Strategies ....

Boy Wonder didn't sleep too well Wednesday night but instead read books into the early hours.  After a couple of hours rest he got up for school. Regardless of the lack of sleep he was still very lively on waking and and very difficult to co ordinate.

Eventually we left to go to school. It was drizzly and horrible so we went straight in and they joined the exercise to music group. The bell went and after they had gone to class I left for work.

The school day was reported to be okay but I later found out that Boy Wonder had been involved in a further confrontation after telling someone to shut up. This was advice that Superman had given him but he got it a bit wrong! Superman had in fact said ' if the person doesn't shut up, walk away.' Boy Wonder misinterpreted this and thought that he had to tell the person to shut up. We need to work on retraining this strategy now!

After some initial anxiety over the confrontation, Boy Wonder had a fairly settled evening, even scoring a goal at football.  As a result of the exercise and the lack of sleep the previous night, Boy Wonder had a more settled night.

This morning after the usual school morning madness, the children went to breakfast club whilst I met with Boy Wonder's teacher to review his IEP. We established that Boy Wonder doesn't require any support hours for  his actual learning needs and although he may need them for his social and emotional needs, this is not the question that is being asked of the teacher. I explained that the Note in Lieu was about his social and emotional needs not his learning so it is that, that should be reviewed  when considering hours.

The teacher then went on to explain that he is not learning as much as he is capable of as he misses quite a bit of lesson time due to sensory breaks, time out and therapies.  (So there is a learning need.) Finally we agreed that being more direct when speaking with Boy Wonder rather than pussy footing around him creating ambiguity, is the better way. I have been attempting to get this into the IEP for a while as when they speak with Boy Wonder about a matter, very often he misses the point and then doesn't respond with anything. Their concern was that by being too direct would upset him and because he doesn't like school anyway, it would put him off further. I explained that Boy Wonder doesn't think like that and would prefer to know exactly what is being asked of him rather than the social niceties. Furthermore he would probably learn to like school more if he establishes an outlet for his anxiety.

It was the school Easter fayre after school. Boy Wonder was very excited and came bounding into the hall to look for our cake entry competition. Cat Girl followed shortly after and immediately found her picture that was also in a competition. Neither won a prize as there were a lot of reception class entries and just the one winner ( and some fabulous entries) and I set up the cake competition and co ordinated the judges so couldn't really win anyway. However, someone bought it and I am sure will be indulging on chocolate overload tonight!

Superman arrived at the fayre after work and supervised the children whilst I helped out. Boy Wonder became quite unsettled towards the end and got into a couple of scrapes whilst playing. He then went on to throw himself on the floor, hide and generally become unsettled. We helped to tidy up after and then left for home.

This evening I spoke with Boy Wonder about his anger and hitting out. We established that he does feel in control of himself when he hits out but he is doing it to get the other person away from him and because he wants to show them that he is angry. He also stated that other children hit out so it must be okay. A bit of work to do over the weekend I think !

Boy Wonder and Cat Girl had their dose of Minecraft before settling down for bed. A busy weekend ahead of parties and weddings!!