Proud Polygon Parents

Thomas was selected as a Proud Panther at WA Porter Elementary, his oral preschool, because he shows the virtue of honesty. Here is what his AWESOME teacher wrote about our little man...

"Thomas Golden demonstrates the virtue of honestly each and every day. He is very reliable; and when he commits to something he always follows through. You can count on him to be truthful in all situations and does this by using his big voice and listening to others. Thomas is kind and caring and is always fair to those around him."

Thomas had a great time this morning receiving his award during the Proud Panther ceremony. He received his award from the school counselor and got his picture taken with "Honest Owl" and the other award recipients.












On another "P" word note, Thomas got home from his oral preschool on Wednesday and was proud to show me what a polygon is and what attributes make it such a shape. Here is a quick picture of what his teacher sent home so I could understand the lesson and ask Thomas more questions about the day. Really at four years old he knows what a polygon is? I had to look it up quickly on the Internet to make sure that I asked him appropriate questions. :-)



Proud Panther + Polygon = Proud Polygon Parents

Awesome Teacher!

I was in the throws of my long to-do list in an effort to get the house ready to go on the market when I got a call from Thomas' new mainstream preschool teacher. My heart sank a little because I thought that something was wrong, maybe that Thomas hasn't been performing well during class. I took a deep breath and we began our quick conversation.

I guess because she knew that I would probably expect to hear something negative, the first words out of her mouth were "Thomas is such a joy. I really love having him in my class. He's just wonderful. I'm not calling you to say that anything is wrong." My heart came back up to regular level. She went on to say that she was just thinking about the end of the year school performance when Thomas' class will sing four songs in English and one song in Spanish. She wanted to simply call me to discuss how to make sure that Thomas has a great performance and feels comfortable with the music.

Really? A teacher was calling me way-way in advance of a performance to make sure that she and the music teacher do everything they can so that Thomas is successful? Really? Why was I for a second considering keeping him in his former mainstream preschool? Is this teacher for real?

Yep, she is an awesome teacher. She is going to give me a CD with the music and copies of all the lyrics in the next couple of weeks so Thomas and I can begin to sing them here at the house. I reassured her that Thomas isn't shy when it comes to performances. In fact, he is quite the ham. She laughed and said that she had no doubt that he loved to perform. She was just thinking about him at school and wanted to call me to discuss the performance.

What an awesome, awesome teacher!

It's Official: We're Moving

I've been putting off writing about this for several weeks now. I guess because I feel that if I write it here then it is OFFICIAL. And so it is...we're moving...just about 10 minutes away but, we still have to do all the "moving stuff" that drives my husband crazy. Cleaning out, staging, getting things around the house fixed that we have been living with because we could, until now. In fact as I type this post, I have a plumber in the house fixing a few bathroom issues (no poop jokes please:-).

You know, I always thought that we would make the decision to move based on Thomas' needs. I never thought that Sidney would actually be the driving force behind our decision. Well, Sidney will be entering 5th grade next year (sigh!) and is zoned to attend a "technology-driven/experimental" junior high. Just the word "experimental" when it comes to my children gives me the heebie-jeebies.

There are two reasons for Sidney that this school is wrong for her. Hence, our move. First, fourth grade has been somewhat of a struggle for her, math and writing specifically. She needs more help than the mythical typical child. We don't think that this new environment would help her, quite the opposite. She needs the structure of a traditional classroom. Second, I honestly think that there is a HUGE difference between a 5th grader and an 8th grader. Sidney is sweet, shy (at times) and tender-hearted. I think that 8th graders would eat her for lunch!

I know that I may sound like the over-protective mother. I accept that fact and embrace the knowledge that I only have 10 more years of her in our house and under my wing. I think that this is the best choice for her...my mama gut tells me so.

We are also considering Thomas' educational future as we make this move. Our school district advocate sent me a list of Keller elementary schools that have experience and SUCCESS with oral hearing impaired/deaf kiddos. So, this list helps us narrow down the search for a house, too. Also, I'd like for Thomas to be further away from the bus barn and closer to his current oral preschool, simply to reduce the busing time for him.

So please, keep us in your prayers as we try to sell our house in a down market, buy a house in the right area for the kids (with a pool) and keep our marriage together because my husband strongly dislikes this whole process and change in general. If you know of anyone looking for a house in west Keller, please give me their name/number. We should officially be on the market in early- to mid-March. Hoping to be off the market in late-March (haha -- I know that I need to be more realistic!).