Hey there Max...what's up with you?
So far Max has been loving being at his new school (he moved up to the Elementary school...3-5th grade) from the primary school...K-2nd). He loves his teacher Mrs. M and currently his favorite subject is South Carolina history. He recently had to do a project where he had to make a model of SC and show the 6 different regions. He also had to pick one of the regions and do a brochure/pamphlet/poster on that region telling about it's characteristics, major cities, and places to see/things to do.
We decided to make the model out of rice krispie treats. I made a double batch and then poured it out onto a board and molded it into the shape of SC. I think I got it pretty good. Then we colored icing into 6 different colors and I outlined each region and Max spread the icing into them. It turned out really cool and wouldn't you know it...I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE!!!!! I emailed Max's teacher to ask her if she could do it for me before the class ate it and she said she would but I haven't seen it yet. If I get it I will certainly post it :)
Max has also been playing flag football this fall. He was REALLY into it this year and John has been so excited at seeing Max out on the field. He called me from one game to tell me that Max looked like a real quarterback out on the field and that he was taking a leadership role out on the field trying to direct his teammates on where to block :) This was the year that he could choose between flag or tackle and John and I made the decision to have him play flag because we weren't sure that he was ready for tackle...now we're sure! Max would put his arms up to block another player and the kid would run into him and fall down! Also, Max would run the ball and was so fast he wouldn't have anyone around him sometimes. I watched him run for a touchdown from one end of the field to the other during one game!
He had his last game yesterday and at the awards ceremony afterwards his coach gave each of the players an award based on their skills. Max got the "Lightning" award because of his speed. The coach told everyone that Max had a bright future ahead of him and that he never liked to let Max have the ball on the first or second down because he knew they'd be playing defense again right away :) We have a bit of a break now and then we are on to basketball season ;p
Max has also joined Cub Scouts this year and is loving it! We got him his uniform and he and John went on their first Cub Scout campout a couple of weekends ago. They had a great time :)
One thing Max has had a tough time with though is going to the afterschool daycare. He gets picked up from school by their bus and does his homework there and has a snack and plays outside. It is a great place and the people are very friendly but Max has started having anxiety issues. He started worrying that something was going to happen to me and he couldn't stop thinking about it. We had a rough few weeks where he would sob uncontrollably in the mornings before getting on the bus and then would cry at school because he was worried about me. He told John and I that he was afraid if something happened to me he'd be alone. I emailed the guidance counselor at his school and she has spoken with him one on one and he is now going to her once a week for about 40 minutes for a small anxiety/stress group. It seems to be helping...we keep praying that it does. Also, at the afterschool program they have been wonderful in letting Max stay in the smae room with Abby (they split them up K-2 and 3-5). Since they have let him do that he has been doing much better as well. He still asks if I can pick them up early though.
Another thing I have done is to talk to the school psychologist and his teacher (and the other people on the "team") about possibly having Max tested for dyslexia. He has had some of the more classic signs for a long time and I had been told many times that he would outgrow them by the end of 2nd grade. He hasn't and is showing some other signs as well. I looked up what the characteristics of dyslexia were and found a list of 37 of them on the Dyslexia website. It said that most children with dyslexia would exhibit about 10 of them from time to time. As I went through the list I highlighted the ones that pertained to Max. He hit about 25-27 of them or parts of them. I was told by the school that it is a medical diagnosis so we'd have to go through his pediatrician for that but they reassured me that he is NOT showing signs of a Learning Disability (I didn't suspect that anyway since he is on grade level for reading and above grade level for math). I'm glad I met with them though because they did say they would keep an eye on his progress to make sure he isn't stalling or falling back.
Finally, since I have started back to work we have really gotten serious about having the kids take on some responsibility around the house. We are adding them in increments until they can do them without being reminded then we'll add another. Right now Max is supposed to take care of getting everyone's drinks for dinner, rinsing the dinner dishes, and packing his lunchbox (supervised and helped by me).
So, that is Max...all caught up :)
