Yesterday the four younger kids and me played hooky in Salt Lake. First we went to the Clark Planetarium and saw a 3D movie about the ocean. Very cool. Olivia even sat, mesmerized, through the whole show, with her kid sized 3D glasses perched on her nose. When it first started, she turned to me and said, very matter of factly, "Mommy, there are fish in my eyes."
She jumped pretty high a few times too, when it looked like a shark was jumping out at her. We spent a goodly amount of time at the gift shop there. We didn't buy anything, but I got some good ideas for Christmas stocking stuffers. To pass on to Santa, of course, who will duplicate those items in his North Pole workshop.
After that, we went up to Memory Grove and then played around at the state capitol for a while, running up and down the marble staircases, ogling at the rotunda and painted ceilings, and having some fun with the echo effects in that very large and spacious building. Looks like yesterday was the last good day, weather wise, we are going to have for a while. We picked the right day to go. It was a successful day, and I hope we can do that a few more times this year. I think sometimes my kids learn more on a day like yesterday than in a whole week of school. And it's good for my mental health to take a day off of everything with my kids.
Today was IEP day for Duncan. Those are always fun. If you are fortunate enough to not know what IEP stands for, it is an Individual Education Plan. Once a year, minimally, parents, teachers, principal, therapists, etc. all get together to talk about your kid in special ed and what their educational goals should be. We have a good school and good teachers, and these meetings are still painful! I always feel inadequate at these meetings. They always ask for parental input on everything, and I never have anything very brilliant to say. Today's was pretty short and sweet, compared to some meetings we have had in other years. His teacher mainly wanted to make sure that we had covered everything he might possibly need, so next year when he gets to high school (gulp), everything should be in place for him. 'Cause if it ain't in the IEP, he ain't gonna get it, at least not until the high school can test him and assess what they think he needs. I can't believe that in less than a year, we will be starting all over at a new school with new teachers, new routines, new ways of thinking.....we have been SO lucky to be at Thomas Edison the past five years, where everybody knows Duncan, and have been so good to work with him in making things work FOR him. Anyhow, to get to my original point: Duncan has a blog now! One of his weaker areas is in writing, and reading comprehension, so he is going to write on his blog every night for a few minutes, on an assigned topic, in the hopes of improving that word flow in his brain. He seems to be able to focus better in front of a computer screen, and this way we can easily keep track of everything he is writing, and his teacher can check on it, and even comment if needed. Pretty ingenious huh? Maybe I am brilliant after all.
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