Yesterday, Megan attended the high school transition meeting for 8th graders. The counselors provided information for students about graduation programs, requirements, available courses, etc.
Things have changed ALOT since we were in high school. There are now 3 graduation plans: minimum, recommended, and DAP. Students only take 4 classes per semester, but cover a full year of content in that semester. There are WAY more choices for electives. PE can be taken externally (ie: private swim team in lieu of school swim team). Students can take many courses on line!
Last night, we sat down and looked at the catalog and course options for incoming Freshman. We were able to figure out Megan's courses for English, Social Studies, Math and Science. But, we are all overwhelmed with the choices for electives!
What is comes down to is that our kid is way smarter than we are! I'm not kidding. She's smart. She's a thinker. She's a planner. She has a wide variety of interests. She considers how each course will benefit her as an adult. Troy and I try to convince her to take keyboarding for an "easy A".
Tonight, Megan is going to read more of the course catalog to find which courses interest her. Tomorrow night, the three of us will go out to dinner and try to figure out the final selections.
Next Thursday, there is a parent information night. We are definitely going!
We're so proud of Megan! We hope that high school is filled with great memories as she takes courses that interest her and make her happy!
B
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
Wild Friday Nights! What a Week!
This week has been a busy one! I arrived home from San Francisco on Monday evening. Everyone was back to school Tuesday. We had several plans in the evenings and were happy the week flew by so quickly.
Yesterday, Troy and I had a meeting with the mental health/mental retardation coalition. They are attempting to help us coordinate services for Steven and we had a meeting with 17 agency representatives yesterday. They were a good resource and they gave us some ideas.
Yesterday, we also had Steven's transition meeting with the school district. This district begins planning for post high school in middle school. The meeting was short and sweet because they realized Steven is only in 6th grade and we don't have to have the more in depth meeting until next year. I guess that's good because we haven't even thought much about post high school and we have a year to investigate so we are well versed before the meeting.
Recently, I was asked to speak and be part of a panel at a district presentation last night. The program lasted 3 hours and was designed to be a question/answer forum for parents with children on the autism spectrum. I enjoyed being able to answer questions for other parents and hope they enjoyed the evening as much as I did. After the presentation, the Director of Special Education asked if she and I could sit down because she'd like to "pick my brain" about navigating the insurance and social services systems. She asked if I would be interested in doing another presentation about that and include specific direction for parents to advocate for their child. She emailed me today and reiterated her thoughts and said she had several emails from parents that were there last night asking for more information. That's kinda cool!
We are such wild people! By Friday night, we are pretty tired and ready to just chill with pizza and some TV time. Tonight we did something different.
We needed to pick up a prescription for Steven. The pharmacy is a specialty pharmacy about 15 miles away. We all piled into the truck and headed that way. The prescription wasn't ready yet, so we found a Dairy Queen and had an ice cream treat! We went back, picked up the prescription and are home at 8:00pm.
We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home, staying dry and warm from the cold rain starting tonight.
Life is good.
B
Yesterday, Troy and I had a meeting with the mental health/mental retardation coalition. They are attempting to help us coordinate services for Steven and we had a meeting with 17 agency representatives yesterday. They were a good resource and they gave us some ideas.
Yesterday, we also had Steven's transition meeting with the school district. This district begins planning for post high school in middle school. The meeting was short and sweet because they realized Steven is only in 6th grade and we don't have to have the more in depth meeting until next year. I guess that's good because we haven't even thought much about post high school and we have a year to investigate so we are well versed before the meeting.
Recently, I was asked to speak and be part of a panel at a district presentation last night. The program lasted 3 hours and was designed to be a question/answer forum for parents with children on the autism spectrum. I enjoyed being able to answer questions for other parents and hope they enjoyed the evening as much as I did. After the presentation, the Director of Special Education asked if she and I could sit down because she'd like to "pick my brain" about navigating the insurance and social services systems. She asked if I would be interested in doing another presentation about that and include specific direction for parents to advocate for their child. She emailed me today and reiterated her thoughts and said she had several emails from parents that were there last night asking for more information. That's kinda cool!
We are such wild people! By Friday night, we are pretty tired and ready to just chill with pizza and some TV time. Tonight we did something different.
We needed to pick up a prescription for Steven. The pharmacy is a specialty pharmacy about 15 miles away. We all piled into the truck and headed that way. The prescription wasn't ready yet, so we found a Dairy Queen and had an ice cream treat! We went back, picked up the prescription and are home at 8:00pm.
We are looking forward to a relaxing weekend at home, staying dry and warm from the cold rain starting tonight.
Life is good.
B
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Plans Change in the blink of an eye
My boyfriend, the weatherman, has struck again! He predicted 1-5 inches of snow starting late Thursday and lasting until Friday morning. When I woke up at 4am, the snow was coming down. This top picture Troy took while standing in our driveway.
Then, he turned and looked the other way and saw this picture above. It's really beautiful.
We're a little concerned about our neighbor's tree shown in the above picture! The weather is supposed to get worse throughout today and they expect everything to turn to ice overnight.School is cancelled today so the kids and I are at home, snuggling in with a warm blanket. Fortunately, Troy can work from home today, too!
I'll have to check my flight to see if I am still leaving tonight!
B
Saturday, February 6, 2010
A busy Saturday morning
While it is a robust 38 degrees outside, we planted plants. I checked with the plant lady at the nursery and confirmed it's okay to plant in this weather. She mentioned that in Texas, you want to plant your plants now so they have time to establish roots before it gets "really hot" in the summer. Evidently the 38 degrees we are experiencing is not that cold to natives.
In the front yard, we planted three bushes that will grow together and "create a lush, beautiful green hedge." In the backyard, Megan really wanted to plant a garden and flowers. So, we planted blackberries, grapes, strawberries and blueberries, zucchini, potatoes and rhubarb. (The rhubarb came in the kit, so we had to plant it.) None of us have any experience with plants, so this should be a real learning experience for us all!
It's too early to plant the flowers and the tomatoes, but we have them selected and are ready to plant them in a month or so. It will be nice to have some color and green grass this year.....hopefully.
Betsy
Monday, February 1, 2010
Monday, Monday
Joe is history. Enough said. Megan may or may not choose to comment further.
It's finally warmed up to a balmy 43 degrees today. Got to take off my hat and gloves. Still needed the thick jacket and scarf!
Sitter's daughter is sick, so sitter cancelled today. Troy and I are getting good at juggling the kids on our own:)
I'm supposed to be researching theories of development and learning to determine which theorist I most relate my teaching style to. I really don't feel like doing that, so I thought I'd post useless information on the blog as a way of avoiding the research.
I hope everyone is enjoying their Monday night!
B
It's finally warmed up to a balmy 43 degrees today. Got to take off my hat and gloves. Still needed the thick jacket and scarf!
Sitter's daughter is sick, so sitter cancelled today. Troy and I are getting good at juggling the kids on our own:)
I'm supposed to be researching theories of development and learning to determine which theorist I most relate my teaching style to. I really don't feel like doing that, so I thought I'd post useless information on the blog as a way of avoiding the research.
I hope everyone is enjoying their Monday night!
B
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