School

Will has entered the 2nd grade at Nelson Elementary. His teacher is Ms. Heather Misley and he loves her. She's an accomplished teacher with 5 years of experience in the Bethel District, a Master's degree and two other accredidations. We met her the week before school started to introduce ourselves and Will's position coming in as a new student from the homeschool world and also with his unique intensity and interests. Another person has become involved, Ms. S, the school social worker. Will has a GREAT connection with both of them. He feels safe with both and that they truly care for him.
Ms. M called me after school the first two days, which I very much appreciated.
Ms. S has called me 3 times now just to keep me updated and once because Will refused to follow directions and they had to remove him to her office.
As of right now they are being so kind, understanding and flexible I'm a little blown away. I expected much more rigidity and control. They've made many allowances for his need to move, yet are training him to SIT STILL sometimes. Really, they are doing the same things at school that we do at home!
Will has made some friends: Max, Brayden, Anders and Ashley sits next to him. He knows of a Liam in the class (actually sits diagonal from Will) but he hasn't made the connection which one he is.
Will's biggest struggle now is impulse control and following directions. Today we began a star chart and after just the morning he had 11 stars. We want to improve on that every day.
Ms. S has created 3 rules of "Will the Jedi" and each has a hand signal: Be Quiet (peace sign and lips pulled in), Stay in Your Area (arms stiff to the body), and Follow Directions the First Time (a big wink and a thumbs up). We will use the same terms at home and try to incorporate the hand signals. It's awful cute to see him show these off... :)