Their Status' in School

Parent/Teacher conferences were today for all three of our children.
Sterling and I took Ty and Athena to the elementary school for their meetings. First was Ty's. His teacher said that he hasn't improved as much as she had been leading us to believe with her focus/behavior charts she has sent home weekly. She said that she can see that he thinks differently and learns differently than the other children. She asked permission to have him assessed at the school to learn better how to help him learn and focus. We agreed.

Next we went to Athena's class. Her teacher said that she is super smart and knows more than is expected of Kindergartners. She is close to where the kids are expected to be at the end of the school year.
Ms. Ingram said that Athena's time as a kitty in class has not been a problem. She just allows Athena to be a cat when she wants to.
Sterling things that we need to keep her ahead of the class. Start 1st grade level with her. I see no harm in it. She's smart enough to start reading and spelling etc.
I do , however, have to teach her to count to twenty first. She doesn't know her teens.
And she still has trouble with Ww, Mm, Gg in the alphabet. But I've taught her so many times the alphabet. I think I will just leave that alone and she will grasp those final letters soon enough.

A couple hours later Ster and I took Athena to Luke's middle school parent/teacher conference. It is a meeting with all of Luke's teachers at once.
When we arrived in Japan last school year Luke's teacher saw him as a lost cause. It was late in the school year and she discovered that he was far too behind in his education. This was a surprise to me because I have always homeschooled the kids during summers and I thought he wasn't too far behind.

I had a meltdown and couldnt handle it. My mom and a few others told me that this is normal. It happens often. Boys don't care about their education and they fall behind. Then in middle school and high school they barely get by.

The new school year began and I had let it go. Whatever was going to be was going to be no matter what I tried. Sterling took the reigns. He taught Luke how to study and started training him to do his homework and get it turned in on time.
Luke has made such a great stride in this first quarter of school! He comes home and he does his homework before being told. His friend Ethan from middle school came over and they chose to do math homework together!

Unfortunately the teachers think it's not enough. They think that he cannot focus as a 6th grader should. They think he needs an aid in every class. The teachers have been acting as his aids as much as they can but that is not their job. And they worry that in 7th grade he will not have the support and help he needs to pass his classes.
They suggested we take him to the pediatrician and ask for a referral for an assessment. Both our boys need to be assessed.

Sterling has always been against the idea. He still believes that if our boys are assessed they will be labeled with something that will ruin the rest of their lives. But I have always felt that it can help them!

Sterling sees how much Luke has changed in just a few weeks and he imagines Luke continuing on that uphill climb for the rest of the school year. So he doesn't want to give up and have Luke tested.
Luke may have ADHD or something small that will be helpful to know for sure about.

We prayed, Sterling and I, for guidance and comfort. Ster is very sad about this.
Sterling talked to Luke and then asked Luke what he wants to do. Luke said he wants to get assessed.

The process for both our boys could take many months. We need to get it started but we have no guarantee that we will even stay in Japan the rest of this school year.

Sterling leaves in a few days for his 6 week training in Okinawa Japan. I will be in charge of helping Luke keep his grades up. And I will be in charge on making this assessment stuff happen. I don't have to do anything about it for Ty...his teacher will get that going. But I do have to schedule an appointment with the pediatrician for Luke. And here, at Yokota air base everything runs so slow! It will likely be a month before he can see the pediatrician. It's so annoying. The base is so small! But they run so slowly here!

Athena: "Is Santa Real?"

Today we were driving in the car; Sterling, Athena and I. Athena then asked the question..."Is Santa real?" She is almost 6 years old now. And she was secretly questioning the legitimacy of Santa, Easter Bunny...anyone who is actually a person in a costume. She could see it this last 12 months...the zipper or velcro line on the back of the costumes.


Sterling and I have mastered answering this question by now. The answer we find best for children...
"No, Santa is not real. But remember how much fun it is to believe in Santa? It's up to you to keep that magic alive for other children. Don't ever tell other kids that Santa is not real. You don't want to make them sad."
Sterling added that if you want presents you have to pretend Santa is real. That's the fun of Christmas.

She was happy to know that she knows the truth. And she reassured us she would not tell other children. We shall see.