Up Close and Personal

We got to visit Connor at school the other day! That was really fun for me. Tammy and I had planned to go to the park after she had lunch with Connor at school, but there was a torrential downpour so we had to regroup. I decided to try to make it meet them at the school and check out Connor's classroom. We made it just in time for the last bit of lunch.

In the cafeteria there is a big stop light that measures the noise decibel while they are eating. It was pretty cool! It starts flashing yellow when the kids are getting too loud, then goes to red when they hit the "too loud" mark. They all know to stop talking and wait for the light to turn green again! Of course as soon as it turns green the decibel level goes straight up and the light turns red again. I thought it was a pretty good idea to have something like that. It was cute watching the kids closest to the stop light. They kept their eye on it and would try to shush everyone when it turned yellow.

Here's sweet Connor sporting his fabulous Cub Scout shirt. He is apparently head over heels for Cub Scouts (although it sounds like the WHOLE family is too) and loves to wear his uniform. Connor's latest and greatest with the auditory nerve tumor is that the Docs think what appeared to be another tumor is actually scaring from the last surgery. They are going to watch it and make sure, but his hearing hasn't changed from the last test 6 months ago and continues to be stable. They are continuing to monitor the tumor behind his eye but even that seems stable for now. I've shared the link to Connor's Caring Bridge Journal before but here it is again if you're interested. http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/connorobrien/journals

Ha! Cayden - the King of Sillyness! After lunch we headed to Connor's class room and I got to meet his teacher. She seems SUPER sweet and great for Connor. They had papers out on their desks and I got a peek at Connor's school work. Let me tell you, he has FABULOUS handwriting. It was really great for a first grader! I know he is still adjusting to school, but this is one smart kid and once he finds his grove, he is going to really excel in school.

Lastly we checked out one of their little garden areas and turtle habitat. I love a school that allows kids to think and explore outside of the classroom. The school, Hillside Academy for Excellence, is a TAG school and the students are tested to gain entry. Many of the students, like Connor, go there to receive the benefits of a TAG school, but many are "regular" neighborhood children. Interestingly, these children do as well as the TAG students when given the challenge of a more advanced ciriculum. It goes to show that if you give children a chance and a challenge they can and will rise to it!