Well friends, I'm falling behind again...ahhh! I decided I would just start with where we are at these last few weeks and try to catch up on the others later. All three of my munchkins recently started school and everything is going so well!
Max started 1st Grade in a life skills unit at Idea Bluff Springs. We decided to put him in a charter school that was only about 4 minutes from the house rather than have him 20 minutes from us at a school the district placed him at. I will say on the first day he wasn't thrilled with getting up super early or putting those braces back on...
but once we got to his classroom, he started warming up to the idea. It took him a little bit to realize he was returning to school since it was a new environment.
Max LOVES school {the routine & structure of it} and super excited to go everyday.
The school he is at goes an extra hour, so he doesn't actually get out until 3:30 everyday and it has been a huge game changer for our family. The other two rascals love picking him up each day, help him take his braces off, and then inform me what music to play for him :). It's pretty precious!
One new step for us this year is allowing Max to ride the bus to school every morning.
I still pick him up in the afternoons because with him being non-verbal, I need face time with the teacher to check in on him. I will confess this step was really hard for me personally and has felt completely unnatural. Even though Max is 6, he is much younger cognitively...so it's equivalent to any mom putting a 2 year old on a bus and sending them to school everyday. I've grown to be more comfortable with it and do enjoy the ease of just walking him outside, but I'm not sure when I'll feel more at peace with it...probably when he's a teenager, ha!
As for Kason and Zoe...let's be honest...life with a special needs brother is hard, especially as Max's difficult behaviors increase. These two have to sacrifice a lot and contribute often as caretakers. So, we are switching up a few things this school year! Daniel and I decided to homeschool Kason for one year. Since our move to south Austin we weren't able to find any solutions for his schooling that we were comfortable with. Plus, we both felt that maybe he and Zoe just needed a little extra attention without brother around. We also thought with my teaching background in 3rd & 4th, that I would be able to get Kason ahead of the game educationally speaking. Both Kason and I have been excited and a little nervous starting this new journey together!
As for little lady, well we decided to delay kinder until next year (due to her late bday). Zoe has a grueling schedule of going to pre-school at Westover two days a week for socializing with "her people" :)...
and homeschooling with me and Kason the other 3 days.
I'm so excited to share with you what we've been up to lately! We are LOVING the journey we are on right now :).
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