Elevenses !!!!!!

[MaryAnnSingleton]

ah, we can only do 1000, so here's the new one, hope you find it !

Don't fret Hippi! Your dcs do so many lovely things - O is clearly gifted at drama, E is doing fantastic things at gymnastics, they're both great swimmers etc etc. It just so happens that the things T and B are doing involve exams ATM. Please don't worry!

MAS - thanks for the weblink thingy. It's really lovely to see your life in RL IYSWIM? Have been thinking of you lots, but didn't want to keep on mentioning it, how are you feeling after the radio now? And how's life on the tamoxifen? Hope you don't mind me asking?

Hippi - how exciting about the Autism course I can't believe no-one else volunteered, I'd be desperate to do it in the same situation. But I always did enjoy going on courses..

B has gone to swimming with school for the first time today. I wonder how she's been getting on! I didn't volunteer to help this week, as I thought it would be good for her to accomplish it on her own first, so she knows she can do it. Hope she's had a great time!

I bet B has had a great time at school swimming !
and yes, don';t fret hippi - your dcs do brilliantly in their extra activities -T only does the singing, so I guess he needs a challenge.
Aww,you are sweet hotcross - am quite pleased with web page,might've chosen different images and a bit envious of those who have theirs picked to scatter about, but have to trust my agent to make these decisions !
Thanks for thinking of me - am really ok..the radiotherapy seems a long time ago now - am just waiting for my follow ups with oncologist & surgeon and so far so good with the tamoxifen. I am feeling anxious in a general way and tired but can't decide whether it's increased anxiety or tiredness from the rads. or tamox. or just me !!

Hello
Am of B's school swimming. E won't get that until Year 3.

Glad to hear you are doing well MAS, like hotcross I think of you often but don't like to keep asking. It is hard to know just how much to ask....

All is well here but I am batteling the most awful tiredness. I am completely wiped out by 2pm. It is so frustrating! I think it is because I am trying to get back into the swing of working and using my brain - am absolutely exhausted. Had a good day again today though, boy is actually a really lovely little boy and he is trying hard. Am feeling more confident about planning activities during maths and now find myself looking forward to our hour sessions rather than dreading them. I guess it is all about confidence really. Have now reached the 'keep pinching myself I cannot believe I have landed on my feet with such a nice part time job' stage. There are still plenty to times throughout the day where a teacher or other TA says something and I end up doubting myself but am sure that will get better.

it sounds as though you are really doing brilliantly hippi -well done - it must be tiring though- no wonder you feel exhausted. Thanks too for thinking of me - you're both so sweet xxx

Hi - don't be about the swimming Hippi. It might only last this term... A few of the parents are up in arms about it (don't ask) and I can see school deciding it's just too much hassle. Then when B gets to Junior school I think she only gets one term of swimming the whole time she's there, which is pretty crap IMO Oh well, if we keep on the after school swimming, it wont be so vital. I just feel sorry for the kids who don't get the opportunity to swim if not through school though...

MAS - I think it's probably quite normal to feel anxious ATM. You're going through something which is pretty alien for most of us, with all the thoughts that go along with it, and that is all anxiety-inducing and that in turn will make you tired. You're probably looking for evidence as well, which makes every last thought of more significance than it possibly actually is, if that makes any sense at all?? I have a teeny idea of that feeling with all my allergies - every time I try to eat something I haven't had for a while or have never eaten before, my heart pounds and I think is this it? Am I reacting? But it's just because I'm looking for evidence of a reaction. Sorry, am waffling. All I mean is, cut yourself some slack and don't have too high expectations of yourself just now. You're a star, and doing fantastically

Glad school is going well hippi. Are you on a permanent contract, or is it specifically for this boy? I bet you're helping him so much!

B loved swimming. Hooray! I think swimming with her friends was really special for her, and she can't wait for next week.

Right, I'm off to bed. Am still feeling rough, with a cough starting, so must sleep....

I think T just swam for 2 terms at junior school (and for a term at his previous primary school -if I'm remembering right) Sadly no more private swimming lessons though... he had no inclination to sign up with another teacher or join a class at leisure centre pool...however,he might be swimming with grandpa this w/end.
I think my anxiety is more to do with just how I feel in my head rather than related to any physical things - I am quite un- neurotic about my health and am surprised when I am poorly but I worry about ever other thing I can possibly find to be anxious about !

Hello you two [smile
MAS, I think the anxiety is normal - I would be all over the place mentally I think...
But I have suffered severe health-anxiety in the past and have wobbles even now.

Glad to hear B enjoyed her swimming. Do they take them to the local pool by bus? Or does the school have a pool?
At the junior school (which has it's own pool) each child will get 2 x 30 minutes swimming for 10 weeks each summer term (they tend to start after Easter and carry on until July) So actually that is not bad at all
And having been a spectator at the annual swimming gala for the past 3 years it is amazing to see how much those children for whom this is the only form of swimming lessons have come on. (It is also very easy to spot which children have out-of-school swimming lessons)

Hotcross, I am on two contracts One is a temporary contract for the boy - apparently all SEN TA's are on temporary contracts in which the statemented child they are supporting is named. It clearly states that should the statement be removed or the child leaves the school then the contract ends. This contract is for 12 hours per week. And the school had its sensus on Thursday and boy was there so that now means he is on the register until Christmas so my temporary contract is guaranteed until Christmas.
The other is a permanent contract for general Year 5 TA duties. This contract is for 5 hours per week. So my hope is should boy leave (and the temporary contract with it) that I still have the 5 hours per week which will hopefully be increased (or I get given another statemented child) One of my fellow TA's had a meeting with the head today because there are changes to the statement of the child she is supporting and she is worried about what it means for her job. She told me that the head said that if a statemented child leaves they will try to incorporate that staff member in other areas of the school before making redundancies. So hopefully I will have this job for at least the next 5 years. (I would love to do it this year and then for the 4 years after that whilst E will be at this school)
I absolutely loved it today and I have now reached the stage where I will cry should I be made redundant. It is just the best job in the world. Boy was off ill today so I supported two lovely Y5 girls in maths today - doing multiplication sums and missing number sums with them - great fun! And in literacy the teacher did not need me in class so I traced round a map of Italy and cut it out ready for a class notice board As you can see - it is a highly taxing job.... Actually, today was an easy day!

Sorry, that should be 2 x 30 minutes swimming per week for 10 weeks each summer term.

HOORAY ! am so pleased you are loving the job hippi
Am very briefly on here before attacking ironing - am just back from a weekend away with dh - just us two- very fancy and gorgeous hotel at Buckler's Hard in the New Forest - beautiful place, fabulous everything,horribly expensive, but we've been looking forward to it for ages - sweet dh arranged it when we knew I'd be having the surgery & treatment as something for us to look forward to -which we have ! so short though...I could happily stay there forever

Wow, weekend away sounds lovely And how thoughtful of dh - he is fab!

Am enjoying the weather - how lovely for the sun to shine, will no doubt be in the park again after school today

Have just booked E's birthday party - it is not until December but I find things seem to book up quickly these days. Am at the amount of money it all costs, but she has had only small parties in the last few years adn this is her last year in this class before they mix them all up for Junior school so we are doing a hall and entertainer type party and she can invite 19 friends [need a glass of wine after that emoticon]
Have found a fab drama teacher who is going to guide the children on an adventure using drama, dance, puzzles and games with a theme of E's choosing. E wants Enid Blyton's Faraway Tree as her theme so it should be great She is soooo excited it will be hard making her wait nearly 3 months....

O was invited to a classmate's paintballing party yesterday - he came out very sweaty, covered in paint (they did give them helmets, boilersuits and a body protector) and absolutely full of it. He loved it! It was teh best party he has ever been to apparently, and even better than his best friend's 'tank' party which he went to 2 weeks ago. I don't mind really, at least with paintballing you have to run around lots so it is a form of exercise.

Hope you are both fine and enjoying the sunshine
Have had another good day at school today. But hotcross, I need your help.
Boy seems to have a complete mental block when it comes to numbers. He can count to 10, and manages to correctly order numbers to 5 most of the time. But he is completely unable to remember what the numbers are called. So I ask him to write a 3, and he will say 'what is a 3'. I show him. Ten seconds pass, I ask him to write another 3, and he asks 'what is a 3?' Am gettign him to model numbers out of playdough, writing them with his fingers in a tray of sand, etc, but he just cannot remember them and each and every day we are starting from scratch. He is making better slightly progress with letter recognition so it seems to be a number-thing. Do you have any ideas for games I can play with him, or any other methods of teaching number recognition? Because I am completely stumped, and so is his maths teacher....
Thanks

dh is kind !!
well done for sorting E's party - wow ! sounds fab

Hello! Your weekend away sounds really lovely MAS. What a lovely thing for your dh to do Glad work is going well Hippi, and E's party sounds amazing! Afterwards, I may 'steal' the idea from you (and name of entertainer)!

I'm still feeling really sorry for myself. my cold turned into a cough and blocked ears over the weekend, so poor dh ended up doing the B-caring for a couple of days, which I don't think he was best pleased about tbh. I managed to get her to school this morning, and will pick her up after tennis later, but I'm sure the TV will go on for most of the afternoon Am hoping it will ease over the next couple of days, because I've got loads I need to be doing...

Hippi - the boy really is struggling on a very basic level isn't he? FWIW, I think you just need to go over and over and over the numbers as often as you can, both reciting them and recognising them. Eventually his brain should make the connection... Do you have any number markers in the playground? Maybe a number ladder he can hop/jump up shouting out the numbers in turn? Flashcards - really boring - but some children need to see them over again. Um, pegboards? sandpaper numbers? Multilink? Tracing paper? Cutting out numbers from a magazine/newspaper? Oh Hippi, it's really hard, I'll keep thinking, because I'm sure you've tried most of these...

Am off to have a cuppa before I need to brave going out. Am supposed to be going to the junior school to meet the staff etc tonight, but fear dh will have to go instead.

oh poor hotcross - it's certainly hanging around gety well soon.

Oh hotcross, sorry to hear you are feeling so ill What a nightmare...
It seems to be doing the rounds here aswell, have managed to avoid it so far but it is only a matter of time... Am dozing O and E up with a multivit tablet every morning before school because I don't want to have to take time off to look after them [mean mum emoticon]

Hotcross, thanks for the ideas. But you have lost me a bit in teacherspeak. Multilink? Sandpaper? Pegboards? Sorry....
Boy is really struggeling. We were doing adding up on our fingers and the answer came to '9'. So I asked him to write a 9 on the sheet. He looked stumped for a moment and then proudly produced the letter P. And when I said that was very good but a letter not a number he said "what is the difference"? Struggeling is not the word for it... But he is trying and earns at least 2 stickers a day purely for effort

Right, am off to start to think about dinner tonight. Have yet again forgotten to defrost the vital ingredient for tonight's dish so will have to raid the cupboards and cobble something together instead. I must get more organised.

dozing? I wish! I mean dosing!

Sorry Was just firing off ideas without engaging my brain. Was thinking you could make shapes using different things, so that he 'feels' the shape of the number as well as what it looks like. So multilink are cubes which link together, and are quite good for making numbers and letters(may not have any of these - outdated???) You could cut out the numbers from sandpaper, and he could run his fingers over them, saying the correct number at the same time. Obviously, you'd be saying it too! Pegboards are useful for making shapes too. Bless - he is absolutely starting from scratch with learning, and it must be like gobbledegook. Will think of some websites which may be of use...

B has come home from tennis with the 'most improved player' trophy, so she's very happy. Only 4 players tonight though, so not much competition!

at most improved player ! well done B !
the sandpaper numbers reminded me of my mum making things like that as part of her Montessori teaching course that she did years ago.

Great ideas, thank you hotcross I was hoping that drawing them in sand as well as on paper and modelling them with playdough was enough to get them to stick in his brain... I wish I knew why he is not able to remember them...
But he is also very bad with names and cannot come to grips with changing classrooms for literacy adn maths either: 'where I am meant to go?' despite it always being the literacy room (right next to his form room) after registration and guided reading every morning....

O has trotted off to Cubs happily this evening - they are doing rifle shooting next week so this week is the safety talk

Well done B at being the most improved player!! Well done that girl!
At gymnastics they choose the most improved gymnast in every class at the end of every term. There are 24 girls in the group - not much chance of being chosen really. And it is a title they all want because your picture gets taken with the medal and the picture hangs in the trophy cabinet alongside the pictures of the other chosen ones from each class for the whole term! So quite a big deal really

Right, am off to take a load of washing out of the machine and get uniforms etc laid out for tomorrow. And then once the urchins are in bed I get to snuggle up with a cuppa and part 2 of Waking The Dead

Hello Am still feeling rotten so went to the dr today. Apparently I have a temperature, which means our thermometer isn't working properly, and my ears and throat are very red, so she's given me AB's as my asthma is beginning to act up. Lovely!

Hippi, it can take some children much longer to learn things than others, and he must have so much information going into his brain that he probably can't think straight! You may find he progressively hold onto info for longer as the weeks go on. However, it could also be a specific learning problem, in which case, he's in the system and I'm sure that will be dealt with. Just make sure you keep records of your time with him and talk to the SENCO/class teacher about any worries you have. I'm sure you're doing all that though!

MAS - are you still feeling relaxed from your weekend away? I dropped hints to dh about your lovely time away

Exciting times in the hotcross house! B has just lost her very first tooth

poor hotcross -sounds v nasty.
Hooray for tooth ! how much does the tooth fairy leave these days ? I forget now as T is losing teeth less frequently (but they are milk molars now) and I forget to give him money !! I keep them all in a gruesome tooth pot
Am wishing I was going back to my hotel again...so lovely- sent a pic of our room to you hotctoss !

well here's a thing - T's molar fell out just now !

at the synchronised tooth-losing! But hoorah for B and her fist ever tooth and wow at T for losing a milk molar - O has not got that far yet.

Hope you are feeling better hotcross and all is well with you both. Here everything is fine. Had another few great days at work and all is wel in the hippi household.

Embarrased myself on Weds though - went with the SENCO to the autisim-specialist school. Stepped in a pothole in the carpark and fell over. Badly grazed and bruised my knee. As we were being shown round the school suddenly my knee started to burn and I passed out Spent the rest of the tour lying on some chairs in the staffroom. So I can categorically say that the autism specialist school has a great staffroom - but have not seen anything else to pass comment on Actually, it seemed like a FAB school with wonderful staff!
I am sooo embarrased
That evening soem of my fellow TA'shad to go to that school for training and the lady there asked after me. Apparently they told her I had been on the sauce and always fall over a lot I know they were joking, but still....
Boy is doing really well and trying hard. Today the SENCO (who is my immediate boss) came to see me briefly whilst I was doing 1-1 with boy. She asked what we were doing, I told her, boy showed her his work and then said "this is fun" I was soooo relieved that firstly he is enjoying it and secondly he told the SENCO - makes me feel a bit more confident about being there

Anyway, enough about work. Am struggeling weight-wise. Have no time to fit in any exercise and am constantly hungry. (and there are always biscuits and chocolates in the staff roomm)
Bah!

oh hippi - you poor thing ! you are as bad as me for keeling over !! hope knee is much better though...
and so happy to hear that work is going so well and that the boy is enjoying it - brilliant !!
I'm sure you'll carry on losing weight with the nervous energy expended .
T a bit despondent when he got home from school as they had rugby and he said he wasn't very good at catching the ball and the boys in his group asked him to go into another group and were teasing him - however, he perked up fairly quickly and seems ok now.
Hope you are feeling better too hotcross.
Am really wishing I was back at my lovely hotel

Oh poor T - PE is always a tricky thing for those who are not overly sporty. At the secondary O will (most probably) go to they stream the children for PE and games. At first I was not sure about this but now I think it may be a good thing expecially in light of T's recent experience.

Open evening for both local secondaries next week - dh is away for the most important one (the most local school where I used to invigilate and where I awnt O to go) and am a bit cross about that. But accordign to dh it does not matter wether he sees the school or not as O is going to go there regardless... I guess he has a point and he has his practical man-head on, but still...

T recovered v quickly from that incident - mostly hurt pride and not wanting to be seen as not good at something in front of others (and therefore thinking they won't like him etc...) Streaming in PE probably is quite a good idea as it would allow the less able to not feel so intimidated by the very sporty kids and gives them a chance to shine possibly in a less competitive/able group and that might build self confidence.
Am very cross with myself as I've managed to carelessly scuff the wheel trim on a brand new pristine courtesy car,loaned by the garage while our car is being serviced. Just scarped the trim on the kerb when parking here - I do do that with my car on and off but it has badly scuffed wheel trims whereas this car was immaculate - I was the first person to drive it even !! Will of course tell them - arggghhh.