Updates

A few updates


My camera is drying out and is taking photos now, but still has problems with being foggy.

Jasmine's surgery went well. Once the swelling goes down she should have a "normal" nose and lip. She has a much more complicated surgery ahead that involves an expander being inserted under the skin of her neck and then removed three months later.


She Will have restricted activities during that whole three months. That means I need to switch her from tumbling to something less strenuous at dance! She has ballet already and we were going to try tumbling for whole body strength.

Dance starts after Labor Day. I'm not sure if she'll be able to do any dance after the surgeries really so I'm going to see if we can hold off on recital costumes until we find out.



I took Jasmine to school this morning, and she's going to try and stay until 11. If she doesn't feel up to it, I'll go get her. The math is so very difficult that we don't dare skip more days. I found out today that it's not just her though, all the kids are struggling with millions, ten millions and hundred millions. It seems a bit extreme for fourth grade. They are using Harcourt Go Math! for Florida to meet the Florida standards. The school has called the district but I don't know if anything can be done.



Jessica is struggling with math too. She tested high on her placement test but when she took it, she was in advanced algebra. She hasn't had math in a year and has forgotten some of it. She was placed in college algebra (not intro or the easier algebra class) and started off with grafting and factoring. She had to buy a $100 grafting calculator!

Thankfully she found some videos online that explain what she is supposed to do, so it's starting to click. She seems to be enjoying her classes but realizes that almost all her profs believe in evolution.

The twins have been home seven months today. Both teachers called again yesterday about behavior issues, and both are going to try a new behavior plan starting today.


I am also starting a sticker chart today. We have four targeted areas they can earn stickers for. A certain number will be required to go to the convenience store for treats on Fridays. And to take part in the nightly movie and popcorn. Not sure how this will work yet, but it can't really hurt. And it will help me see their progress.

Although we are getting lots of poor behaviors at home and school, I am not really discouraged because they are all normal and somewhat expected. There is no food hoarding or bizarre behaviors. No harming pets or starting fires. No real harming of other people's property. They will get into sibling's things sometimes or something may get broken when played with too roughly or thrown in anger, but there's not any deliberate destruction. They never get angry or out of control to the point where they have to be restrained.

They are acting out more at school than at home. And there is less that the teachers can do. I can remove them from an activity, put them to bed early, sit them time in or time out or issue a nap. I can take away offending objects. I can put toys in time out. The teachers are dealing with 18 students and can really only give a brief time out or a few minutes loss of recess. The bus driver is having problems with them too. I think once Jasmine is back on the bus, we will be able to deal with that.

They are, of course, delayed in their learning. They are resistant to trying things that are hard for them. Kayla will crumple up a paper she doesn't want to do. Still, I expect to see a lot of growth this year. I've asked for Kaleb to be tested for speech. He is not clear in either creole or English. He substitutes a lot of sound at the beginning, middle and end of words.


Tyler and Adam have not been very verbal about how school is going, but I think both are doing fine. I haven't heard otherwise. There is a kid's triathlon that I told Adam about coming up in November. He is interested, but it means working through some issues and showing me that he can be responsible on a daily basis. It's a very easy triathlon--200 meter swim in a very nice pool, six miles bike and one mile run. He can easily run 5 miles so it's only the swimming that may slow him down. We don't have a pool for him to practice in, but I dropped him off in the bay and had him swim in Sunday. It's $45 plus a membership fee so I need to know he's committed to it before I sign him up.


We are taking a break from soccer this fall. The twins are not doing a sport until we work through some issues, and Jasmine is going to try girl's softball. She's had a couple of practices and seems to enjoy it. Softball is very low key in the fall. Spring is when it's the major sport, but with the neck surgery she won't be playing. It's sad, but we need to just get this surgery behind us. And she has some exciting plans for summer that I'll share once we are more certain about them. But it's awesome and I can't wait to see if it's really going to work out.