A Great Debate

The second trimester is over for my kids this year in school.  To me that means it's time to get ready for next year.  I am looking at so many decisions for next year that it's crazy.  I'm just glad Micah isn't looking at any changes...yet.

Micah is going into 6th grade next year.  It's not a huge change.  His SDC class is for grades 4, 5, and 6, so he's still there another year.  His 1:1 aid is staying with him, so the only change will be what 6th grade mainstream class he will go into.  It's already pretty much decided.  He's got a great year coming up next year (don't get me started worrying about Junior High yet, it's not coming for another year-THANK GOD!!!).

Becca is going into 4th grade.  I'm not impressed with the GATE class this year.  I know some of it was lack of funding, but it seemed like just a regular class to me.  The whole point of GATE is to give the kids who can handle more work extra learning experiences, right?  They should probably be having more of that than what they got this year.  It's awful.  I'm working hard to get a art class in there for the end of the year, but I'm having to ask the other parents if they could chip in a few bucks to make it work.  I'm seriously disappointed and I know other parents are too.  I don't know what they have in store for next year, but I'm not hearing great things about the 4th grade GATE class either.  I'm actually debating asking for a transfer for the girls to a different school.  It's not my favorite option, but I'm still considering it.

Ali and Zoe are going into 1st grade.  They are another huge decision.

Zoe has had a great year.  She is challenged and thriving right where she is.  She has had amazing success in her class and loves it. Her teacher was just right for her.  Zoe is like the tortoise, slow and steady.  Her teacher has been patient and encouraging and recognizes Zoe's intelligence.  It shows in Zoe's grades that she loves the class.

Ali hasn't fared quite as well.  Don't get me wrong, her grades are awesome.  Her grades are right up with her twin's in almost every area.  The problem is in behavior.  Ali is in a class with a bunch of good kids who are not nearly as academically inclined as she is.  She has an awesome teacher who is patient and wonderful, but the class is just not on the same level as Ali is.  Ali is feeling the lack of challenge.  It's not that her teacher wouldn't love to challenge her, she just has this attitude that he can't get past.  It's that hare thing.  She's quick only when she has to be.  There are many times when she won't finish her work because she's staring at something and doesn't do anything for a while.  She'll have to sit during recess to finish her work and be done quick and correctly, but she just doesn't focus to do it (for those of you who are thinking "ADD?" I'm not going there with her.  Even if she is, she isn't bad enough for me to do something about it...except teach her a few strategies that have served me well).  If she's interested or sufficiently inspired (bribery works wonders), she will do the work quickly.  She loves the songs that her teacher uses to teach them concepts and words.  He is amazing with rhymes and movements that help the kids remember things.  I love his teaching style and I really think Ali is in an excellent class with him.

Okay, all that being said, I'm looking at the 1st grade teachers in our school for next year.  I see all 5 classes and I am eliminating the ones that I don't like or I don't think will work well with either of my girls...I'm down to one that I like and one that I know nothing about because she just started the class today, taking over for another teacher who went to a different job.

That's frustrating. 

Today I started debating the pros and cons of putting the twins in the same class.  I had spoken to the principal about a number of subjects last week and this subject came up.  He has no feelings on the subject and feels it's best to let those who know the children best decide. 

I gathered input from Kindergarten teachers today.  There are some strong feelings there!  Mostly adamant no's.  I did get one really intelligent answer with a really good reference to a study done on this.  Still, I found another study that refuted the evidence.  Personally, I think it depends on the children and you can't really make a blanket statement about twins.

I didn't actually speak to the girls' teachers about it yet.  That will be my next info gathering session.  They are the ones who know the individual girls' classroom behaviors, so I know that they will make a difference in my final decision.

I asked the twins if they would like being in a class together.  Ali said yes, Zoe said no.  They rarely agree on anything, so this really wasn't a surprise.

I asked the question to my Facebook friends who are teachers (I have a lot of teacher friends) and the responses there were pretty positive.  The negative points from them didn't seem to apply to my girls.  One teacher said that the biggest problem she has had was when there was one dominant twin who didn't allow the other twin to make decisions or get things wrong.  My twins both have such strong personalities that I don't think that this will be a problem.  Another person commented that the twins need to develop their own personalities and friends and stuff.   Really, the twins are socially so advanced that I'm not worried about them. They rarely even speak to each other on the playground, and honestly they don't act like they like each other at all.  They aren't in any way dependent on each other for sure.

I don't really know what they will be like together in class, but I know how they will be with a teacher that doesn't fit.  Ali needs someone who will keep her attention and keep her interested.  Zoe needs someone who will be patient and challenging.  I'm pretty sure I have all of those qualities in one teacher at our school for next year.  Still, I hate changing the same/different class factor when it's working as it is.

Of course, all of this is moot if I decide to ask for a transfer.  If we go to a different school, I'll not know the teachers and I won't be changing them to be in the same class to destroy the variable that I know works. 

Ugh.  I hate making decisions like this.

Ali's Homework

Today we are going crazy with homework.  It's only a 3 day week because of holidays and such for school, so we are working on finishing the weekly packets today.

Ali had an interesting page.  She was supposed to draw a picture of someone important to her and then write a sentence about him/her.   I figured she would do something like "Mom" or "Dad" or even "Grandma."  It even occurred to me that she may choose her teacher.

Nope, none of those.

Want to see?

God.  Yep, that's what she chose.  I didn't wonder how she was going to draw God.  That's easy because of the "What's In The Bible?" videos that they like to watch.  If you've ever seen episode 1 (and you should totally watch it), it talks about God and how they show him.  Watch the video below, it's near the beginning.




So that's what she was going for with her drawing.  Her sentence is simple: "My God is the best."  We had an interesting conversation about that when she was done.  It was really fun to discuss what other gods people have and really how much she has understood from the "What's In The Bible?" stuff.

Isn't my kid awesome?

Standing on My Soapbox

One of my biggest pet peeves is when people say "God isn't going to give you more than you can handle".  If you've ever said that to me and I've blown up at you, I'm sorry.

It's simply not true.

Someone tell me where in the Bible that little tidbit is, will you? 

I'm going to give you a hint: it's not there.

It's a misquote.  It's someone's bad interpretation of 1 Corinthians 10:13.  Let me lay that one out for you.

"No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it." (NASB)

Okay, where does that say that I'm going to be able to handle my 4 crazy kids?  Does it say God thinks I can handle a child with autism?  Or a set of twins?  Does it say anything about me being able to control my circumstances?  NO!

This verse is all about temptation.  Honestly, the biggest temptation for me is to wallow in self-pity over everything that I'm supposed to be handling.  I have an escape from that self-pity, though.  I can just hand over all my problems to God and let him handle them.  It's not easy, but since I'm fleeing the temptation to dwell on the negative, my escape is to let go of the negative and give it all over to the only One who can handle it.  It doesn't mean that I'm suddenly more of a superwoman and I handle MS, autism, twins, and everything else on my list that makes me a huge sob story.  It means that God can handle MS, autism, twins, and anything else because He is in charge.

Here's a good verse "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."Philippians 4:13 (NASB).  There's the empowering verse!  I can do all things!  Not with my own power and brains, but through HIM!  He is the one who is supplying the power here.  I can't handle anything alone.  It's only through Him that I can do anything. 

The reality is: God isn't going to give you anything in life that He can't handle.  He is the one handling my problems.  He is the one who makes me Supermommie.  I have super powers.  The cool thing is that God is offering those super powers to you too.