Friday, April 27, 2012

Ready or not, here he comes!

So Josh went in for 4K screening last week. (I can't believe he's going to be 4!) As I filled out paperwork, a person took him over behind a screen to work with him for about 15 minutes. I could see shadows behind the screen and hear him and could tell that he was not exactly cooperating. When she finished, she walked him to the playroom and I had to wait to talk to the person who was doing the final step before we were finished. The lady called me over and introduced herself as the Early Childhood teacher and explained that Josh had scored 31 out of 100 possible points, well below the cutoff for his age, which was 71 points. The screener, who is a Speech and Language pathologist, wasn't sure if he couldn't do some of the things, or just didn't.

I already knew that he didn't know his colors well, as well as some other things. I didn't want to prep him for the screener - I wanted him to be himself and give them a good picture. But of course, sitting there hearing it, I got teary-eyed. I don't want school to always be a huge struggle and have Josh hate it. Some of the things he "missed" I think depend on the point of view of the screener. For example, he called scissors "cutters". Because he didn't use the correct vocabulary, he was docked a point, even though he obviously knew what they were and what their purpose was. She marked that he didn't know his last name, even though he introduced himself to the registration lady as "Josh Michael Bohlman".

SO - the teacher part of me has to remind the mommy part of me that it's just one test - one snapshot of my kid. I met with the Early Childhood teacher again on Wednesday to sign consent for further evaluation and to go over some things about Josh. Lots of history and what he can/can't do. Today, she visited him at daycare. She spent some time observing him, and worked with him a bit, as well as talked to his teachers. She told them that he has quite a personality.

I'm so proud of him - he is so outgoing and friendly to everyone he meets. I hope that if he needs help, we can figure out how to do it now and get him on the right track so school isn't a terrible place for him. I'll know more in a few weeks - the speech teacher also needs to do some more evaluation on him and then we'll have a meeting to go over results and next steps.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Easter season

I love watching Joshua react to the things about Easter he is able to understand. Of course, he loves hunting eggs, and coloring eggs, and visiting the Easter bunny. We also went to our church's Easter production. He was very curious if that man was really Jesus, and why the other man had the same name as our dog (Simon). Afterward, he was wide-eyed going up to shake Jesus's hand. On the way home, he prayed, "Dear Jesus, please be my best friend. Amen."

Today, we were watching an animated version of the crucifixion and resurrection. It was age appropriate, but when the soldiers were whipping Jesus (off-screen - you could only see the soldiers), I was telling him that the men were hurting Jesus. His eyes got teary and he said, "That's enough, momma. They should stop." After Jesus died, he prayed, "Dear Jesus, please don't stay dead." I get tears in my eyes just writing it. Of course, we cheered and danced when the stone rolled away, and Jesus was alive again. He also wanted to know if Jesus was God and where He was going when he ascended into the sky. He thought it might be scary to do that himself.

His understanding develops more every year, and it's precious to see a heart of love for Jesus growing in my little boy. There are so many things to teach him; but most of all, I want him to know and understand Christ's overwhelming love for him.

(Forgot to mention - the other night, he dumped an entire bowl full of water out of the bathtub on to the floor. When asked why, he said because he wanted me to come in there. He also was in the back seat the other day saying "mama??" When I responded, he said, "wasn't talking to you - was talking to my truck." (Who was evidently the mom in his game.) The next time he said mama, I naturally didn't respond - but now he persisted in saying it, and finally said "Rachel!" to get me to answer him. Sigh....he's getting too smart for me!)