The boys went back to school this week and once again, our school was one of the latest to start in our area. However, this was probably the first time that I was not ready for school to go back. We have so much happening that another week or so of summer break would have been helpful! Gabbie is still here for another week and doesn’t start classes till after Labor Day, so I will include her back to school information in another post!
[Zachary]
Zachary is a junior this year. He is taking Total Body Workout (PE elective), Intro to Psychology (elective), English Literature, Jewish Heritage, US Government, AP Statistics, and Hebrew. He also has a study hall. He opted out of taking AP classes for English and US Gov, but I think he will do well in Stats. With our small school, we often have the same teachers every other year, but this year he has a different math teacher – although we do know him as he was previously the upper school principal. I am happy with the teachers he has!
Simon
Simon is in 8th grade this year. His class went through a bit of a difficult time this past year and 8 kids left the class, leaving them with a class of 9, plus 2 new students that joined (one who had been with them previously and one who is a friend from our synagogue). So it’s a lot smaller now, but hopefully the remaining kids are nice ones. This year Simon is taking Algebra, Health / PE, Hebrew, Shorashim (Roots – I think it’s genetics and ancestry, an elective), English, Science, American History, and Jewish Studies Lifecycles.
I mentioned in Simon’s birthday post that I am hoping 8th grade goes better than 7th and that now Simon has a diagnosis which means we can go ahead with getting him on a 504 plan. His struggle seems to be with executive functioning and organizational tasks. His diagnosis is Nonverbal Learning Disorder. Some things that he has trouble with that lead to this diagnosis include understanding patterns, fine motor, math, memory, and hand-eye coordination. It is sometimes confused with ADHD, which is what I had him evaluated for, and can manifest similarly to Autism Spectrum Disorders. His diagnosis also includes dysgraphia and anxiety as well. I am meeting with the school in just a few weeks to get his plan for the year all set.
By the way, I’m pretty sure Zachary has this same diagnosis, but since he is older and has already learned to compensate for some of the issues he might experience, he decided not to go through with the evaluation process himself.
Happy Back to School to all!