Friday, November 11, 2005
Fire Department Open House
Daan took one long and careful look at this thing and declined to try it, so he's not in the picture.
Big Softy
Somebody around here has been grousing and fussing and has most strenuously stated that I am not to be getting all extravagant with the toy buying and spil my children rotten.
And somebody also drove sixty miles in rush hour traffic to buy a certain pair of boys a collection of Yu Gi Oh cards, which they are presently insane for.
But I'm not naming names, oh no.
Big Softy.
And somebody also drove sixty miles in rush hour traffic to buy a certain pair of boys a collection of Yu Gi Oh cards, which they are presently insane for.
But I'm not naming names, oh no.
Big Softy.
And in other news
Daan now demands to go to school every day. He cannot go to school every day, nursery here is two days a week. This week I took him with me to Douwe's school where he will go in January. His future teacher tried to get him to come into the class for a bit.
He said: "No, I am three. I am too small to go to school. I will come in January. In January I will be four".
And that was that.
I would like to know what to get him for St. Nicholas and Christmas. He has asked for a motorcycle, and that's all he wants.
Well, other than whatever any other child has in his or her hand, that is.
He said: "No, I am three. I am too small to go to school. I will come in January. In January I will be four".
And that was that.
I would like to know what to get him for St. Nicholas and Christmas. He has asked for a motorcycle, and that's all he wants.
Well, other than whatever any other child has in his or her hand, that is.
This just in
Well, the report is in. Douwe's test result is of an average 6 year old. The report says that he blew the top off of the tests of abstract reasoning, concrete reasoning, and pattern recognition. I mean, he tested at the level of an 8 year old, which is as high as the test goes the way it was administered.
He tested as badly on spatial insight (that's what they call it) as he did well on the other parts -- he tested at a 4 year old level there. So the average of these is 6 years old, and he is therefore an average 6 year old. The gap in scores is noted but is, according to this report, "not significant". (huh?)
In the mean time, we have had his report from his school -- they don't do letter grades, they do this very long report thingie. He is there showing at about a 5 year old level, but they have most strenuously noted that his improvement has been very rapid in the couple of months he has been there. They have....are you ready? Sitting down? They have no behavioral problems with him of any kind. They note that there were some problems in the beginning but that as he has come to trust them the problems have melted away.
Melted away.
I'm so happy I could just wiggle.
The only big problem they now have is that they think he can do more difficult work than he is actually doing (and I am sure of it; he is apparently ignoring all reading/writing related work at school while feverishly demanding to do more and more of it at home. I think he wants to surprise somebody).
The funniest part of his school report is that they have these check box thingies, describing various kinds of behavior and skills. You know, like "takes initiative" and "follows directions" and "runs with scissors". Whatever. Then there are these boxes for "Always" "Sometimes" and "Never".
Every box without exception is checked "sometimes".
Just trying everything out, my kid.
He tested as badly on spatial insight (that's what they call it) as he did well on the other parts -- he tested at a 4 year old level there. So the average of these is 6 years old, and he is therefore an average 6 year old. The gap in scores is noted but is, according to this report, "not significant". (huh?)
In the mean time, we have had his report from his school -- they don't do letter grades, they do this very long report thingie. He is there showing at about a 5 year old level, but they have most strenuously noted that his improvement has been very rapid in the couple of months he has been there. They have....are you ready? Sitting down? They have no behavioral problems with him of any kind. They note that there were some problems in the beginning but that as he has come to trust them the problems have melted away.
Melted away.
I'm so happy I could just wiggle.
The only big problem they now have is that they think he can do more difficult work than he is actually doing (and I am sure of it; he is apparently ignoring all reading/writing related work at school while feverishly demanding to do more and more of it at home. I think he wants to surprise somebody).
The funniest part of his school report is that they have these check box thingies, describing various kinds of behavior and skills. You know, like "takes initiative" and "follows directions" and "runs with scissors". Whatever. Then there are these boxes for "Always" "Sometimes" and "Never".
Every box without exception is checked "sometimes".
Just trying everything out, my kid.
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Testing, Testing....
As the final lap in the apparently interminable process of applying for special ed help for Douwe, he had to have a psychological screening. I have been being the Mommy From Hell about this for some months now. The child, I pointed out, has seen more specialists than you can shake a stick at, a veritable alphabet soup of persons with letters-after-the name has been consulted. Not a single one has ever even considered a psych screening worth the trouble.
This, I was firmly given to understand, makes no difference. Must Be Ruled Out. Well, okay, I gave up, threw in the towel, folded. Red tape has, after all, been raised to a fine art in this particular aspect of life, so I conceded. He was referred to an Audiological Center for testing, as they have some experience with administering such tests to children with speech and language disorders. Okay. Yesterday, off he went with his father to be tested.
Where they explained to Paul that they were not going to give him the psych test. He was to have an intelligence test instead.
Excuse me?
Well, you see, it is a non-verbal intelligence test, so it's all okay.
Come again? This rules out psychological factors exactly how?
Paul did not ask any of these questions as he is not, in fact, the Parent From Hell. He is a most agreeable parent, he figured it would do no harm even though he thinks testing IQ in children this age provides no meaningful information.
*shrug*. So they spent three hours checking to see if Douwe can't talk because he isn't bright enough to learn to talk. Or something.
The report has not come in of course. But apparently we may rest assured that Douwe is a person of at least ordinary intelligence and this is not the reason he talks funny. I know you were all very worried about this possibility.
I am waiting on the report, but there is one rather odd note. Apparently Douwe did rather well on the tests of abstract and concrete reasoning. He also did well on the part where he was to complete puzzles. And he apparently bombed most dramatically on the two sections which test spatial awareness. Paul did not know why this puzzled the nice lady who administered the test so much, but I do. There are advantages to having done special ed for a living, one of which is that you learn a lot about testing of various kinds. (There is also a downside, which is that you can become rather cynical about testing).
She was puzzled because this is impossible. A child who did this badly on those two sections of the test simply cannot have done so well on the puzzles section. I am curious to see, when the report comes in, whether the interpretation part tries to address this impossibility.
In any event, Douwe enjoyed the testing and there were for once absolutely no behavior issues muddying the water. He was completely exhausted when he came home and for the rest of the day. All he had to say further was that he would rather go to school today instead of going back there if that was all right.
This, I was firmly given to understand, makes no difference. Must Be Ruled Out. Well, okay, I gave up, threw in the towel, folded. Red tape has, after all, been raised to a fine art in this particular aspect of life, so I conceded. He was referred to an Audiological Center for testing, as they have some experience with administering such tests to children with speech and language disorders. Okay. Yesterday, off he went with his father to be tested.
Where they explained to Paul that they were not going to give him the psych test. He was to have an intelligence test instead.
Excuse me?
Well, you see, it is a non-verbal intelligence test, so it's all okay.
Come again? This rules out psychological factors exactly how?
Paul did not ask any of these questions as he is not, in fact, the Parent From Hell. He is a most agreeable parent, he figured it would do no harm even though he thinks testing IQ in children this age provides no meaningful information.
*shrug*. So they spent three hours checking to see if Douwe can't talk because he isn't bright enough to learn to talk. Or something.
The report has not come in of course. But apparently we may rest assured that Douwe is a person of at least ordinary intelligence and this is not the reason he talks funny. I know you were all very worried about this possibility.
I am waiting on the report, but there is one rather odd note. Apparently Douwe did rather well on the tests of abstract and concrete reasoning. He also did well on the part where he was to complete puzzles. And he apparently bombed most dramatically on the two sections which test spatial awareness. Paul did not know why this puzzled the nice lady who administered the test so much, but I do. There are advantages to having done special ed for a living, one of which is that you learn a lot about testing of various kinds. (There is also a downside, which is that you can become rather cynical about testing).
She was puzzled because this is impossible. A child who did this badly on those two sections of the test simply cannot have done so well on the puzzles section. I am curious to see, when the report comes in, whether the interpretation part tries to address this impossibility.
In any event, Douwe enjoyed the testing and there were for once absolutely no behavior issues muddying the water. He was completely exhausted when he came home and for the rest of the day. All he had to say further was that he would rather go to school today instead of going back there if that was all right.
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