Warning- shameless Mom bragging post. :)
I honestly don't care. I think my audience for this is comprised solely of family and friends...why else would you read this, right? ...and if you ARE reading this, I would assume you are cheering for Nate and Neve right along with me. :)
It's been awhile since I have updated here. We have just spent Spring living life. School. Therapy. Sports. Classes. Friends. Family. That about sums it up.
BUT.....a few great things have happened for the kiddos and we are so proud of their hard work.
NATEMAN:
Nate has had a pretty good school year, I must say. He really likes his teacher and Aaron and I are learning to deal with her over-emotional nature. :) At the end of the day though, I know she cares SO much about her students. Nate is safe and loved and I am content with that.
This is Nate with his teacher and his class. Nate has been in a self-contained Autism-only classroom comprised of grades 1-3. It is a fairly high functioning class, where Nate would be the lowest on the spectrum in his class.
This is Nate at recess playing with a couple boys in his class. He is just starting to occassionally engage the other kids in playground play. This is something he has previously always reserved ONLY for his sister, if at all. Awesome to see. GO NATE!!
Another huge milestone for Nate is that he has joined his first organized sports team! Woo-hoo! Extracurricular activities in general have always been difficult for us to find for him. Special Olympics is, in general, too high functioning for him at this point. He is beyond "Mommy and Me" classes but he really still needs that one on one assistance for most skills.
We found a non-denominational Christian organization that created a special needs team on the weekend with full parent support. The coach does not even have a child on the team, he is just a complete volunteer that wanted to help organize the kids and play. How awesome is that??!? It has been a really great fit for Nate and it is so evident that something like this has been "missing" for us. For all of us. Nate knows it's HIS soccer day and likes his Mighty Pals shirt. We are so proud of him out there doing his best and Neve is over the moon trying to help. Neve stands at the goal and yells, "Go Nate! Kick it to Sister!!". Love it.
Nate with his coach and team Mighty Pals!
NEVE:
Not to be outdone, this little one has been thriving this year as well. She just finished soccer again this season, and she is in gymnastics, swimming, and Daisy Scouts too. She loves loves loves it all and gives 100%. She is showing to be very athletic, especially in soccer(she plays an age group up), which we are so proud to see.
School has also been an extreme area of growth this year. We struggled with the decision to start her early in Kindergarten (at age 4), but decided to throw her the challenge and see how she handles it all. Well I guess it's true what they say about giving someone a challenge and watching them rise to the occasion. Neve not only met the challenge but blew it out of the park. She is (by her teacher's account) the top of her class and is finishing Kindergarten reading at a 3rd grade level. Wow. Of course we are always amazed at how bright she is but it's so awesome to have teachers and school professionals be on board too.
Neve was tested with the first grade CogAT which is Gilbert's Cognitive Abilities Test to determine where she falls in three areas- verbal, quantitative, and nonverbal. This is their way, along with school/parent input, of identifying "Gifted and Talented" children for special programming. Neve passed with flying colors for first grade. We were thrilled and proud. But it got even better when a certain school professional (to remain nameless-ha!) let us know that she not only passed but received the highest score in the entire district. Go Big or Go Home, right?! Ha! Seriously though, that is quite the feat for our little five year old and we are all beaming, including Neve. Aaron and I were both over achievers in school and we love to see that pride come naturally to her as well.
Neve won the school Read-a-thon for K-1 as well. She received some prizes including a Barnes and Noble gift card. She was so excited to spend it this weekend and bought the Junie B Jones series. She loves that she can read to herself and just laughs away. Reminds me of when I would race home from school to catch up on my Babysitter's Club books!!
Anyway, that's the quick wrap up here! Yesterday was our first 100 degree day here in Arizona so we are all about to get really grouchy. Tis the season. :)
19 days of school left!! AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
No comments:
Post a Comment