Friday, February 27, 2015

Trevor update- my 3.5 plus year old

It's been awhile as usual.  Just wanted to recap a bit about where Trevor is these days.  

A few weeks ago it was time to make a decision about school next year and it really had me questioning what my plan or the two was.  We've got a good rhythm going (most days) that I'm not quite ready to put either in school more days.  Trevor and Charlotte are getting along really well, not driving me completely crazy, and there are so many things to do with the children in Greensboro that they love outside of their school.   Unfortunately with his age, the options of school are limited with most being 4-5 day programs.  I've decided to hold out for a possible two day spot for both.  We will be allowed to do that only if there is room left after everyone that has wanted more consecutive days signs up. I do think that school is very important and do want at least two days so hopefully it will workout at their current school, but if not, well figure it out!- be it a different school or more home structured instruction.  I feel that Trevor receives plenty of social interaction and play outside of school, but not sure about the amount of actual "instruction" outside of school.  I'm a firm believer that before first grade, play is one of the most important components as well as learning about life situations through experiences.  BUT, I don't want my children to start elementary school behind their peers on the basic fundamentals.  I've been trying to research the skills that are necessary for kindergarten and looking into materials to get this done alongside some preschool.   So, I've started using some workbooks and other activities as incentives for things, especially before tv.  So far, they are going well.  He's not 100% thrilled about doing them, but he does them and understands the reward process:).  It's amazing for me to see how hard some tasks come (using Scissors, holding a pencil, handwriting) and on the opposite how quickly some others come.  From not knowing how to write his name a few weeks ago, he's gotten pretty good at it.  At first glance, in the prek workbooks, he is definitely his father's son, flying through the math sections.  The other books that I found recommended by my BFF (Pinterest) should be here soon.  So far, he's great at numbers, counting, and letter recognition, but doesnt enjoy writing them much at all.  The book below is one I picked up at target.  



This is how his name was a few weeks ago.  He even drew the connecting dots for himself since he was used to seeing them from me.  You can see we are still working on spacing issues:)


Getting a little better/straighter.  If he's not happy with a letter, he scratches it out immediately.  


And this last one was yesterday.  I should probably buy some better paper for beginning writers as well as some pencils:)


And one last thing, his speech has really taken off.  He's still doing speech therapy, but the therapist believes it isn't necessary any longer and once the next IEP plan ends, we will stop if not before:).