daily life

Just got home from a wonderful, but long ARD for Jacob. I think I've mentioned before that we've tweeked his meds a bit because he wasn't talking to anyone at school. We've got him on a lower dose, and it's going very well. I was worried that he would start talking more, but wasn't going to be able to focus on his work. Not the case apparently. He is talking to his friends more, not long converstations or anything, but definitely interacting more. His wonderful teacher talked to some boys in her class about making sure Jacob is included and looks like that is working. At lunch he has been spotted in the group and interacting on a regular basis. At recess, it's another story. He just walks around watching, not doing anything physical or interacting with anyone. The school is now working on finding an aide or someone that will go to recess for 15 min, twice a week, and facilitate Jacob interacting with peers and doing some physical activities. We didn't ask for this, they suggested it, awesome, huh? He's also been working on a one handed typing program that is going very well. They sent it home so I could download it and he can work on it at home. He seems to like it. Handwriting is very much a struggle for him. We think because he probably isn't naturally a "lefty". He can write small and neatly, but it's hard and takes a lot of time. Usually, it's just big and sloppy. The district AT (Assitive Technology) person is going to evaluate him and see about getting a little kind of computer, I'm forgetting the name of it now, that he can type his answers into, then it just plugs into any computer and he can print out his answer. He also needs work on addition and subtraction facts, and word problems. He goes to his last year's teacher's house every other week and works with her. Actually, he works his tail off for her, the stinker. I'm going to have her work on those issuses until TAKS. For the TAKS, he will take the TAKS-M which means a modified version of the regular TAKS. The reading has shorter passages and breaks up the reading into just a paragraph or two, then questions, then another paragraph or two, etc. He can also read it out loud, which seems to be the only way he can truly comprehend his reading. For the math, the test will be read to him, and he can reread word problems out loud as well. He seems to be doing pretty well on all of his benchmarks, so I'm not stressing it too much. Everyone's been asking about his Miracle League schedule, but I don't have that yet. The season starts April 9th, so I'm assuming a schedule is coming soon. He's also been asked to play on an older team, since he is one of the "stronger" ones. Plus, one of Brett's high school buddies is going to be his coach. Looking forward to another fun season! There is also talk of them putting a field in Soutlake, which would just be awesome. I think I'm going to look into what I could maybe do to expedite that process....
    Luke started another season of baseball, which is already going better than football, so that's good. He's in "coach pitch" now, so the games are longer and there are actually outs, and scores, and winners and losers. New for us. He's doing well, just gotta work on his swing. Think I'm going to get Uncle Auston over this weekend to work on some stuff. Daddy's gotta work with this stinkin' puppy, Gus, this weekend, or he may be given away..... ok, I'm just kidding, but if he doesn't quit bolting out of the gate every time I pull out of the driveway, to play with the neighbor dog, he's in for it. Seven months old and more energy than all 3 of my boys put together, seriously. Anyway, Luke's doing very well in school, his teacher told me at his conference that she'd love to "have a whole classroom of students just like him". No suprises there, he's a very cool kid. He told me, "Mom, when I really couldn't read very well, I just didn't like it, but now that I can read better, it's more fun."
  Ryan is playing soccer again and loving it. He's on the same team with the same coach as last season, so that's cool. Loves school, loves playing with Luke, and never seems to stop. He will be starting Kinder in the Fall. We weren't sure what we were going to do, since he will turn 5 and school with start just a few weeks later, but I think he'll be just fine. He's learning to write his name by himself, which is always so cute. So, they will all be at the same school next year, which is great. The only year I'll get that, so I'm going to enjoy it.
That's us for now! Ttfn!