I already wrote this post once, but forgot to make my usual 'copy' before I hit publish and guess what...blogger ate it!!
Anyway - today went well. Carol (the LEA lady) came and she was very nice. When she arrived Jacob was sat reading quietly on the sofa, the big girls were playing in the yard, Ellie was sleeping and Joel was hoovering the kitchen, so all was calm and peaceful - for once! We sat and chatted for a bit then Jacob decided to show off his handwriting - his show piece (he does have great handwriting for his age)! Other than that the children hardly showed their faces. The children did all knew she was coming and why - and were completely un-phased by the whole thing :) She certainly was not intent on quizzing them about anything and didn't she seem too worried about seeing any of their work. She said that, as everything was so hunky-dorey last year, this was really just to update the files as to where we are at. I have no problem with that. I showed her my 'planner' - she was suitably impressed I think (!!) - and explained that I use it as a baseline, but that it is quite flexibly adhered to. We chatted about what resources I use and I explained that I try to teach one subject at any one time, but at 2 levels, for the most part and that generally this works out OK :)
I then broached the subject of my difficulties with Jacob with her. I explained that Paul & I think that he MIGHT have ADHD and why we think so. We discussed some of his 'behaviours', his inability to concentrate for more that 5 minutes at a time and his seeming lack of attention even when he thinks he is listening to you! There are all sorts of other little 'odditites' that make us think he might be ADHD and really we want to be sure we are schooling him appropriatly. It's not that a 'label' will change anything that much, but it will help us know HOW to tackle the problems we face with him. SO, if his attention span IS only 5 minutes we have to only EXPECT 5 minutes of attention from him - if we get more that's a bonus, but our day will need to be a lot more broken down than it currently is. However if there is no REAL problem, outside of Jacob's control, than really it's just a case of disciplining him (appropriatly) so that he learns how to knuckle down and concentrate for a given slot of time. We (Paul and I) need to know if our expectations of him are too high (which
if he has ADHD then they probably are, because they are based on expectations of a 'normal' (almost)8 year old), or if they are about right and we just need to help Jacob reach what he is capable of - bearing in mind that he is a very clever kid in reality. The amazing thing is that he has begun to voice his difficulties, so I think
he even recognises that he has a bit of a problem. He has said things like; "it's like my brain switches off and on and off and on. And when it's off I can't switch it on again" - how descriptive is that! But there is a sad side to that too, in that he has also begun to say things like "Joel is brainier than me." This simply is not true - and I have told him so, but what he sees is Joel being given a task, completing it and going to play, while he is struggling through - having not even really
started on the task he has been set to do that should have taken him about equal time (ability level taken into consideration). Because Joel is able to apply himself he naturally gets more free-time and Jacob equates Joel getting his work done with him (Joel) being brainier. But if I let Jacob go at the same time he would achieve nothing at all and there would be even less reward in that - it would only add to his discouragement to never have anything to show for a day's school :(
Anyway - Carol ageed that it would be good for us to have a formal assessment so that we would have a baseline to work from and have a better idea HOW to get the best from Jake. And she is going to find out for me how we go about that outside of the school system. Like I said - she was very helpful and sympathietic to my dilema, which was nice. :)
On another subject now;
Nappies :)
I got a 'bimble in the post today. How cute and gorgeously tiny is this nappy?! Paul reckons it'll never fit a real baby! I think he forgets just how diddy they are (babies that is) when they are new!:) Ellie appears to be getting 'into' the whole cute nappy thing too. She keeps going to look in the nappy bucket to see what new additions she can find and if I'm not quick enough - she brings them to me - eeeew!! I think it's not helped by the fact that I can't resist fleecy pink nappies/wraps - and neither can she apparently! I really should be trying to buy a bit more unisex - poor little baby - if it is a boy (which I'm fairly convinced it is this time), he'll be in pink nappies half the time!! Although, that said Abbie has gone to bed tonight in a blue car print nappy. I'm trying to
discourage her from wearing them and when I put a woolly sheep one on her she liked it a bit too much!!
Check these out too -all you nappy lover -
pocket liners - what a cool idea! I'm going to try making some this evening - just to make life even easier for Paul, but if mine don't work I think I might invest in some :)
I might even post some pics of in the next few days - just to get you all coveting cute nappies!! And so that I can have that memory of my babies with cute snuggly bottoms!! Oh, how I wish I had discovered these YEARS ago - it's only take me nearly 8 years, but then I must confess I wasn't looking much in the in-between times. Kooshies were naf, so I think I gave up on the whole idea for a while and went down the 'green disposbles' route as a compromise - shame!!
