I'm not sure who is most excited about fall break in our house - B b/c there is a short break in his hectic tutoring schedule, M b/c there is NO SCHOOL (yeah!), or me b/c I get a few days respite from packing lunches and making sure the family calendar is running smoothly. In fact, I could argue that I am anticipating and enjoying M's school break more than I enjoyed my own.
It has been a busy fall for the trio. I am most pleased with M's progress in school. His art and handwriting skills have improved leaps and bounds in the 2 months he has been at school. His CLUE (gifted) class continues to astonish me with the careful thought and planning that obviously goes into their units of study. He is growing more independent, making lots of friends and seems to enjoy school (once we manage to drag him out of bed!).
It makes me look back on the angst and mental hand-wringing that we put into the decision to send him to our neighborhood public school and wonder, "Why were we so uptight about it?" I worried that the city school system couldn't provide for him an equal education to what I had received in my small town public school system. Well, I was right. It isn't providing him with an equal educational experience. It is blowing the pants off the opportunities that I had and I'm thrilled. Not only does he have CLUE, his teacher is fantastic and they have Accelerated Reader, which I think is an awesome reading program. He is reading chapter books now - Magic Treehouse, Magic School Bus, Nate the Great and more. Not only is he reading, he is devouring books. I love it!! In addition to the eductional aspects of his school, I really like that he is being exposed to the fact that not all kids look like him or come from a family background just like his. He has learned that some of the kids at his school don't always get enough to eat at home. He can pronounce names like keondra and za'coria without pausing.
So, as we head into our long weekend, I'm happy that to have a short break. But, I'm even happier that he has ended up at such a great school!
8 years ago
