1st Week of School Done

We are done with our first week of school.  Other than traffic issues with Sugar Pea's school, everything went by smoothly.

Warrior is a senior this year!!!!  OMG I can't believe he's almost done with high school.  It makes me sad because there's so much going on this year.  So much going on that his dad isn't here for.  

Sugar Pea is in 8th grade. I can't believe my little girl is almost in high school.  Not to mention she's about 6 inches taller than her mom too.  

Preparing For SATs Already?

Last Wednesday Warrior took his PSATs.

Now we are looking toward next years SATs.


Where did the time go?  It doesn't seem like he should be 14, almost 15, a sophomore in high school, and preparing for college already.

It saddens me.  A LOT.


This weekend was also a huge reminder that even small things, weird things, make them realize just how much they miss their dad.

Warrior had a small meltdown because his dad wasn't there to cheer him on.  Its not something he even thought of before, but after the test it really hit him hard.

Its the little things that bring all the emotions back to the surface.


Today I ordered Warrior several books and flashcards to help him study for the SATs.  He wants to get into Stanford, so he's gotta get a jump on it.

I'm not to worried about him, but I figure he can use a little bit of a head start.

During my research I found one book written by a perfect score student.  (SAT 2400 in Just 7 Steps: Perfect-Score Student Reveals How to Ace the Test)  He supposedly bombed the first time he took them, so he decided to learn all he could and ended up acing it the second time around.  I'm hoping this will give him some useful hints and study tools.

I remember from my SATs all the vocabulary.  When I came across 500 Key Words for the SAT I knew I had to get it for him.  It uses pictures and stories to help memorize the meanings. 

He may not be so excited when they get here, but one day he will thank me.  When he's  a big world famous heart surgeon he can thank me in the way of a nice car, maybe a house.

I can't believe my little boy is already so grown up and working his way towards the SATs next year. 

Why I Chose A Charter School

I have had many people accuse me of thinking I'm to good for public school because my kids go to a charter school.

My kids started out in public school in Southern California.  I soon learned it wasn't for us, but I had very few options down there.

Before we decided to move friends were telling us about the school their kids go to.  Its small, very tight knit community, and a parent involved school.  Meaning there is always a parent there to help the teacher.  They loved it because the kids were able to get more 1 on 1 time and the help they need when they need it.  They actually put our names on the waiting list before we had decided for sure we were moving.

By 4th grade Warrior was constantly in trouble at school because he was so bored he would find things to amuse himself.  He would finish his work/test long before the rest of the class.  I bought him workbooks to do, but teacher wouldn't give them to him.  She always had the excuse that she was to busy during class.  Yet she wasn't to busy to call me almost everyday. 

We moved right after Sugar Peas finished Kindergarten.  Her teacher was awesome, but the rest of the support wasn't.  I realized that right away, but didn't find out just how much they didn't do until later.  The start of 1st grade we came up with an IEP for speech.  That's when we found out that the speech therapist that was working with her twice a week in Kindergarten didn't do anything he was supposed to.  You know, like the required testing at the start of the year and again at the end to see how much progress she made.  He was retiring and basically just used her as a body in the class.

The first year at this school we realized this was what the kids needed.  Warrior was able to break off into a group and work at his pace instead of the pace of the class as a whole.  By 6th grade he was in a group working out of the 7th grade math book.  When he was in 8th grade he was taking his math class at the high school.  So when he entered high school, he started out with 20 math credits already.

The teachers, speech therapist, and resource teacher have been awesome with Sugar Pea.  Almost immediately they realized there was something going on, and had her tested, which was when she was diagnosed with Auditory Processing Disorder.  She did great in 2nd grade, but then in 3rd grade things changed and she was struggling again.  The teacher and I talked almost every week about what was going on.  Finally in 4th grade we had her tested again and that's when she was diagnosed as having the APD, Visual Processing Disorder, and issues with short term memory.  Meaning memorizing things is very difficult for her.

Finally we knew what was going on and could help her.  She gets the extra help she needs, work is modified (not so many problems, sentences, etc on a page) and her IEP states that she needs to use a Kindle to read because she can blow up the font and easier for her to read something with 20 - 30 words on a page instead of the small font.

When Tin Man had his transplant, everyone was awesome.  The teachers, the administration, the parents, and the students.  I was amazed at all the support we received.  Then when he passed away the support from everyone doubled.  They would come and mow my grass for me.  Brought dinners for us.  And let us know they were there if we needed anything, and most actually meant it.  In the last 10 months I haven't asked for much help, but when I needed it, like fixing all of my screens, they were there to help. 

I am so glad that we had this school community there for us during the worst time in our lives.

Sugar Peas is now in 5th grade and doing great.  She's almost where she needs to be where as this time last year she was working at end of 1st grade level.

Warrior is a freshman in high school, at a public school.  We had the option of putting him in a charter high school, but he liked the health/science program at the public high school better. 

I don't think there is one right way or wrong way as far as schools go.  Public, private, charter, homeschool.  Its what's works for the child that is the right way to go. 

Speech, IEP, and Fighting

Last week I talked with Sugar Pea's principal a little about trying to get Sugar Pea's speech class changed from 1 day a week to 3 days.   She's made huge progress in the last 4 years, but she still has a long way to go. 

Today I had a conference with her teacher.  She was telling me that Sugar Pea will be one of the first ones to raise her hand to answer a question, will raise her hand to participate in a class discussion.  This is great to hear because last year she barely spoke in class.  3rd grade she was a little more open, but last year she wouldn't talk unless she was forced to.

I also filled out the paperwork to request her IEP be moved from March to as soon as possible.

I want to add to it.  There is a new program at the school for ESL (English as a Second Language) kids that the school.  I'd like to get Sugar Pea into it.  Because of the hearing issues when she was a baby and toddler, the speech delay, and the Auditory Processing Disorder, I think this would be great for her.   I've done some research on it and talked to her teacher and a friend of mine about it (she's ESL teacher) and we all agree that this may with her delays in language concepts area.  Especially getting her thoughts down on paper.

That's the only concern the teacher has.  She's doing awesome with her reading assessments.  This latest one that was done last week she scored a 92% on the 5th grade level assessment.  95% is proficient.  So being 3% away from that is awesome compared to where she was this time last year.  I'm so proud of her!!!

Her latest math assessment she scored a 89%.  It covers everything they've learned so far this year.  


I can remember when I was young and hated parent/teacher conferences because I was always afraid to find out what the teacher was going to tell my mom.

Up until this year I've been afraid of the conferences about Sugar Pea because they always focus on the delays and the problems and never really talk about the good part.  Her teacher last year, made her out to be this horrible student, didn't know anything, couldn't read, and pretty much a lost cause.

So to finally have a great conference, one that made me come out with a smile on my face was great.  Especially with everything that's been going on in our lives this year.  To know that even with all that and the roller coaster of emotions we've been on, that Sugar Pea is still giving it her all, and now that we know how to really help her its starting to all pay off.

Insanely Proud Mama!

When Sugar Pea was in 1st grade she was diagnosed with an Auditory Processing Disorder.  Imagine Dyslexia for the ears.  She had a hard time with verbal directions, and needed to see examples of things she was supposed to do. 

After she was diagnosed and we focused her IEP on this and her speech delay, things should have gotten better for her.

They didn't. 

2nd grade wasn't bad, but the teacher did a lot of the assessments orally, so she did really good.

Then 3rd grade came around and things started to get harder and she started struggling again.

By the end of 3rd grade she was behind, but not enough to qualify for extra resources through the district.  Because, you know, they wait until they are so far behind there's no hope in catching up.

4th grade comes around and things totally change.  The class had 2 teachers last year.  Monday and Wednesday was English and Social studies with one teacher and Tuesday and Thursday were Math and Science with another teacher.  So the class as a whole fell behind.  Sugar Pea even farther behind.  This was both good and bad.  Bad because she was so far behind the rest of the class, but good because she finally qualified for extra testing and resources through the district.

Down side to all this is the district took their sweet time testing her, and while I demanded it almost daily, that got pushed aside when Tin Man got his new heart.

It wasn't until the last week in May, the week before school was out, that we sat down and had the "official" meeting.  All the tests showed that not only does she have the APD, but she also has a Visual Processing Disorder.  Meaning to much information on a page gets jumbled up in her brain and she has a hard time deciphering what's supposed to go with what.  She also has problems with short term memory.  Her long term memory is great, but she has a problem retaining things that she reads, or memorizing things, like math facts or spelling words.

This makes reading extremely hard.  Not to mention math almost impossible.  Imagine trying to do a page of math when you're not sure what numbers go with what.

One of the things that was given to me during the meeting was a packet of information on VPD.  I read that thing front to back about 5 times.  One of the main things that it says, is kids with VPD need larger print.  Larger print and less information on a page.  Bring in the Kindle.  We were able to increase the size of the print and almost instantly I could see a difference in her reading. 

Math has been a little trickier.  I've had to get creative on how to make it easier for her.  In stead of focusing on 10 math facts at a time we have to focus on 2 a day.  Once she has those down pack, then we move on to the next 2.  This takes so much longer, but she's not nearly as frustrated as she was.

Also 1 problem per page and she does great.  But put in 30 problems on a page and everything starts to swim together.  I ended up stapling several index cards together with a square cut out of one of them.  She puts this square over the problem she's doing and it covers up the rest of the page.  She was embarrassed to use it at first, but once she realized that it made everything much easier, she decided not to fight me on it.

At the beginning of the year I sat down with the teacher, resource teacher, speech teacher, and the principal and we went over everything I had found over the summer and what did and didn't work for Sugar Pea.  We then came up with a more detailed IEP that included giving her more time, and a quiet space to work if she needs it.  Also adding the use of a Kindle to the IEP so there would be no room for complaining by others about her using it. I also brought her index card thing and explained the difference in her ability to do a page of math using it and without using it.  We decided that the teacher would do her initial assessment without it and then redo it a few days later with it and compare the differences. 

Yesterday when I picked her up her teacher asked if I had a minute to talk.  Instantly I had this moment of dread that I was going to be given the lecture that Sugar Pea is "this" far behind and the teacher doesn't want to deal with it.  I got this a lot last year. 

So needless to say I was in total shock when she told me that she did a reading and math assessment on her yesterday and she's testing at middle of 4th grade reading level. (end of 4th grade she tested at beginning/middle of 1st grade level) and she's right on track with math!!

You have no idea how thrilled I was to hear this!  We spent a lot of time this summer working on trying to get her as close as possible to grade level.  I knew I wouldn't be able to get her to grade level, and I knew she was doing really well but I had no idea that the little things we changed had worked so well for her.

We have another IEP meeting next month to go over how she's doing since the beginning of the school year.  The teacher will give her a more in depth assessment on reading and math and then we'll go from there.

I couldn't wait to tell Sugar Pea the great news.  I decided this called for a special trip to Yogurtland (I'm like a kid when it comes to Yorgurtland) to give her the good news and a special treat.

I'm so proud of her and all the hard work she's put in the last few months.

1st Day of School and Learning Disabilities

Warrior started school last Monday.  I can't believe I have a high schooler already!  Doesn't seem like that long ago that he was walking into the school for his first day of Kindergarten.

His first week went great.  They are on a block schedule so its going to take some time getting used to, but he's really enjoying.  So far.  We'll see if he feels the same in a month.

Sugar Pea started 5th grade today.  This just doesn't seem possible.  I feel like I missed some years somewhere.

This year is going to be different for her.  In 1st grade she was diagnosed with an Auditory Processing Disorder.  The audiologist explained it to me as dyslexia for the ears.  She hears everything we say, but it gets jumbled up.  So instead of saying.  "Put the milk on the counter."  She would hear something like "Put the counter milk on the."

She also has a really hard time if there is any background noise.  She's told me a few times that its like everything is so loud in her head that her brain feels like its going to explode.  

This explained a lot, and we found ways to help her.  Teachers use microphones.  Eliminate as much background noise as possible.  At home homework time is TV/radio off.

This just didn't seem to be working as much as we had hoped.  In 3rd grade, the teacher and I realized there was something wrong.  Jazzy could answer the questions orally, but she had a hard time putting the answers down on paper.

Her speech teacher and I decided to hold off on testing until we got her state testing scores back   That would give us a better idea of her strengths and weaknesses.

Then the beginning of 4th grade her teachers told us that she was doing really good and they had no concerns.  A month later at parent/teacher conferences they had nothing good to say.  Her speech teacher and I decided it was time for me to demand to have her tested.

So finally she was tested, and then everything with Tin Man happened and it wasn't until the last week of school that we finally got to sit down and talk.

She was diagnosed with a Visual Processing Disorder on top of the auditory.  This means that to much information on a page gets jumbled up in her head and she had problems deciphering what goes where on the page.

Reading books with small print is hard for her.  I bought her a Kindle and she's able to enlarge the print and now reading is much easier for her.  Same with math.  If she can work on 1 math problem at a time, its easier than trying to work on a page with 20 problems on it.

We're still trying to figure out how to modify the math at school, but the teacher agreed to letting her use the Kindle to read.

If you have any info or websites that would be useful, please message me at everydaymorning@gmail.com or leave a comment.  I'd be forever grateful.

Warrior's Graduation

Thursday Warrior graduated from 8th grade.  It was a very hard day for all of us.

The day did not start out good.  The social worker from Stanford called wanting to know if I was able to go up that morning to sit down with the surgeon to get the autopsy results.  I told her Robbie was graduating that afternoon and I refused to ruin  the day.  So I have to wait until Monday to find out when everyone is available to sit down and talk.

Then Warrior's plans for after school were changed, which he made sure everyone knew he was not happy about it.  Thankfully after he found out what the surprise was, he was calm and enjoyed himself.  Some parents in the class got a limo for all the boys.  They rode around town in it, and had a pre graduation party in it.  Thankfully that was what Warrior needed to calm down and relax and enjoy the rest of the night.

Graduation was great.  I cried throughout it because Tin Man wasn't there with us and we had an empty seat in our row which was a huge reminder.  There was a memorial tribute to the 3 parents that have died over the last 6 years from that class.  Which was very sweet, but hard to see Tin Man on it.

Overall graduation was really nice.  The teachers talked to each of the kids (only 28 of them) and what they enjoyed the most about each of them.  Then the kids got up and thanked the parents for supporting them through their school years.

Warrior's speech was something like "I want to thank my mom and everyone else for buying me things, being there for me, but especially all the support they've given me in the last few months.  I love you guys!"  He said he felt bad that he didn't mention his dad, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do it without crying.  I told him it was ok, and that dad was there with us and he was so very proud of him.

The thought of summer vacation scares me.  I'm not emotionally or mentally ready for this.

Window Long Division

Sugar Peas has been struggling this year in math. 

Sitting at the table working with her just wasn't working, for either of us.  So I decided to try something different.

I found out dry erase markers and had her do them on the window.  I taped paper to the outside of the window so it was easier for her to see. 

She loved it and we went through 10 problems in about 20 minutes.

 Even Warrior wanted to get in on the fun.

Math Facts Practice

My 2 kids are complete opposites when it comes to school. Warrior has always found school very easy, but Sugar Pea has struggled from the beginning.

Warrior has always been at the head of the class. At our old school in LA, he was constantly in trouble because he would be the first one finished and would then look for ways to entertain himself. I went out and bought a bunch of workbooks for him to work on during these times, but his teacher would never give them to him. Always said she was to busy to hand them out to him. BUT she was never to busy to call me and complain that he was disrupting class again.

We moved just before he started 5th grade. This school has been awesome for him. Right away his 5th grade teacher realized that he needed more challenging work, and she would set him off to the side with something else to work on when he finished class work. Once he started 6th grade, he was put into 7th grade math. This year as an 8th grader, he's taking his math class at the high school.

This school has been really great for Sugar Pea too. She started this school in 1st grade. That's when we found out she has an auditory processing disorder. The easy way to explain it is its like dyslexia for the ears. Things she hears get jumbled up and makes it harder for her to understand verbal directions.

Had she been tested in Kindergarten, we would have had ahead start on dealing with it. She was in a speech class at the old school, and I even went and talked to the teacher once a month and sat in on a few classes. However I didn't find out until after we moved up here that he never really did anything with her. He used her as a body in his class, but never did any of the required testing. It was his last year before he retired and he just didn't care.

So in the last 3 years we've been working on her speech along with finding ways to make class time easier for her to understand. She's come a very very long way in such a short time. We still have a long way to go.

She also has a problem getting things from her head to the paper. She knows what she wants to say, but it doesn't always come out like that on paper. She is to the point that she knows this is happening and gets frustrated and shuts down.

So we've been trying to work on these things at home as well as school. Right now we are working on her being able to say her math facts in a pinch. Meaning less than 5 seconds. If she has enough time to think she knows them, but we need to get them down so she can just say them without having to think.

The Math Worksheet Site is one of my favorite websites for printing up worksheets.  We've been working on timed tests.  Each day Sugar Pea will take 2 timed tests.  One after school and one before bed.  Last night she decided she wanted to chart her progress so she can see how well she's doing.  Which I think is an excellent idea.

The timed test she takes right after school, then problems she misses or has to skip, she has to write 10 times each.  Like -
                           9 x 7 = 63  7 x 9 = 63
                           9 x 7 = 63  7 x 9 = 63
                           9 x 7 = 63  7 x 9 = 63
                           9 x 7 = 63  7 x 9 = 63
                           9 x 7 = 63  7 x 9 = 63

Some people think this is a little much, but we've learned that with certain things that she learns better if she can see it and write it.

She also likes playing multiplication bingo with her brother.  Especially when she wins.

Do you have any tips on learning math facts?  I'd love to hear them!