Rounding Third and Headed for Home...

More on what this is all about here.

So the end of the 1st quarter of 5th grade is right around the corner. Currently, Will is holding on to straight A's. Barely.

He is so excited and so motivated to do this. It is exciting to see. Science and Reading are the two subjects where he is teetering on the edge of a B. So, we are working extra hard for his Science vocab test coming up next week and on his Science Weekly worksheets.

Vision therapy has more or less been a no go. We do it when we think about it, but it is just hard. I have been in touch now with a Dr. T, who lives not far from here, who does vision therapy on her own in her home. She works with several children right now and Will can probably join her group. He and I are going to go observe next Thursday. Dr. L, from New Bremen, is actually going to be coming down the week after that to meet with Dr. T about Will, which is just wonderful. I have very high hopes for fixing his problems by fixing his vision issues...

I had an interesting conversation with a mom from church while we were at camp last weekend. Her daughter has been diagnosed ADHD and with auditory processing disorder. Her type of ADHD is the same type as Will's. She and her husband were as anti-medication as Chris and I are. They absolutely did not want to go that route. At some point, though, they decided to give it a try and they were absolutely shocked by how well it worked. In fact, their daughter thanks them for it. School became a breeze for her. Wow! Wouldn't that be wonderful? If school could just become a breeze for Will? Is that even possible? It is so hard to imagine. School has always been a struggle. Could a pill really free up his mind and make it work the way it is meant to? It sounds too good to be true, except it's not. Too good, I mean. I hate, hate, hate the thought of making him take a medication. I told Chris about it. He was intrigued, but we are still a long way from going that route.

So, two more weeks left in this 1st quarter. Can he do it? Can he hold on to his A's? He is determined to, though I have pointed out to him that B's are great, too. That a B is nothing to be disappointed in... But, he wants those A's! It's nice to see the motivation!

Sweet Words

Will at the top of the Solo Challenge in the pouring rain at Spring hill!!

My sweet, sweet boy said the sweetest thing to me tonight. I decided I just had to capture it somewhere so that I never forget and I decided this blog was as good a place as any.

He had had an overwhelming amount of homework so far this school year! Some weeks are worse than others, with this being one of those weeks! Of course we were gone all weekend at Springhill Camp (see photo) doing all kinds of fun stuff. We were specifically instructed to leave all homework and school stress at home, so we did! Anyway, that left us/ Will with a lot of homework to get to tonight.

He has a math test tomorrow, a social studies test on Wednesday along with a Vocabulary test on Wednesday. That is bad enough. But, he also has his Weekly Reader due on Thursday, his Science Weekly due on Wednesday, his skill review due Thursday and his mixed review due Thursday. His social studies study guide was due today and his Wordly Wise vocab sections D and E are due on Wednesday. So. Much. Work.

So, I had him complete section D of Wordly Wise on his own. Then I went over it with him. He missed 8 out of 10. Ugh! I was frustrated. We went over it and he figured out most of the answers on his own with very little prompting from me. As we go toward the end and I was pointing out to him how many he missed, he said to me, "I am so happy I have parents who go over this stuff with me". Then he said, "If you hadn't gone over this with me I would have gotten and F." Then he said, "Thank you, mom". And he gave me a hug. Yes, he really did. I thanked him profusely for being so appreciative and he hugged me again. He told me that some kids don't have parents that go over their homework with them and that he is lucky. He told me that one day last year, Mrs. C asked the kids to raise their hands if their parents worked with them on stuff at home. He said that he, "of course", raised his hand but that some kids didn't. He said he felt sorry for those kids.

Ahhhhhhh.... what a feeling! I can't even describe it. To have your 10.5 yr old boy be appreciative and thankful is just amazing! The rest of the evening went smashingly well!!! He was so willing to keep on working and it was great. Just great!

I love my boys!