3rd Grade

Aaron is loving 3rd grade.  I was so nervous for this year to start.  The demands in each grade keep getting more difficult, and I worry about Aaron being able to keep up.  He is so smart, but his physical limitations when it comes to writing make school difficult.  But, he has a wonderful teacher this year (we've been so blessed with great teachers every year), who lets him do a lot of things orally.  I was able to meet for Aaron's 504 at school, and I came away feeling like he was in great hands.  We have a new principal this year, and so far I am impressed.  He talked to us about being open to the idea of pushing keyboarding with Aaron.  Aaron's therapist doesn't want him to let up on his work with handwriting, and we understand that.  But to hand write a simple book report would take him hours.  He physically just doesn't have the hand strength to hold a pencil and write for that long.  The principal said he had come from a school where 80% of the students were boys, and that of those boys 40% were on the spectrum.  He said a lot of those boys were so smart, but struggled with handwriting.  So while the ideas were flowing from their minds, they just couldn't get it down on paper.  He said that when taught to keyboard, it opened up a whole new world for them to express themselves freely.  He told us that keyboarding would change Aaron's life.  So we are going to be open to starting that this year.  They have something called an AlphaSmart that they will have available for him to use in his classroom whenever he wants.  It's just a little keyboard with a small screen attached.  He can type in his work, then he takes the USB off it up to the teacher to print.  It's small and portable, so it will be easy for him to use at his desk.  His teacher isn't going to push it, just have it for him if he wants to try it.  I am so appreciative for good educators that take care of all of my kids.