The end.......

... of school for Danny. He was done on June 7th. Because he is 6, he has to start Kindergarten next year. They were going to place him in one of the 3 Kindergarten classes in our school district. We were very uncomfortable with this for many reasons. One, we knew he would get bullied and picked on. His Pediatrician was against the idea of putting him in Public school for this reason. two, we figure that he is going to get labeled as a problem child or troubled and get left far behind and have to do Kindergarten over again. Three, he would be going from a 12 student class, with three to four teachers/aides/therapists to a class of 30 with only one teacher and, if necessary, an aide. Also, he would go from two and a half hour days 4 days a week to 6-7 hours a day 5 days a week. WAY TOO MUCH FOR DANNY TO ADJUST TO ALL AT ONCE!!!! Alot of Danny's therapy circles around social language skills but I have also read recently that kids with Autism can't be "socialized" in large groups of peers of similar age. Daniel has Sensory Integration Disorder and his hearing is ultra sensitive. Can you imagine putting him on a playground, or in a gym with all those children and expect him to act normal? NOT!!! So after doing a lot of talking with family and friends, we have decided to try homeschooling Daniel next year. Because of the program we are going to use, we will be able to start Kali in Kindergarten as well. this will help Danny in that he will have a typically learning child to copy when he needs help and he will be able to help Kali in learning her letters and numbers and things he already knows. Now this means a lot of work for me so I am really scared and nervous but i keep coming across people or articles who are just confirming for me that this is the right decision. The program we will be going through is a program run by the Ohio Public School system and is tuition free. they supply a computer and Internet access. They also give us money for school supplies and can supply Daniel with the Speech therapy and Occupational therapy that he will need. We are also hoping that we can get Danny and Kali into some kind of organized sport or activity like karate or gymnastics. This would count as the Physical Education part of school. please pray for us as we start the process and get things moving.
For the summer, I am hoping to keep the kids very busy. My sister in law has asked if she could have the kids 2 mornings a week throughout the summer in order to work on school things with them. Kind of like preschool. i would also like to find a lot of places to visit, that are free or inexpensive and people to visit that aren't too far away. I am not a person who enjoys the heat of summer but I don't want my kids staying inside watching TV all day either. they badly need to have the time to run outdoors and get some exercise. If you are interested in having a play date with us, give me a call. If you have some ideas of what we can do for fun cheap activities, please let me know.
This past weekend, I went to my mom's for an overnight with the kids. The purpose was to pick up two school desks that she had in her garage that she wanted to get rid of. I thought that my sister in law might like them for her"summer school" and then we can take them back when school starts or leave them there, depending on where we are living and if we have room. Anyway, we left on Friday and got a chance to swim in a friends pool. Friday evening we had bad storms. Saturday was beautiful, if not a little chilly. Mom and I get the desks in to the van and then decided to finish clearing out the garage so that she can park her car inside. We moved things around and put a lot of stuff in the trash. She was thrilled when we were done but a little teary. She and dad loved to get big projects like that done and doing it together was always fun for them. She missed him. Saturday afternoon, we ran up to Mom's church to look at her new Sunday School classroom that she had been working on redecorating and then we stopped at a birthday party for a friend. The kids and I stayed for about an hour and then headed up to my sister in laws to drop off the desks and some preschool supplies that Mom had leftover from her tutoring days. Beth was thrilled to get them. While we were there, the kids planted some flowers that they had picked out earlier in the week. Once those were planted, we headed home where Doug was starting dinner for me. The kids had eaten at the birthday party. We got home and I got the kids settled in front of a video and I ran up the street to visit a few friends who were having their own birthday party. I chatted for 20 minutes and then came home to eat with Doug.
Today was a busy day too. Sundays are usually stressful but today was different. We got up and went to church but after church we went to the home of our Associate Pastor who was hosting the college kids for lunch and some spiritual discussion. then we all were outside doing different things. My kids played with the Pastor's daughter and the guys were playing catch with a couple footballs and a Frisbee. I jumped in and played for a little while too. We stayed all afternoon and left for the evening service. When the service was over, there was a fellowship fro a family that was leaving. I am tired but I need to get Doug's work clothes washed so he has smocks to wear tomorrow for work. As soon as I put them in the dryer, I will go to bed. come to think of it, I am not sure that this Sunday was as stressful as usual. I really enjoyed visiting with Jess, the pastor's wife and Krystal, the only female college student. I wish people would be more open to visiting on Sunday afternoons like they used to when I was little. it seems like my family always had someone over or we were always at someone else's house.
I hope this has updated you some. I know I don't write nearly as often as I should. Hopefully, with a busy summer, I will have a lot more to write about more often. Catch you all later!