Monday Effort

It's Monday.....again....yup just Monday. WAIT. This is the LAST Monday of the 08-09 school year! YIPEEEEEEE!

Technically Stuart has to work next Monday, but that doesn't affect anyone except Phillip and that's just because KatieJo, Maija and I will be out of town. Samuel will be at soccer camp for part of the day and that leaves little ol'Phillip either hanging out with Dad at work (won't that be fun!) or at a friend's house. Or maybe with Grandma if they can stay an extra day.

I'm sitting at home waiting for the phone to ring...that's right, I'm waiting. I'm not sure when it's appropriate for me to call our lawyer and ask if Maija's adoption papers have been signed by the judge yet. So I'm attempting to excercise my patience which isn't really working so well. However, I am passing my time by surfing the internet when I should be cleaning and putting clothes away.

It's a nice not too hot, not too cold day outside and so our plan for FHE is to work in the yard. I have a bunch of cedar mulch that needs laid down and some hostas to plant. Oh and did I mention that our backyard looks like a jungle? We haven't managed to get a lawn mower yet and so borrowed one from a friend on Saturday, but Stuart only managed to get the front done. I hope the grass has dried out from yesterdays rain and that we can get it mowed before today's rain.

I'm going to complain for a moment, bear with me. So Samuel has been getting enrichment during the day at school by going up everyday for 1st grade math and 1st grade reading. We asked them to test him because he has already done 1st grade work and we're worried about how he will behave next year in school if he's in 1st grade. They agreed to test and told us that he had to get 80% or better on the tests in order to go to 2nd grade (they did the end of the school year tests for 1st graders). He scored above 80% on all of the tests. However, they told us this morning that the tests aren't reliable enough to skip him up a grade....WHAT?!?!?!?!? Then why did they do the tests in the first place. They have now told us they want an IQ test to see where he is (but the district won't do it because they only test special ed kids, and it could cost anywhere between $300 & $600). However, even if he scores where they want him to in order to skip a grade they don't feel that it's good for KatieJo. I'm less than impressed....good for KatieJo? As her parents isn't that our job to worry about that? We've already talked to KatieJo about it and she's been competing with Samuel her entire life. They typically do things at the same time. So, really what they should tell us is that they don't want to skip him rather than give us all these exueses (my favorite was...there is another little boy who is scoring what Samuel is but his parents don't feel it's appropriate to skip him up.....Well, good for his parents. I'm here for Samuel!) they should just tell us that they don't feel that he should be skipped up. What they don't realize is how much research I've done and who I've talked to. We're not coming into this blind. We understand what the ramifications could be, but we also understand what kind of child Samuel will be in the classroom if he isn't challenged. So I say let him skip 1st grade and we'll see if we can get a group rate on counseling sessions!