1st Grade and Cast Free Arm

Son has spent a few weeks in 1st Grade now. As far as he is concerned the first week doesn't count, he thinks he was in Kindergarten for that week. He wasn't really but he was in last years classroom with last years teacher, so you can see where the confusion comes in. After 1.5 weeks in his new class with his new Grade 1 teacher he feels like he has finally arrived. He is getting use to the routine of the class and managed to bring home his 'homework bag' 6 out of 7 days. I'm not sure if he's remembering to pass on all our messages to the teacher but at least we are getting the notices from the school. Sooo many notices! I feel like I'm the one back in school with all the forms I have had to fill out and organizing at home to keep him on track. Hopefully that will settle down over time, I'm not ready for Grade 1 plus my regular work!

Son's teacher has started a Parent Reading time 3 days a week. From 9:00am-9:15am each Mon/Wed/Fri the parents can go into the classroom and read stories to their child and any other children who want to listen in. This is a Wonderful Idea and I love it. Too bad my work day starts at 8:30am. *sigh* I made an effort and did go into his class today for the first reading day, it seemed very important to him that one of us be there. Thankfully we live a 5 min walk from the school so it really only takes 1/2 hr out of my day. I don't know how often I will be able to participate though, a lot of my meetings start at 8am and run for an hour or so. He will just have to listen to other parents read. He won't be the only one listening in, I can't be the only one who has to work during the week.

Son's cast finally came off on Thursday Sept 17th after being on for about 3 weeks. I booked a 7:30am appointment so that he wouldn't miss much school. This went well, hubby took him to the Cast Clinic at our local hospital and was back home by 9am to pick up Son's stuff for school. The only piece of information I didn't have when making the appointment was the fact that after removing a full arm cast the individual could be prone to dizzy spells and might even faint. It was suggested that Son stay home for the rest of the day. Had I known that I would have booked a 2pm or 3pm appointment for him so that he could spend the morning and at least part of the afternoon in class instead of missing the entire day. Best laid plans, 20/20 hindsight and all that.

Hubby dropped Son off at school the next day and had a nice chat with his teacher. He passed on the Doctors orders that Son not play on the climbing equipment or swings and the suggestion that he stay inside during recess and lunch so that he wouldn't be tempted. As I'm sure you've guessed, Son reported that he did go out with the rest of his class and played with his friends. At least he survived and didn't re-break his arm in a fall from the equipment. When I picked Son up from daycare I let his After school Care teachers know that he wasn't allowed to climb as well; they aren't set up to keep him inside if the rest of the group goes out. I think they listened as I made sure to mention that the Doctor was worried about the arm re-breaking. No daycare wants to have a child break an arm while under their watch.

It's been almost a week since the cast came off and he is now able to fully extend his arm and no longer complains if we touch it or pull on it a bit. This is great news and I feel like I can stop worrying about him while he is at school and daycare. He will have his first Karate class without his cast tonight. I'm looking forward to hearing how that goes. I made him go to Karate last week even with his cast because he was doing everything he would normally do and had so much energy. He was a little embarrassed because he couldn't extend the arm with the cast but otherwise did well. I'm sure everything will go well now that he can extend his arm and fully participate again.