Sleeping. But Not On The First Day of School

Scooter started 4th grade this year!

*sigh*

He breaks my heart, he’s so handsome!

He’s very lucky in his school situation this year.
Until we move and enroll him in school in
FLATLANDIA
(I named our new town!)
he gets to attend a special class in the Middle School
that is geared toward talented and gifted students.

There is only one class of about 21 gifted 4th graders in our school district.
This is a voluntary class, so some parents/students opted to stay in the traditional 4th grade elementary class.
Which is totally fine.

Scooter really wanted the challenges and experiences this class will give him:

1) He gets to attend the Middle School first.
The schools in  Zion break down this way:
K-4 grades – Elementary School
5-6 grades – Middle School
7-9 grades – Jr. High.
10-12 grades – High School
And we all know my competitive boy likes to be first.

2) Same 4th grade curriculum. Only this is “on steroids”
It’s tougher. A LOT tougher.
He got lazy in traditional classes. This is GOOD for him.
(Funny sidenote: Tonight, Scooter was working on Math homework. And he was struggling.
He put his head on his hand and said,
“We’re supposed to find different methods of solving these math problems.
I definitely prefer traditional amalga-rhythms.”
See? I was so confused about what he said, that I can’t even spell it!)

3) He gets a language class every week – Spanish
*Disclaimer: He actually learned Chinese while attending the elementary school.
However, it was in an after school program and not part of
regular school hours.

4) He gets P.E. twice a week instead of once

5) He gets to go weekly to a real art class with a real art teacher.
(I wish his teacher was Thorkgal!)

6) Choir!
I almost forgot Choir!
My boy gets to attend a weekly choir class taught by one of my dearest friends.
As excited as I am that he gets a real choir class, I’m also a littlebit sad that
I won’t have the opportunity to be
”Music Mom” anymore. :(

6) He still gets his two hours a week of “Discovery Class”.
He received this service in 2nd and 3rd grades as well.
He would leave class twice a week for one hour and learn “extra” stuff.
Things like: astronomy, weather, cyphers, sign language, Medieval times, etc. etc.
This time, the whole class gets to go and learn together and share their experiences.
It’s pretty awesome.

Can you see what an amazing experience this is?
I can’t believe they can fit all of this into a weekly schedule.

The only drawback (and it’s a big one) is that none of his buddies from elementary school
came over with him. IMO, Bullseye could totally do this program. He’s very smart.
I’m not sure how children are picked for testing. But I feel bummed that Bullseye wasn’t tested.

Scooter is enjoying his time in this class until we move.
After that, Flynn and I will take over the extra learning.
There is no gifted/talented program in Flatlandia.
And we’re just a little bit bummed about that.

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

Moving on
(more about Scooter)

You’ve all seen pictures of Scooter sleeping.
I can do a whole blog post of pictures of my boy sleeping with his eyes wide open.
He’s done it since birth.
And he hasn’t grown out of it.

I anticipate some questions:
1) Yes. Sometimes his eyes DO close during the night. I figure it’s when he’s in a light sleeping pattern.

2) I don’t know if his eyes dry out. He doesn’t complain that they’re dry, so I assume not.
Maybe they stay hydrated because he does close them once in a while.

3) He doesn’t see things when he’s asleep. His eyes are not focused on anything.

4) He knows he does this. Sometimes he’s sensitive about it. Sometimes he laughs about it.
And he has given me permission to post this video.
He said, “I think you’re friends are going to think this is creepy.”

I took this video a couple weeks ago when we were in Flatlandia. This is Sunday morning before we had to wake him up for church. I figure about 8 in the morning.
He. Was. Out.