Life Lately - September
2 days ago
Saturday, August 17, 2019
Jellystone 2019
The Sunday after school was out, Grammy and Grampy took the kids to Jellystone again! They had so much fun and can't wait to go back again next Summer!
Presley Marie
We had a revelation at school with Presley this year. She was diagnosed with Dyslexia. At first it was a hard pill to swallow. Like we really needed "one more thing on our plate". Why Presley? She is our easy one. This is going to affect her for the rest of her life. Things are going to be more challenging for her. I remember her teacher saying "this is a good thing". I thought she was off her rocker....
After a semester of knowing, I now understand what she was saying. Since Kindergarten, we have always struggled with reading, writing and spelling. She is our first to learn all of this so we didn't know any different. Presley would cry, not wanting to do her homework. She would read books and get simple words wrong. She had the hardest time with her "W" words. It was frustrating for all of us. She would make good grades on spelling tests, but we have to work SO HARD. On the other hand, she loves math and would breeze through that homework no problem. And because of her love for Math, dyslexia was completely off of our radar. Since then, we have now learned that dyslexia isn't seeing numbers and letters backwards. It is so much more. The words get jumbled up as they read. They can see a word perfectly normal one time and the next it looks completely foreign. When we read with Presley after her diagnosis it all made so much more sense.
So back to the "good thing(s)"...it turns out that Frisco ISD has an amazing dyslexia program. We met with the assistant principal and her teacher (who both happen to be dyslexic), as well as a diagnostician and a dyslexia teacher to understand the diagnosis better and to learn about her new accommodations. She no longer loses points if she misspells something which improves her grades. Her teacher can read her assignments to her if needed. We can opt out of spelling tests, but I chose not to. I think that it is a good lesson for Presley to know that if she works hard at something she can succeed. In reality, she just memorizes the words and then forgets them. This is a life long diagnosis; however, she will get accommodations through college.
In this process, we realized that Mikey is dyslexic. He always had trouble with things but was never formally diagnosed. It is hereditary and actually pretty common. Now we know to keep a closer eye on Bentley as he learns to read. Oh and another "cool thing" is that during Presley's evaluation, we learned that she has a higher than normal IQ!
Presley started the dyslexia program at the beginning of the spring semester. The "good thing" about her diagnosis is now we have an answer to why she was struggling and she is getting the help she needs. She is pulled from class during her writing time. I think she thrives on the "special attention" and she is learning to read and write in a way that accommodates her struggles. She is learning to write in cursive and she has extra homework every night with different word sounds and handwriting. She did amazing her first semester. I already see an improvement on her impromptu reading. She even volunteered to read out loud in her bible study. The program is two years so she will complete it while still in elementary and hopefully she will have the tools she needs to be successful in this life with dyslexia. We are so proud of how far she has come. I put this very special reading nook in her room for our very special and smart girl!
After a semester of knowing, I now understand what she was saying. Since Kindergarten, we have always struggled with reading, writing and spelling. She is our first to learn all of this so we didn't know any different. Presley would cry, not wanting to do her homework. She would read books and get simple words wrong. She had the hardest time with her "W" words. It was frustrating for all of us. She would make good grades on spelling tests, but we have to work SO HARD. On the other hand, she loves math and would breeze through that homework no problem. And because of her love for Math, dyslexia was completely off of our radar. Since then, we have now learned that dyslexia isn't seeing numbers and letters backwards. It is so much more. The words get jumbled up as they read. They can see a word perfectly normal one time and the next it looks completely foreign. When we read with Presley after her diagnosis it all made so much more sense.
So back to the "good thing(s)"...it turns out that Frisco ISD has an amazing dyslexia program. We met with the assistant principal and her teacher (who both happen to be dyslexic), as well as a diagnostician and a dyslexia teacher to understand the diagnosis better and to learn about her new accommodations. She no longer loses points if she misspells something which improves her grades. Her teacher can read her assignments to her if needed. We can opt out of spelling tests, but I chose not to. I think that it is a good lesson for Presley to know that if she works hard at something she can succeed. In reality, she just memorizes the words and then forgets them. This is a life long diagnosis; however, she will get accommodations through college.
In this process, we realized that Mikey is dyslexic. He always had trouble with things but was never formally diagnosed. It is hereditary and actually pretty common. Now we know to keep a closer eye on Bentley as he learns to read. Oh and another "cool thing" is that during Presley's evaluation, we learned that she has a higher than normal IQ!
Presley started the dyslexia program at the beginning of the spring semester. The "good thing" about her diagnosis is now we have an answer to why she was struggling and she is getting the help she needs. She is pulled from class during her writing time. I think she thrives on the "special attention" and she is learning to read and write in a way that accommodates her struggles. She is learning to write in cursive and she has extra homework every night with different word sounds and handwriting. She did amazing her first semester. I already see an improvement on her impromptu reading. She even volunteered to read out loud in her bible study. The program is two years so she will complete it while still in elementary and hopefully she will have the tools she needs to be successful in this life with dyslexia. We are so proud of how far she has come. I put this very special reading nook in her room for our very special and smart girl!
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
End of School!
So, when we planned the Colorado trip over Memorial Weekend it seemed like such a great idea. Mikey, Mycah and Dustin would only have to take two days off of work and my schedule is always flexible...Well, boy did that philosophy backfire on my end. The last week of school is probably my busiest week all year. Teacher gifts, Field Days, Awards, End of the Year Parties and the last day of school...all times 3! From the minute we had cell service on the drive home until the minute school was out for the year, we went non-stop.
Bentley and Presley's Field Day.
Bentley's Awards
These are the closeups of the awards he got. He ended the year reading at grade level.
We left the morning of Presley's awards. We were so sad. I am so lucky and received pics from Mom friends and Grammy and Grampy were there to cheer her on!
These are Presley's awards. She also ended the year reading at grade level.
We also missed Kiley's field day. Grammy and Grampy went in our place. She had water fun in the morning and then participated in the gen ed field day in the afternoon.
Teacher gifts!
Bentley was chosen to participate in a water balloon fight with the Kinder teachers. So fun!
Last Day of 4th, 2nd and Kinder!
One of our neighbors always does donuts on the last day!
Bentley and Presley had water slides for the end of year party again. We added a bubble bus this year and the kids loved it! Kinder party.
Second Grade.
Bentley stayed at school during Presley's party and we picked him up after. Both of their teachers are leaving the school next year. We said our goodbyes.
Our neighborhood had a last day of school party at the community pool. They had lifeguards and bounce houses, face painting and food trucks. The other two kids ran around with friends. We had a picnic with Kiley.
Some beginning/end of the year artwork...
Kiley's
Bentley and Presley's Field Day.
Bentley's Awards
These are the closeups of the awards he got. He ended the year reading at grade level.
We left the morning of Presley's awards. We were so sad. I am so lucky and received pics from Mom friends and Grammy and Grampy were there to cheer her on!
These are Presley's awards. She also ended the year reading at grade level.
We also missed Kiley's field day. Grammy and Grampy went in our place. She had water fun in the morning and then participated in the gen ed field day in the afternoon.
Teacher gifts!
Bentley was chosen to participate in a water balloon fight with the Kinder teachers. So fun!
Last Day of 4th, 2nd and Kinder!
One of our neighbors always does donuts on the last day!
Bentley and Presley had water slides for the end of year party again. We added a bubble bus this year and the kids loved it! Kinder party.
Second Grade.
Bentley stayed at school during Presley's party and we picked him up after. Both of their teachers are leaving the school next year. We said our goodbyes.
Our neighborhood had a last day of school party at the community pool. They had lifeguards and bounce houses, face painting and food trucks. The other two kids ran around with friends. We had a picnic with Kiley.
Some beginning/end of the year artwork...
Kiley's
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