Back To School

Today is Kyle's first day of his Junior year of High School.  Summer went by extremely fast this year!

Now we are back to working with the tutor a few nights a week, staying on top of homework, and now he has a job to work into that equation.  My blood pressure rose a few notches this morning when the alarm went off!

Kyle was up and speaking in complete sentences when I went in to his room this morning.  He almost seemed excited to get back.  I know by Thursday that feeling will have faded, but it was nice to have today!

Failure and Success

Due to a momentarily lapse in all common sense, as well as there possibly being a temporary loss of brain function, Kyle did something the last day of school before Christmas break that was nothing short of stupid! This stupid act caused him to be suspended for the first week back to school after Christmas break. (Yeah, his punishment was 3 weeks off of school instead of 2. As you can imagine he was devastated.)

Anyway, his punishment at home was that he lost all electrical devices for the first week of Christmas break, no t.v, no IPOD, no computer, no Playstation. And, if we went somewhere he had to go along with us. Even if I just ran to the grocery store, Kyle came along.  This did not settle well with my 15 year old.  There were no complaints though, as I think he knew he was lucky that his punishment wasn't worse.  (one of these days I will have to post about taking his door off the hinges to his room.)

The second part of his punishment was that he had to work for our company for 3 weeks with NO pay. Because, I now had to pay the tutor double time since Kyle already struggled with school and now he wouldn't be there.  For those of you who haven't had a chance to read previous posts about our struggle with Kyle and school, take my word for it, it has been awful.

We finally found a tutor that Kyle enjoys working with and keeps him concentrated through the one to two hour sessions twice a week. Richie (the tutor) started working with Kyle in December. I wish I had known Richie for the past few years instead of just a month. The difference in Kyle's homework and test grades has been just below miraculous!

Kyle took his Semester exams last week.  HE PASSED EVERY SINGLE ONE! 

The look on Kyle's face when he realized he even passed his math exam was priceless. 

So, we worked through a failure and a lot of successes this past month.  Failure in common sense, but a huge success in realizing consequences to those failures.  As well as success in realizing that if you truly work hard towards something you can achieve it!

High School

I don't remember having as many days off or as many half days as my son has currently in High School. 

Here is his schedule for this week:

Monday off for MLK
Tuesday full day
Wednesday half day
Thursday half day
Friday off for Teacher In Service Day

It is exam week, so they complete their exams and pretty much go home.  It would be nice if they offered study halls so that the kids could study for their exams the following day.  Kyle's brain shuts off the minute he walks out of school.

Keep your fingers crossed for Kyle and his exams.  He has been working closely with a tutor since the week of Christmas, wish I had found the tutor back in August!  We again are playing catch up due to the fact that Kyle returned to school a week later than anyone else after the Christmas break.  Long story that just really shouldn't be posted here!

I need to go grab my second cup of coffee and get Kyle up for his only full day of school this week!

Still Sick

Kyle is still at home.  His jaw is bothering him, which is a good sign the infection had spread before we caught it.  School has been contacted and his teachers are all willing to give him another week to complete his work, since doing work right now isn't happening.

On top of all of that, Kyle has most likely lost out on a trip to North Carolina.  He was going to miss school next Friday and leave Thursday night with his Dad.  He is upset, but doesn't want to risk the pressure in his ears from being in the mountains.  Plus, he really can't miss another day of school at this point.

We return to the doctor on Tuesday.  Hopefully the swelling will be down so that they can get a clear look in his ear and tell us what is going on.  The doctor telling him there is a possibility of him losing his hearing in that ear has bothered him.

So, keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

Back To School

I took this photo from my cell phone after dropping Kyle off for his first day of his sophomore year.  It was nasty yesterday.  We received almost 5 inches of rain.  Nice day to send the kiddies back to school!

Kyle has always struggled in school.  It is a known fact.  Known to me, Kyle, his grandparents, the guidance counselors and so on.  I dread the beginning of the year because I know I have to work just as hard as Kyle does. 

Last year was especially tough.  It ended with me meeting with the child study team, guidance counselors and I believe the assistant principal trying to establish a plan for Kyle.  I thought we had a plan for this year. 

Hence the word, thought!

He came home yesterday with his paperwork.  He is in a freshman homeroom, but taking sophomore classes.  Even though there were a few classes he didn't pass last year.  For example, he failed Algebra.  But, he is taking Geometry this year! 

So, I went to school with Kyle this morning.  You stand out in the sea of teenagers all trying to meet with a guidance counselor because their schedules are wrong also.  The lady at the front desk picked me out of the crowd in a heart beat.  And it is not because I'm taller than all of these kids.  Kyle alone is a good 7 inches taller than I am. 

I did receive some answers that I hope turn out to be true by the end of the week.  He should be settled and in the correct classes by then.  Now, all that is left is finding a good tutor for him for the year. 

Is it Christmas break yet?