RACHEL AND UCF.....Things are going good at UCF.  Rachel started her classes on Monday and has already switched some (i.e., bought more textbooks!).  She also did her first audition for the plays at UCF (which I will update/announce the results of later).  We already found that her meal plan is probably not enough so we may have to increase it already.  She already came home but it was because we had tickets to see KATHY GRIFFIN in St. Petersburg, FL.  In typical college student fashion she drove right back to UCF right after the show was over (i.e., 11pm at night!).  To check out her college (and possible see Rachel!) you can view the UCF web cams at: http://webcam.ucf.edu/ (best possibility of seeing Rachel is in the Rec Center).

 

NICOLE AND VIRTUAL SCHOOL.....something completely new (to me anyway) and so 21st Century; but Nicole is going to high school--all on-line.  She is part of the Accelerated Degree Program out of Blake High School (YES, the SAME SCHOOL Rachel graduated from!).  She can do all of her required high school classes on-line and possibly get her HS diploma one year yearly.  To check out the Hillsborough Virtual School on-line home page go to: http://online.mysdhc.org/.

 

ALEX AND KINDERGARTEN (AGAIN).....seems like we just went through this last year.  Oh wait, we DID!  Yes, he's back in Kindergarten.  Alex has a hard time learning his letters and numbers and wasn't promoted to 1st grade.  He had a tutor over the summer that worked with him specifically helping him learn just his letters.  It actually really did help and now there are only about 3 letters that he does not recognize on a constant basis.  He's really sad that he isn't going to 1st grade but really likes his new Kindergarten teacher (Ms. Bell).  We have requested that he be tested for learning disabilities (LD) as soon as possible.  Hopefully that will be done SOON.  He is very much a VERBAL learner (versus visual leaner which Kindergarten really seems to focus on).  His new teacher co-teaches with the Exceptional Student Education (ESE) teacher so that will help as well.  Hopefully the testing will show us where the main issue lies (besides the fact that he has been 'diagnosed' with borderline ADHD).  To check out his elementary school, Tinker Elementary, their web site is: http://tinker.mysdhc.org/.

 

So what a year for the kids and school!  Rachel in a new college, Nicole in a new virtual high school, and Alex back in Kindergarten (though if I don't think he's being taken care of at his current school he will be going to a new (elementary) school too!).