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Raisie Bay

proud

Word of the Week #5 2019

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Hello and welcome to the home of Word of the Week, a nice and simple weekly linky, with everyone welcome to pop by and share. You reflect back on the past week and sum it up in one word. Then share your word with us in a blog post, with as little or as much explanation as you like.

There are not too many rules with this linky, just remember to read at least another couple of posts in the link up after adding your link. Do try to stick to the theme of summing your week up. I will read and comment on all posts and tweet them out for you. I also have a Pinterest board devoted to Word of the Week and I will add posts to Mix (formerly Stumble.) Please add the badge below to your post so that others may find us and join in. If you comment or tweet then please use the hashtag #WotW

If you are unfamiliar with the Word of the Week linky then please feel free to ask any questions. New linkers are always welcome, we love to hear what you have been up to in the past week.

My Word of the Week

Proud

photograph of person holding a school book and the words 'Parents Evening' at the bottom

Photo by rawpixel on Unsplash

This week we have been to the school twice. Once was for Parents Evening where we talked to the girl’s teachers and discussed their reports.

I am so proud of my girls, every teacher was so happy with them. Not a bad word was said. This means a lot to me as they have both struggled in the past. Star has had difficulties because her illnesses and disabilities mean she has lost a lot of time from school. And poor attendance really does affect their work.

She is year 9 now and since starting year 8 her attendance has really improved and so has her school work. She is really doing well above average in History, and all her other subjects are at the required level or above. Apart from P.E. which is to be expected.

Boo is in year 7, so it’s her first year at the big school. She has had difficulties in the past with keeping up with the work. I hate to say it, but she was a slow learner. It seems, however, that she is finding her pace now and is catching up. She is meeting all her levels in everything but maths. There is still time to improve on that though.

Boo was voted by her class to be on the school council and she has a shiny badge to wear. Her teacher said she did really well in the first council meeting, she showed her voice and took part in it all. I am so proud of her for this, she’s always been popular, but she’s also been pretty shy. Speaking up is a big achievement.

The Second Meeting

I just wanted to mention the meeting we had at the school with Star’s SENDco and the physical disability adviser. It’s so good that the school have a detailed record of her conditions and what she can and cannot do. They arrange for all her needs to be met, and I believe this is why her attendance has improved so much. If she’s not feeling 100 percent she knows she will get the help she needs, so she will go to school anyway. I was concerned that she spent too much time in the SEN department, but, as her report showed, she’s obviously still keeping up with her work.

I’m proud of the effort that Star makes to attend school as well as her grades.

Footnote: I’m not ignoring my Little Man, his school parents evening is not until next month as they are moving into a new school building at half term. I’m sure I’ll be proud of him too (fingers tightly crossed!)      

Now it’s your turn, what have you been up to this week?

Raisie Bay



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The Little Man Shines

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Warining: This is a proud mummy post!

When my Little Man was a baby I was very worried about him. The only time he was happy was when he was lying flat across my lap. He was slow in reaching all his milestones, sitting, crawling (which he never managed to do, he was a bottom shuffler) walking and talking. He did not take his first steps until he was twenty two months old, and he still only babbled a couple of words by then.

He was slow and I was worried. Because of him not reaching his milestones he was offered a place at a preschool at just two years old. It was for two and a half days a week. I didn’t want him to go, he seemed too young, but I’m so glad I did. Suddenly he was catchng up to other children his age. He went from toddling just a few steps to walking, running and jumping in no time at all. His vocabulary increased and he became much happier.

He is now at nursery school. Ironically he does less hours than he did at pre-school, but he’s still coming along wonderfully. Even though he was often a little demon at home, at nursery he became a well behaved little man. He loves mixing with the other children and is, mostly, really friendly.

Last week I went to the school assembly to see my Little Man being presented with an award for working hard at learning how to write his name. He was such a good boy, listening carefully to instructions given, accepting his award with grace and then standing in line while the other children who had acheived an award joined him. The he went and sat down. Not bad at all for a three year old.

I was not allowed to take a photo of him accepting his award, and he hasn’t brought it home yet because it’s on the nursery wall for a couple of weeks. So instead I’m going to share a photo of the Little Man when he gradutated from pre-school.

As an August baby he’s probably always going to be a little slower than the rest of his class, but he’s a determined little fella now and a million miles away from that slow starter he was as a baby.
Congratualtions Little Man, mummy is really proud of you xxx

Ethans Escapades

Making Me Proud

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I spend a lot of time giving updates about Star and how brave she is, and I will admit, she does take up a lot of my time and attention. However, I do make time for my other littlies, Boo and Little Man too and this post I’d like to dedicate to Boo.

In her old school Boo was a little slow in comparison to the other children. Being one of the youngest in the class (late July baby) means she was a little behind in her learning. She was put on an Individual Education Plan and given extra help to try and catch up with the others. That was last year.

This morning I was watching Boo finish off her homework and I was really surprised at how far she had progressed. Her reading is really good, but not only that, she has methods of working out how to read words she has not seen before or words that are difficult to read. When I read her a bedtime story, she loves to take over the reading for a while and if it’s a difficult book to read then she loves to read the chapter titles.

Her hand writing is so much neater and you can she is really concentrating to do her best. The best thing is, she really wants to learn and tries so hard. So even is she is still not the brightest in the class she has caught up loads and no longer needs her IEP. I’m sure if she continues with her enthusiasm and thirst for knowledge that she will do well in her education.

Her class has a reward system in place for behaviour. Each day, each child starts on Green, then depending on their behaviour they can move down to Amber or Red if they misbehave, or move up to Gold if they are good. Every day Boo ends up on Gold, then yesterday she told me she had reached Sparkly Gold which means she had been exceptionally good and worked really hard, she was also rewarded with a special sparkly pencil which is imprinted with Special Award.

Also, since starting her new school in October last year, she has had only one day off through sickness. Her attendance record is really good and she loves to go, despite still finding it difficult to fit in being a late addition to the class. I know she still misses her old friends, but nothing stands in her way of learning.

So I’d like to say a big Well Done to Boo, she really makes me proud.

Ethans Escapades

The Reading Residence

Parents Evening

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Every year I attend parents evening at the littlies school and every year I know exactly what to expect. This year however was a little different. First up, I had the Little Man’s first ever parents evening, plus the girls have just changed schools so things are very different for them.

The Little Man is now in nursery. He has attended pre-school before so he is comfortable in a school environment. He settled in quite well from the beginning, although he did keep asking for his old school and Margaret his carer there. However, just a few weeks in and he was fine. His nursery teacher is happy with his progress. He is the youngest in the class being an August baby, this means he is a little behind in some things, but she believes that starting school late (because of moving house) has more to do with this than his age. He plays well with the other children and is well behaved. So a good report there, well done Little Man.

Boo was very popular in her old school so I thought she would have difficulty settling in to a new school and making new friends. Her teacher (who is most definitely young enough to be my daughter) said that she settled almost straight away and has lots of friends. At her old school she struggled a little with her work but always tried hard even when it was difficult for her. Now she is not struggling so much and managing to keep up with the other children. She is very determined to get things right and works very hard. She strives on praise so if her work doesn’t get her praise she will try even more to get it right. Her teacher said she is well behaved, kind, caring, friendly and very well mannered. Well done Boo, I’m so proud of you.

Star’s story is a little different. She has found it harder to adjust to the change. At her old school they understood her needs and she had a fantastic support system in place. At her new school her teacher had only just found out about her autism. She had noticed that Star did not relate to the other children and preferred to be on her own, but she thought this was just because she was having difficulty adjusting to a new school. Star has never really had many friends. She is also falling behind in her work because of starting the term late and having so many hospital appointments for her neck. She still tries very hard though. In her old school she was on the ‘top table’ for all subjects but mathematics, now she is nearer the bottom of the class and has actually been moved down a class for math. They are starting to get her support back in place after liaising with her old school, and once she is more settled and her neck is sorted, I have no doubt that she will catch up again. She is a clever girl, she’s just suffered a lot of setbacks. Her teacher said she is well behaved, good mannered and works really hard when she puts her mind to it. I know Star has found the move and all the changes the most difficult to deal with so I’m really proud that she is able to behave at school and try her best.

I am currently a very proud mummy.

Ethans Escapades

Graduation…At Two Years Old!

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The other day I was honoured to attend the graduation of my Little Man from his pre-school.
It was lovely to join in with the other parents to hear about how our little ones have progressed and what they have achieved.
With the Little Man I’ve been through many worries. He was a difficult baby and a very slow learner. He reached all his milestones late and at one stage I was wondering if there was something wrong with him as all he did was cry, he didn’t sit up or roll over, he just lay there on his back. He never crawled, after he finally learnt to sit he progressed to bottom shuffling. He was a late walker, being nearly two years old when he took his first steps. He didn’t even attempt to cruise around the furniture, in fact he wouldn’t even put his feet down to stand. He language development was also slow and his vocabulary was minimum by the time he started pre-school.
I was wary about letting him go to pre-school. He’d been so slow I wasn’t sure it would be the right environment for him. I thought long and hard and decided that I’d let him go, but if it didn’t work out I’d just take him out again.

By the time he started his pre-school, called Little Builders, he was walking and had a small vocabulary. He seemed so young at 25 months to be leaving me all day, even for just two days a week. Surprisingly he settled right away. He loved the staff caring for him and loved going to school. Within no time at all he was on par with all the other children there. His language developed really quick once faced with competing against other chatty toddlers.

I never had any problems leaving him, well he didn’t have any problems, I missed him like crazy. He would go into his classroom quite happily every time. I always went in with him but he was happy to give me a kiss and wave me off. He’s certainly not a clingy child. Sometimes I felt a little jealous of the mum’s who’s toddler would be clinging to their legs, but in reality it was nice to know that the Little Man was confident enough to let me go, he knew I would be back for him. He always looked forward to his time at the Little Builders.

His graduation was a big deal for me, my little boy who had seemed so far behind the other children at the start had grown so much and learnt so much. Being an August baby he’s always going to be one of the youngest in a school group, but now I don’t have to worry that he’ll be playing catch up. To top it all, he is completely toilet trained and I didn’t really have much trouble with him.

I’m so proud of my Little Man, and this is most certainly one my most magic moments of this year.

The Olivers Madhouse

Ethans Escapades