catching up with Z [not with depeche mode]

time flies in december...
november too, because remember i talked about Z's teacher nominating him for a lil award thingie? [here] well on friday [i don't remember which one now] but he got it! on fridays the school has flag salute outside & they recognize top readers, etc & they also had a "most improved for the 1st trimester", granted there were several, but Z was one of them & he got to walk up in front of the entire school. he also got a new tag (military style) to add to his necklace as part of the deal.

then last week make that 2 weeks ago, we had a meeting for the title 1 reading program that Z's been going to. it was raining, which you know in california = treacherous weather, so i kinda didn't want to go but we did. it was quick & i checked in w/the instructor on how Z was doing; he said Z had improved so much he was actually on the cusp of being at grade level but beings he was enjoying it so much they were just keeping him in there [why mess with a good thing?]. i was so relieved & glad that they were keeping him in the program just as good measure.

i'm so thankful for all the help he's finally getting at this school. he would probably be failing 2nd grade if we'd stayed in the desert & we'd probably have him tested for IEP by now. not that it would be a bad thing to have him tested, but it's obvious he just needed this little bit of help & that the problems he was having learning were so bad & so frustrating, that he was lashing out at everyone.

ok, last week [really this time] Z's teacher asked for some extra help so i was in the office doing stuff & i ran into the title 1 instructor guy. he told me state representatives had come in to review the program & Z was one of the kids they'd chosen to interview! the teachers chose the kids who'd benefited the most from the program & that's definitely Z.

the funniest part about it is afterwards when i asked Z about it, he told me he got another new tag for "principal's club" & that means he can sit at the principal's table during lunch, but most importantly he wanted me to understand sitting at the principal's table was a good thing & that he wasn't in trouble!!!!

yup, sitting at the lunch table with the principal is very different from sitting in the principal's office.