Fifth Grade Field Trip: Steelhead Release

I had to fight to get James included with this fifth grade peers this year. Despite a clear IEP, it took several sounds of meetings, many emails, and a lawyer or two to enforce it. When the dust settled and James was finally with his peers, it was January. It took more emails to get included on the class email list, and there were 3 field trips left in the year by then.

Release of the steelhead fry in a local creek was the first we could make, and it was a great trip. The day was sunny and cloudy, neither too hot or chilly for the fish or the kids. The class was literally all over the rocks and boulders, like bouncing ping pong balls. James started off by himself, watching, and eventually ended up under a grove of trees with some other boys.

Magnifying glasses came out and the kids lifted rocks to look for life forms underneath. They called out to each other to come see when they found something. They were excited as heck to be out of a classroom and exploring. The Mom Chaperones shouted out to those who strayed too far in their explorations ... there were some very enthusiastic discoverers in the group!

We had snacks and then headed down to the water's edge of Brush Creek, where the fry were somewhat acclimated to fresh water temps. The kids broke into groups to check the pH levels and water temperatures. They were going to turn in their data for scientific research. James stood apart watching, and was then called over by a group of kids, so he would not be left out. Right there, I felt all the struggles of this year were worth it. I was so happy to watch this inclusion just happen.

James' job was to report pH levels, which he did just fine. He then wandered up and down, observing other groups and having a great time climbing around the rocks. The fish were getting impatient, trying to swim out of their plastic cups.

The fish were released and cheered on as they swam away to freedom. After a bit of excited talking amongst themselves, the kids were rounded up for a class photo (my battery was out at this point, unfortunately) and then driven back to school. Did James have a good time?

Yes! Totally, totally worth it. At last!

YouTube: Power Tool for Autism Parents!

Another regular school year is coming to an end for James. It has been a stinker, complete with his school changing his program and retaining him in the 4th grade without asking or being honest with me. Totally not in compliance with his IEP. Took several meetings and a lawyer to get that undone.

Yes, there were some good things too this school year. And James is still his cheerful self. A lot of broken promises this year, that's all I'm saying.

Today is a field trip for James! The second real field trip of the school year and I am so happy he gets to be with the mainstream 5th grade class for it. It's rollerskating at a local rink.

Um.

James has trouble riding a bike, let alone roller skating. He's never attempted skating, in fact. However, breakthroughs with his social group at the Swain Center, the overall friendliness of the kids at his school, and the expanded horizons from the Boys and Girls Club after school program all contributed to him wanting to go and try.

He wanted to know how to roller skate. We have no skates. What we did have was YouTube:



Oh yeah! We watched a few of these and off he went!

Crossing my fingers - so far, no phone calls from the office!

Update: He did great! Two laps around the rink and ate 3 slices of pizza after. Yes, he did fall. No, it was not a big deal. He was so jazzed that he went. And very tired that night too!

Rise and Field Trip

Guess who got me up at 5am?

It's Field Trip Day. James, his 4th grade class and I are headed to the Lawrence Hall of Science, a little over 60 miles away from us. So we do need to be up early, but not *this* early.

We did have some talking time on the sofa, over his breakfast of blueberry waffles and milk. I tried to do a social story for where we are going, but I haven't been inside the LHS for years. Decades, even. We lived about 10 minutes away and when I was his age it was one of the cool new local places to go check out.

My strongest memories were from the early to mid 70s. I told him about some of the experiments I remembered: the oscilloscope, the ball drop on a spilling plate, a zoetrope. I remember going downstairs to the cafeteria, passing the UC Berkeley radio station and several classrooms. I wonder if any of these will be there still and what we will see today.

Meanwhile, I am coffeeing up, and James has offered to help me take photos.

Epilogue: Field Trip

Sounds like it was a complete success. Mom was a big worry-wart for nothing.

James went with his aide, a notebook with activities I made in it, his school's yearbook, and a friend's mom helping keep a weather eye out for him.

He came home overflowing with information about the solar system and the fun bus ride. When I came to pick him up at his Nana's house, he was zooming about, looking for Clues!!!

Even this morning, watching his face alight with excitement to be off on a trip with his classmates while pulling on the class t-shirt, I knew it was going to be okay.

PS: Heck, even the weather cooperated!

Too Much Everything

James' school held it's annual carnival on campus. It was a day full of games! Food! Activities! Running! Outside! Also: Noise. Sensory overload.

Yup, he spend a good chunk of the day in the resource room.

Not feeling great about the all-day field trip to SF coming up. I had planned to chaperone, but being sick for a week deep-sixed all my PTO. I hoped to plan a strategy with his aide, but guess who has been sick with the bug we had? I feel bad about that, as this bug really knocks you off your feet and makes you feel weak and woozy for at least a week. I am very nervous about the field trip, which is in 2 days.

Now his teacher thinks I am going on the trip, due to a miscommunication. Let's see: all day trip through the Academy of Sciences, tons of noise and fun with classmates while on foot, with things he will find interesting (but which will overwhelm him at times)  ... with a long bus trip to and from San Francisco, and an return ETA of about 4pm, which is 1.5 hours longer than a school day.

Oh, and it's supposed to be hot. James melts in heat and melts down in traffic jams. Plus, when he's tired, he's more prone to car sickness.

Common sense says cancel. But it's not fair to James, having to miss out on the trip. It cost a lot of money too, which I can't get back.

I'm giving it through today to come up with a miracle solution .... failing that I will have to figure out a Plan B for James on that day. Not setting my guy up to fail, especially for something that should be fun.

Planetarium Field Trip

Last week I got to help chaperone an honest to gosh field trip with James' third grade class. We visited the local JC's planetarium and sat through their show on our solar system and galaxy. Although the show is dated (Pluto is still a planet in a video), the venue is easy to get in and out of and a great place to be introduced to astronomy.

There was lots of oohing and ahhing, especially when they showed pictures over the constellations in the ceiling. James sat still through almost the entire show, which means he was interested.

I am trying to remember if I've been on a field trip with James and the best I come up with is a field trip to the pumpkin patch in preschool and kindergarten. Having me show up at James' classroom used to throw James off his routine to the extent that it would tank his day, so I haven't done one of these class activities in a while.

James is having some regressive behaviours. It's been a very stressful time outside of school and likely will be for a while longer. His reading regrouping teacher and case manager is going out on leave. His case worker from the Regional Center left and we have not yet been assigned a new one. I am working with his aide and teacher to keep him on track with practicing good behaviours and choices. We have putting leaves in the mouth, poking self with pens, and not focusing. Then on the good side, we have this on a field trip:

On Safari

On Thursday, James and his class journeyed on a field trip to a wonderful local institution: Safari West. He had a great trip and conked out super early that evening at home, after completing a short homework write-up of the day.

I was bummed to miss this trip, but fortunately, the kids and I had already visited a few months back during one of their Open House days. Below are some pictures from that trip. James saw all these animals with his class as well.

Giraffes are Up Close and Personal. If they are on or too close to the road,
the tram stops until they decide to move, which makes for some great photo ops.

Oh all right ... be off, puny humans!

Rhinos. We learned that they are wide(-mouthed) rhinos, misnamed "white" rhinos.
Very cool to see trotting right in front of you.

African cows. Their huge horns keep them cool during hot spells.

Flamingo Island. Purty.

Meerkatz; yes, we all broke into song.

Whistling ducks. No lie.

James did well with both these tours. It was more of a challenge to keep him close to us and away from wandering birds on the Aviary foot tour portion of the expedition. His aide reports he did fine, although being out in the sun so much did wear him out more quickly than usual.

Safari West had a new addition to their family - an ostrich! I think the aide and I were more excited about this, because of the presentation James had made for his class.

I asked James what his favourite part of the trip was, and he replied "Giraffes!" That made me smile -- I liked them a lot too. They were gentle, yet seemed to have such quirky personalities (that I never suspected during previous zoo visits). I mean, look:

I don't ever remember seeing them stick out their tongues.
This giraffe did nuthin' but!

Giraffe tongues are purple (to me they looked black or blue) so they won't get sunburned.

Safari West is not what I think of when I think of the Wine Country, but I definitely fell in love with it, and want to visit again soon. You definitely feel transported, which makes for a very nice break from the mundane and routine.

A Visit to the Marine Lab

On Friday, the kids and I joined their grandparents on a visit to the UC Davis Marine Lab on Bodega Bay. We drove through some lovely summer countryside and enjoyed a picnic together before joining one of the free, docent-led tours through their facility.

Sea anemone

Some flounders

James became bored about half way through the tour, so we walked back to the main hall for a bathroom break and waited for everyone else to finish up.

We had gorgeous weather and hopefully James learned some new things about fish in our area. His big sister soaked up enough information from before the tour  to answer some of the tour guide's questions to our group. I am sure she'll be sharing this with James for quite some time.

Sea urchin, sea star, seaweed, & some bivalves in the outdoor tide pool.

SOOC Saturday: Fish!

Our daughter got a betta fish this year. She's had it 3 weeks and is worrying because she sees green on her fish's home and the live plant in the bowl is looking shoddy. I am clueless with fish. So we went to Caesar's Tropical Fish emporium, to get the 411 on fish & their plants.

Oh my heavens. It was our first time in the store and the kids went wild. There were 3 rooms in the dark, with walls of tanks and fish lit up and full of exciting action. It was better than paying admission to the Aquarium, because (A) it was free and (B) it was just big enough to take the right amount of time to spice up the day, yet not be long enough to evoke the "I'm tired. Can we go hoooooome?" whines. You can bet your boots I'll be coming back here with the kids when I'm going stir crazy and we need a diverting event.

James adored looking at all the fish. He was fascinated by the whiskery catfish, but their long antennae also freaked him out slightly. The fish that looked like they were lit with neon brought out the biggest smiles to his face. I know he wants a fish. But he's not there yet for being able to take care of one.

 Maybe next year, after I've learned from watching his sister and her fish. But shhhh! Don't tell him I said that!

Closing out 2011 by participating in the SOOC action at Marvelous Mommy's blog.
Come on over to see more or join in!

Special Exposure / Wordless Weds: Beach

Last weekend, we went with friends to Natural Bridges State Park, where we enjoyed a picnic lunch, hiked to see the Monarch Butterflies, and spent the rest of the afternoon at the beach. James' Dad captured some great moments. Wow, we had a great time!

Come see what others have shared for their Special Exposure Wednesday at 5 Minutes for Special Needs. Add your special photos and add some pizazz to the middle of your week.

And while there are a couple of sentences on this page, the photos say more. Join the fun and see more stories at Wordless Wednesday            

Sonoma Field Trip

Guess where we went yesterday?

Yes! Traintown in Sonoma.

We had a lovely "field trip," as James called it. The weather was beautiful and after the first hour or so, the kids really got excited about running around and exploring. The drive through Sonoma Valley was absolutely gorgeous.

Ag Day

James went on a field trip this week with most of the kindergartens from our school district. Ag Day! An important event here in Sonoma County. This was my first chance to chaperone and explore all the exhibits at the county fairgrounds.

While dogs in general make James very nervous, he works hard to overcome his fears. He kept going up to say "Hi!" to the digs on display in the Animal Shelter vehicle. I was fascinated by their neighbour, a 25-pound Maine Coon Cat named "McCoy."

James patted a baby calf, a tiny, squealing piglet, and a fire truck. He liked the feel of that so much he went through it twice.

He climbed a fire hydrant and ran fearlessly across a meadow and up a small hillside before returning to us. Then he sidled down the livestock stalls almost to another building before deciding to stay with myself and his aide.

Clo the Cow was winking and posing for pics with school kids. Clover passed out free cups of milk. There were roping demonstrations. Veterinarians showed interested kids the tools of their trade, and I saw a small herd of llamas on display, complete with llama crossing signs and a spinning wheel to demonstrate the usefulness of their wool. We skipped the noise involved with the sheep-shearing (the razors sound too much like a hair dryer/lawn mower for James' comfort).

There was so much to see but my visit was cut both ways. An unexpected call regarding his services held me up on my way to the field trip and my yard supervisor shift at lunch meant I had to leave a bit early. Never mind, we had a great day!

Kinder F/T: Pumpkin Patch

James' first field trip as a Kindergartener was one he's before -- Grandma's Pumpkin Patch! Even though the weather was grey, cold, and moist the kids were excited.

There was no room for parents on the school bus, so I met up with them after their arrival. James did very well on his first bus trip without a seat belt and his aide said he did a great job of going right to his seat and enjoying the trip.

This year he helped make his pasta string by picking out the colours and poking the yarn through the holes. When I asked who it was for, he said "You, Mommy." Melt. I shared with him halfway through our visit.

James liked handing with his buddy Alex. They raced through the mini corn maze and up to the top of the hay bale pyramid, just to enjoy the jumps back down. He picked out his own pumpkin, one of the biggest in the whole dang patch, and could read his name on the label to show me his choice. Awesome!

James also enjoyed looking at the pullets, which was new because I don't think they usually have chickens this young on display at this time of year. The heat lamp was working overtime in that pen!

He then wound up his trip by driving one of the old display tractors. It's still a little surprising to me to see how well he takes to getting behind the wheel and practices driving. I don't know why, but I still see him as a more passive three year-old. I know he's not ... but I guess the contrast is still new for me. Anyway, I love to watch him go!

We did run into a bit of a problem in that James needed to use the bathroom, but was freaked out by the portapotty. So I signed him out and took him to a quieter restroom, where much was accomplished. We then rejoined his class for lunch at a nearby park. He did a good job eating and racing about with his classmates, playing.

I thought that he was not as excited as in past years to go to the pumpkin patch. I am not sure if it was the weather, the bathroom situation, or the fact that he's visited this patch several times over the past two years. Regardless, it was still good to get out together and have some seasonal fun.