can't spit them out in speedy manner, so he isn't able to pass the timed tests they give. I was hoping for the ability to use a calculator on math work or at a minimum, a times table. Barring that, I was hoping for either additional time on timed tests or and end to those completely. In a couple of years, calculators will be available as a matter of course, so he just needs to hang in there until then.

So although it has taken FOREVER to get to this point (initial evaluations were discussed 2 years ago) I'm pretty happy with the outcome and I'm thrilled with his team. His case worker is super and the whole team is working hard to get him started on the right path.

Right now, he is struggling with the dictation because his VR program is flubbed up. It only picks up about every second or third word, which means A LOT of editing, which he has never really had to do. It feels like once he gets the hang of it, this will be a far better option for him.

Low Key Christmas

Last year, we went completely over the top for Christmas. We bought tons of toys and then Santa brought them a Band Hero set, including the giant drum kit and the grandparents got them a bunch of stuff too. And they didn't use hardly any of it in the last year. In fact, they had the band kit less than 6 months before they had completely destroyed the drums.

This year, we scaled it way back. They bought each other a few small gifts (I actually picked them out and bought them because they decided they wanted to do it on Dec 23rd after 5pm and I so wasn't taking them to Target with all the other crazies. He got her snowman slippers and sparkly peppermint flavored lipgloss.



She got him a space themed game similar to Chutes and Ladders and a Mario Kart Drawing pad



Santa brought her some pink DJ headphones so she doesn't have to borrow her brother's anymore.



Santa brought him Stratego and he was super excited about it.




At this point, they gave up on the hold up and smile portion of the gift opening so you can't tell what any of the other presents are. :)

She got Just Dance 3 fo the Wii



And he got Lego Harry Potter years 5-7



They also each got a complete book set. Her's was the entire collection of Junie B. Jones



And he got the 39 Clues



And thanks to the Girl Scout magazine sale, both kids got a magazine subscription for the next year. He got Dig, a magazine about archeology, which was funny because I picked it out without his knowing, then he brought home a copy that he bought at the used book sale at school. So they would have more to unwrap, I took his copy and wrapped it and put it under the tree for him to open.



She got Jack and Jill, which I borrowed a copy of from the library and wrapped for her.



Besides the other stuff they got from Nonni on Christmas Eve she gave them snow boards with handles that they are just DYING to use. Unfortunately, no snow means no snow boards.





A little later in the day, two small gifts were "found" under the tree. They opened them and were a little confused, since it was just a page of pictures of a waterpark.



On the paper it said "how about we go here" and MT figured out what that meant first.



Nonni asked her went she would like to go and she said "tomorrow!" Nonni said "how about right now?" The reaction was understandably excited.



Everything was packed and in the car and ready to go, all they had to do was put on real clothes.





Before they could do that, MF started to cry because she was "so happy"



So that was our version of a low key Christmas, where before noon on Christmas day, the kids took off with my parents and we had the house to ourselves for 3 days. :)

That's the teacher in her

WF is having some issues this evening with getting his homework done. Part of it is because he didn't bring all of it home, part is because he didn't finish all of it last night because of choir (note, never again will he stay with the group after school for a 6 pm performance) and part is because he is copping major attitude about doing anything.

While he was sliding around on his chair, MF was sitting at the table watching a movie on her DVD player (with headphones and the screen turned away from him, to prevent distractions). She told him to stop sliding around and sit still a couple of times and he completely ignored her (better than the screaming I was getting as basic responses earlier). She paused her movie, got out of her chair and stomped across the floor and yelled "you need your ball" Then she came into the living room, got his yoga ball out and looked at me and said "he is driving me crazy, maybe he'll sit still on this" and rolled it into the kitchen for him. Surprisingly, he still isn't sitting still, but now is laying draped the ball with the book on the chair and still not reading but also not annoying her.

The Apple experience

I use a few Apple products and RF is a total fanboy. Other than computers, I've generally found Apple products lacking, compared to their cheaper alternatives. If you have read any of my blog, you know that I am cheap, cheap, cheap and simply can't stomach spending extra money for most things. A common refrain is "and it just isn't worth the money" The Apple products I've found most useful are the ones I've been given or have found and didn't pay anything for. I bought myself an iPod mini a couple of years ago and while it is a nice music player, it doesn't do anything that my $15 dollar Sandisk didn't do (in fact, there are a few things that it doesn't do, that my Sandisk did).

We recently upgraded our cell phones to iPhones (4s, which are fun) and it was a case of being a comparable price to other smart phones so I couldn't see a reason not to. We've had them about a week and I've found a list of pros and cons associated with them. The biggest con (and it certainly isn't exclusive to Apple) is the lack of a physical keyboard. To get a keyboard, I had the choice of Blackberry (with virtually no apps) or 1 Droid. Every other smart phone in the store was an on screen keyboard. I'm finding the keyboard more responsive than I expected but it is still on screen and lacks proper punctuation.

It also doesn't really support many Google products, of which I use a lot! I use Gmail, which doesn't work well with exchange. If I go to the internet and go to Gmail from there, it works fine, but not on the mail client. I use a lot of features of Gmail, like the starred emails and the priority inbox. I also dislike the lack of previous email availability. For example, today I was looking for an email that I had saved a few months ago and finding it was like pulling teeth. Eventually, I was able to come up with some search terms that found me what I wanted, but it shouldn't have been that difficult. It also doesn't support Google maps/navigation and none of the other map programs I've found seem to have the same functionality. MapQuest is ok, but not the same.

Another big con is a lot of games and apps that were free on Android are paid on iPhone and that annoys me! And finally, my battery life sucks! RF says his is ok but mine is so bad I'm honestly concerned that if we go anywhere that I don't have a perfect signal the entire time, I won't make it through a whole day of actually using the phone. Hopefully, the new software update will fix some of it, but I'm not sure what is going to happen, if it doesn't.

The other con is bad photo sharing on Facebook. On my Droid, I snapped the picture and could select how I wanted to share it, be it FB, Twitter, messaging, drop box, etc. On the iPhone, I have to take the picture, open the FB app, select to upload a picture, find the picture I want and then finally upload it. I can see my FB shares going way down (which I'm sure some of you will appreciate) because it is such a process to get it done.

Some pros, it is MUCH faster than my Droid. I don't know if that is a function of newer technology or what but having apps actually do what I tell them, when I tell them, is pretty nice.

Another pro is that it doesn't force close everything all the time. Again, newer technology? I can't say for sure but it a real perk to have a phone that actually works.

The final, and biggest, pro is Siri. It is super cool and the voice recognition works really well. I never once had voice recognition work properly on the Droid. Mostly I use Siri to send texts while I'm driving but it is pretty useful for managing other things on the phone, like adding calendar events, and it is pretty funny at times. :)

overheard: nailed it edition

WF is playing Xbox while MF plays with her slap bracelet. She commented that it could be a hair accessory.

WF: Yeah, for a freak maybe. You should donate it to the freak society.
MF: I know the freak society. I used to the be the president. Now I'm the vice president.

And that, my friends just about sums it up, doesn't it!

I think it might be time for dance classes

MF wanted to watch a show together and picked Camp Rock 2. Every song that came on, she had to get up and dance.

She can't back dow.




I'm a particular fan of the "in your face" at the beginning and the "eye cover, hair flip" near the end :)

That's what I said!

I'm watching a friend's kids this afternoon and I was helping the oldest with her homework. She asked me what the word "quirl" meant. I told her I didn't know, let me see what word she was talking about. She showed me the word "quarrel" I said "Oh, it means like an argument. A Qu-ar-el," "Ug, that's what I SAID" Oh yay, the teenage attitude, already :)