What his teacher says:
Mrs. [teacher] says he is a pleasure to have in class. All the kids love Jonny. All the kids want Jonny to sit by them…when he sits. Apparently he does not do this (sitting) well. He routinely gets up and gallops (yes gallops) around the classroom. Craft time? PHAW!! GALLOPING TIME!! Mrs. [teacher] chalks this up to his maturity level (he is a young kindergartener with a summer birthday), but being his parent, and getting Jonny to sit as much as is needed at home (even if he gets unhappy about it) I don’t buy it. I think my little man is pulling a fast one over his teacher.

The dilemma Mrs. [teacher] is having with discipline stems on proper motivation. Many times Jonny is non-compliant and his consequences are not always motivation to acquiesce. Many times he would rather stay in from recess so missing recess is not motivating. His behavior will go downhill without food so missing snacktime is counter-productive. Sitting in time-out or missing a fun activity is not always effective because in most situations, Jonny’s goal is to NOT do the activity he is asked to do (sitting and writing/coloring) so going to timeout is sort of a “win” for him in getting out of his tasks.

My solution for this at home is not always viable at school. At home, if Jonny doesn’t do what we ask, he goes to “time-out”, loses privileges, and if he still persists will either a) get a spanking, or b) go straight to bed if it is in the evening.

My solution for Mrs. [teacher] was this. Jonny LOVES playing on my phone. Mrs. [teacher] also has an ipad that the students can earn time with. If she lets Jonny earn time on the iPad for good behavior or lose ipad time for poor behavior, I think it will produce more effective results at school. We will see.

Occupational Therapy:
So Jonny was right on the cusp of needing occupational therapy in preschool for his fine motor skills. Occupational therapy involves strengthening his hands, improving on his grasping (holding pencils/pens), buttoning and zipping his clothes, and opening packages (food packages or threading a straw into a juicebox). In preschool, he was given assistance with all these tasks and so he has fallen a bit behind in this department. He will begin with a specialist this week with the goal of

• Putting on and zipping his own jacket. Right now he hands his jacket to his teacher every day to put on.
• Opening his own food at lunch. Right now he needs help to put a straw in his juicebox or open a package of fruit snacks.
• Using the bathroom independently. Should be self explanatory.

Physical Therapy
Jonny’s physical therapist works with his gross motor skills (core strength). Right now he is behind in many categories here including

• Core strength. He cannot do a sit up on his own.
• Standing/Hopping on one foot. I believe this is also related to his core strength.
• Running. He is flat footed and his gait is pronated (he stands and walks on the inside of his feet). He doesn’t have a “back and forth” motion with his arms when he runs but rather holds his arms out straight behind him, as if he is a jet running with his wings out. It really is the cutest run ever, but still needs to be worked on.
• Playground strength. (Going up steep ladders, going down stairs without a railing, arm strength for hanging (like on monkey bars).
• Kicking with aim.
• Throwing with aim. (I know, I know… I’m on it).
• Skipping. He can gallop with the best of them, but cannot skip at all.

Amazingly, he can dribble a basketball with ease.

Speech Therapy
Here he has just about caught up in every category (within the bell curve of normality for his age). Starting this week he will no longer need speech therapy. Those of you that have heard Jonny talking lately know that he is an invariable chatterbox. He has no problem of expression,

WOO HOO!!!

Cognitive Abilities
The reason they tested his cognitive abilities is not because they were concerned about his level of learning, but to determine his style of learning. The cognitive ability specialist determined he does not qualify for extra help in this area (which is a good thing). He is a smart cookie.

School Nurse says:
Jonny has visited a couple times. Mostly for a couple “bathroom accidents.” She really didn’t contribute much more. I’m not sure why she was involved.

His principal was says:
I’m actually surprised the principal was there. I think the stink I made earlier this year regarding his placement in All-Day kindergarten a week after he started half-day kindergarten has something to do with it. I really appreciated her showing up.

Jonny has been “sharing” his lunch at school, which could be a good thing, but when you eat as little as Jonny does, the boy needs his food to function. So after I told him to stop sharing his lunch, his friends continued to take what they wanted from his lunch box when he told them not to. Jonny’s principal said she would speak to the lunchroom supervisors to make sure that does not happen anymore. She also said she will have the disciplinarian speak to Jonny about sitting in his seat and working on his schoolwork when he is asked.

The verdict?
Jonny’s educators will need to assess if Jonny is ready for 1st grade (which does not offer the same services) by the end of February/beginning of March.

And he may NOT be ready… and I am okay with that.

Mama was held back in 1st grade and it helped her immensely. The important thing is to do what is best for Jonny’s continued development.