Summer Goals

Since I am only taking 7 credits worth of class over the summer, I find that I am getting excited about the ideas that I have in my head for Alex over this summer. I am trying to find a good speech therapy program for him to get into, and find that this is probably the most difficult of all of my tasks that I would like to accomplish because of grown up things like insurance and just not being rich enough to pay for some of the services that I have been finding. I was lead to Chileda, that cannot help Alex until he is 6 years old, and they pointed me back to Gundersen, who told me to try a place called "Partners in Excellence", who were really excited about Alex, but then my dreams were crushed when I found out that our insurance would not cover them. So back to Gundersen I went, and hopefully one of the speech therapists can find a spot for him for the summer. Meanwhile, he will still be in touch with his school through a play group that his teacher, Mrs. Adam, and his aid, Mrs. G, will be having. He will then continue to be familiar with his surroundings so that his transition back into the school year will not be as rough.

As for at home, I have a few things planned. When I went to Alex's classroom, I noticed something that I would like to have here at home: An organizer that hangs on the wall, so Alex can just have everything he needs at his little fingertips. I bought him flashcards, three work books, and he already has the right size table and chairs so that he can sit comfortably when he learns. His room is going to be changing too. I am buying him a solar system for his ceiling, complete with glow in the dark stars, and all of the toys that he doesn't play with are going out the door. I want to rearrange his furniture to maximize the space he has in there, and find him a rug with something like the countries of the world on it, or letters and numbers... or something like that, so he has to look at. Also, I have to find him a better bookshelf because the one he has in his room now is falling apart, because I really don't think that it was designed to hold so many books and deal with the abuse of a 4 year old.

Lastly, I am looking at the tools that Leap Frog has to offer. Specifically: the LeapFrog Tag, which is a pen that can read books to him, since he hates having me read books to him most of the time. I also have been looking at the learning games they have, but I might hold off on them until I know whether he likes the pen thing or not.

I have lofty goals this summer, but considering all of my classes are online and I will not be at work all the time, I hope that Alex and I can continue his progress over the summer. I am getting him a bike so we can go outside. I really am excited about the free time that I have coming, because now I can direct it toward Alex and his needs, rather than the countless hours of homework that takes up so much of my time during the semesters.