not the boy's best day

it was pretty much all about the boy today. my very soon (as in 10/28) to be 9 year old had a rough day. this morning the hubs and i had a conference with his AG teacher. the boy is sucking wind in math. we've known since the first week of school he was having math issues (i think that came from my side of the gene pool). the hubs works w/ him every night. when the first round of graded papers came home i talked, at length, w/ his AG teacher. i heart her. i really and truly do. she's been teaching for maybe 15-20 yrs but she still has the philosophy that kids are kids. she's not militant w/ them (like i think his homeroom teacher might be) and she's just a good, caring teacher.

during the first conversation i asked if she thought he needed to leave AG, if it was too much for him. no, she didn't think so. she wasn't giving up on him. when school started this yr i really looked for AG to be a huge problem solver for the boy. he had the same teacher in kindergarten and 1st and she loved him. she was new to teaching (as in her very first year) and she forgave a lot. she would tell me casually he was a talker, but we didn't get the angry notes and phone calls. well, except that first day of kindergarten when he was talking shit to the fifth graders and neither that sweet new teacher, her wise assistant, nor the vice principal could get the boy to back off and shut up so he was in the principal's office. second grade he had the teacher from hell. i don't know the full story so this is totally mean on my part, but she had a mental breakdown and was in and out of school most of the year until they finally got a full time sub about the last month of school. the boy missed out on A LOT of learning concepts last year, things that are just starting to become obvious. and the mental break down teacher was always mentioning his talking.

anyway, i thought the challenge of AG would solve that problem. and it does. in that class. in regular class he still has too much time on his hands and goes through periods of running his mouth too much.

(god i'm rambling!)

today's mtg was brought on because his grades in math aren't getting better. she works w/ him, the hubs works w/ him and it appears he grasps the concept and then the light bulb flickers out. before the boy wanted out of AG but now he told the hubs he wants to keep trying. his teacher also wants to keep trying and will have a helper in her room starting next week who's going to work w/ kids in small groups and/or one on one to go over concepts. it's just math he's struggling with. in reading he's on a 6th grade level. this lovely teacher also commented on his awesome personality. she says he's quite a character, so funny and animated.

she also taught the girl and though she loved her too she said they are as different as night and day. you're telling me?

so that started the day.

then, right at 2oclock his teacher calls. he's fallen off the monkey bars and hit his head and side. fairly hard. when i talked to him he was crying. now, as much as the boy can be a cry baby when he and the girl argue, he's a tough kid. this is the kid that catapulted off our bed, knocked a huge hole in our wall with his head and got up and walked it off. so, i knew he was upset and in pain. the hubs and i both picked him up. my first thought was concussion or he'd ruptured something internally. we took him to the doc and she sent us for xrays. they just called and said he's fine. whew.

he has lego club tonight and starts his guitar lessons in the morning.