Friday, January 14, 2011

Where Did the Week Go?

Well, not too many posts this week! It was a good, but hectic week! SuperKid had a great birthday - lots of gifts, a fun party with family, and dinner at his favorite restaurant. By the time we got to my birthday (the day after his), we were all pretty birthdayed out.

On Wednesday we had Classical Conversations and homeschool Webelos. While those are both nice activities for SK, I find Wednesdays to be stressful days. Parents must attend CC, so that's four hours of sitting there doing nothing for me each week. We have to be close to the children so we really can't sit at the back of the room and read or something like that. Also, while the curriculum for CC is very good, it doesn't match the rest of my curriculum or any of the goals on SK's IEP (other than a couple of the social goals), so I fight the feeling that we're not making any "progress." I really have improved in this respect since we began homeschooling, but I admit I sometimes panic at the thought that we may not achieve our academic IEP goals - or more accurately, that we may not achieve them in the way I envisioned we would. I think SK's goals are very important this year as they address several of the core deficits typically caused by autism. So they are super-tough for him. They require more reinforcement and practice than they ever have in the past, and I get nervous that we spend four hours every Wednesday doing work that does not directly tie into those goals. Still, SK seems proud of what he's accomplishing there so that is a really good thing. And he is doing better at fitting in with the kids and interacting with them - and that is very important. Also, the families are very good and kind; I enjoy knowing there are so many wonderful homeschool families in our area.

Homeschool Webelos has also been a bit rough this year. Communication and organization have been issues, and that has added to my (and the other moms') stress level. Things kind of came to a head at the meeting on Wednesday, so now it looks like the moms are banding together to plan the rest of the year and take turns running the meetings. That should help.

So Wednesday began with a bit of stress, but all in all it was a good birthday for me. Mr. Wonderful made a nice dinner and the boys gave me a gift and sang. SportsBoy's basketball game was cancelled due to the weather, so he spent that time with me, playing chess and doing Bananagrams. He hates Bananagrams, so that really was very generous of him! :-) Best of all, Mr. Wonderful and the boys did ALL the dishes and kitchen clean-up. LOVED THAT!!
Yesterday was SK's second piano lesson. His teacher was very pleased with his progress over his first week. Mr. Wonderful actually took SK to his lesson since I had to get SportsBoy to the pediatrician for his wellness check (we're a little late this year - long story), so I only got to hear about it second-hand. Still, SK loved the encouragement and he practiced a long time today.

This upcoming week will pose some challenges for our scheudule. SB is off of school on Monday for MLK Day. If SB has no school, SK will lobby for none. But SB doesn't have a birthday party on Friday afternoon, nor does he have a field trip on Wednesday afternoon. SK will work with his tutor will I work with SB on some academics that I reinforce at home with him (mostly writing, challenge writing and studying for tests). We will all play a few games I picked up recently that will reinforce some things that SK is working on, but it will be fun since we can all play them together. And then we'll do something nice as a family before tennis lessons, martial arts and Boy Scout activities kick in!

Friday afternoon will be SuperKid's friend (and final) birthday party. We'll be at the bowling alley whooping it up with about 15 of SK's homeschool friends from CC and Webelos. Should be a fun way to finish off the week!

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