Yay. I'm back.

It was great to be back in my own zone.
Clean. More or less organized.
Kids who know what to expect from me.
I know what to expect from them, too.

Mondays are late start days, meaning school doesn't start until 8:50. The rest of the week it starts at 7:40.

So Monday mornings are busy. I have 11 kids scheduled for that day. All of them were there this morning.

There was a lot of noise. The kids were happy to see each other. James and Hayden had a medical procedure over the break and were full of stories about it. Alex and his dad traveled to another state by train over the break, too. It sounds like they had a wonderful time.

The whole group spent the morning in conversation with me and with each other, a little loud but they're always so good. I played two games of chess with Colin, he's better every time we play.

Poor Stevie. After that two week break it was so hard for him to come back. He was a puddle of tears and angst when his mom dropped him off. She had to push him into the room. As soon as they got through the door he leaned against the wall BY the door and cried. She hugged him, told him, "I love you," and left him.

He didn't cry much longer, but he did not move from that spot. He left his coat on, hood up. I asked him a few times if he'd like a chair, or a toy,or some LEGO or a snack. His answer to each one of those questions was the same. Arms folded hard across his chest, turning away, sticking out his chin. He didn't speak a word for the entire 49 minutes he was with me.

When it was time to go to class, he grabbed his backpack from the floor where he had dropped it, waited until the other kids had walked out and followed, also ignoring my, "Have a good day,Buddy."

He's not being rude, though. He's just overwhelmed. He's not ready to be in school full time even though he's been there four months now.

I don't know what I can do for him other than what I'm doing now. Treat him kindly. Never change my demeanor or expression in a way that would cause him to think that he's not a good kid. I have to be firm with behaviors, as I can't allow kids to be mean to each other, but he's usually not one of the kids I have to remind.

I make it a point to greet every one of my children by name, take at least a couple minutes with each one during the course of a day and focus exclusively on that child and how things are going. Stevie is probably the most difficult one to do that with, as he really doesn't do linear conversation. When I asked him this afternoon if he liked what he got for Christmas, he told me about a Fortnight weapon. When he does that, he doesn't make eye contact,he speaks about three words in my general direction and then wanders away as he's speaking. I hate that I can't understand what he's saying. I try to give the appearance of listening carefully.

Stevie's mom has checked the little box on our intake form that allows me to discuss her child with school personnel. So I emailed our school counselor this morning with a 'I'm sure it's on your radar but' message. She's so good at what she does and cares so much about the kids. I won't know what steps she takes unless there's something I need to do, but that doesn't matter. She will take a good look at what's up with the little guy and that's a good thing.

So I'm glad to be back. Dreading summer already... unless I can somehow miraculously run a summer program. I'd even do it at a school that isn't mine... as long as I have advance notice.