An Interesting Discovery

Transition

We had Asher's Transition meeting with the school system the other day.  The lady who typically runs it was out, so another person stepped in.  We went over our rights, which Chad and I are already both familiar with due to our teaching backgrounds.  Then we talked about specific questions related to Asher.

One of the main ones I've had is where he would be going to school.  We literally live right on a zoning line.  The school we're zoned to (St. B) doesn't have a special needs preschool classroom, so all kids zoned there go to Rossview.  I prefer for Asher to go to the elementary school that's right around the corner, Glenellen.  It's MUCH closer to us than Rossview is, and I'm going to be driving him anyway.  It's looking like it will be possible through Chad's contract, which states:

Teachers may enroll children for whom they are legal guardian in the
school nearest to their respective schools of employment, subject to
the following conditions: The teacher will submit a written plan for
having the child dropped off and picked up at the appropriate times.
This report will be submitted to the principal of the school where
the child is enrolled at the time of enrollment for his or her approval.
No child will be left unattended; and no school employee will assume
responsibility for teacher's child either before or after school. The
principal of the school in which the teacher wishes to enroll the child
will be the approving authority for enrollment. Principals will be
held responsible for enforcing the provision at their respective
schools.
Article XXVI, Memorandum of Agreement, section D (emphasis added)

The closest school to Chad's place of employment is Northeast, which doesn't have a special needs preschool.  The next closest is Hazelwood - also no SN preschool.  The NEXT closest is - you guessed it - Glenellen.
So we shall see.
p.s. a friend pointed out the other day that Glenellen's mascot is a Turtle... how perfect is that!?  Slow and steady wins the race!

Elmo... with a twist

http://www.youtube.com/v/0bMzhgdp5hM&hl=en_US&fs=1

First Bible Study

One thing that is important to us around here is our relationship with God.  Not only is it important... it's the most important aspect of our lives.  As Christian parents, one of our prime responsibilities to Asher is to nurture his own spiritual life.  I realize that it's not quite PC in the age of moral relativism and universal spirituality to take that approach, but it's our view nonetheless.  Asher will, of course, ultimately have to come into that relationship on his own, but we can help to lay the foundation.

I found this devotional Bible the other day and ordered it off of Amazon using some of our Coinstar gift card (did you know that a jar of spare change can add up to $130?  I didn't either!).

I really liked it because there are questions in the margin of each page to encourage active reading, which is so fundamental.  We live in the South - we know all about going to church and believing in God because... well... that's what you do.  We don't want that for Asher.  We want him to develop a genuine desire to learn about God and to grow in a relationship with Christ.  At the end of each story there's a section called Think Pray Live - the applicational part that asks kids to think about what they've read, pray about the topic/issue at hand, and practical ways to live out that principle in their lives.

Needless to say, I really fell in love with it, and I think it's a great choice for Asher's first "big boy" Bible.

Today when we were at Books-a-Million, I came across a companion book called The My First Message Bible Search: Discovering Answers in God's Word.


I almost didn't pick it up because I saw "Bible Search" and pictured a word search book with a Bible theme.  I'm glad I took a glance!  It's actually a Bible study that goes along with Asher's new Bible.  It addresses real life issues for young kids ("When I Don't Want to Go to Bed," "When I Always Want to Get My Way," etc) in a biblical context and breaks it down into little pieces.  It's a perfect resource for early Bible lessons.  Asher is still too young for it right now, but that's okay.  I'm happy to have it waiting in the wings.  To be honest, there are probably plenty of nuggets of truth that I could use for my own life!
Here's a sample of one of the studies if you're interested:

Check out this tall dude!

Gotta love seeing years of therapy paying off!

discipline vs. exploring

As you can see, Asher is mastering the art of "getting into crap."  In fact, he's so good at it that he can actually scoot his roundabout (the thing he's sitting in here... not just the seat, but the ENTIRE thing) all the way from the couch to the entertainment center just so he can grab at stuff and... well... make a mess.
He pulls the baskets he can reach out of the storage cube, then he proceeds to grab each of the DVDs/Wii games, examine them, and then toss them down.

Don't worry - we don't intend to let our Kini run rampant for the rest of his life.  There will come a time when we teach him what is and is not okay to touch.  But for now, this is such great learning for him.  He can't move freely and independently yet, so he's limited on what he can "get into."  I'm not going to deny him the opportunity to learn and explore.  Yes, for now it's lots of stuff to pick up and put away when he's done (ahhhhh!  Type A!), but I can live with that.  :)

not really a hiatus

Just enjoying the summer... in the meantime, happy 4th of July!