Updates in a Nutshell- Starting with Gratton

I haven't done a post in eight months ago, but it is time. I haven't posted because life has been really really hard. Not that good things haven't happened as well. But every time something good happens, something with my health changes, or we have some big upheaval in our life and I use all the strength I've got to barely get through it for ONE MORE FREAKING DAY!! But I'm coping with things better, so I am going to get back to blogging. I'm too sick to work, so I have the time, if not always the energy :-)

So The last post was about Gratton's first day of first day. Well when he finishes this year, he will start next year as a fourth grader! That was definitely not how I saw this year going for him academically. 

The parent teacher conference with his first grade teacher in Idaho did not exactly go well. He was doing great academically and socially of course, but his teacher literally said "I just don't know what to do with Gratton." He was so far above the other students in the highest learning group of the class that she said she just didn't know what to do. She did make sure to tell us though how impressed she was, that even though he is far above his peers academically, and he knows it-  he doesn't ever treat his peers like he is better than they are. Having humble children is very important to me, and is something I have worked hard to instill in him. I was very glad to hear that some good came of the humility lessons.

His first grade teacher in Idaho was the sweetest lady; she'd just never had a student like Gratton before. He is very bright, and he is constantly seeking for more knowledge. I often have to look up  answers to questions he has involving physics and science, about things that I have never even thought of. He is one of a kind.

Gratton was getting very bored in school before Idaho, to the point that he was begging me to stay home. Every day he would tell me that he learned nothing, and that he was wasting time that he could've been at home actually learning things. I really think that he can get a better education from school though, than with me and my cognitive issues that I have from my Systemic Lupus, and my blood disorder. I am smart, but he deserves a better education than I can offer him at home. I also really think that the social skills learned in school are very important. Because of this, I did some research before moving to Utah, and found a school that I thought would be good for him. 

Once we moved, he had an interview at the Charter School, was accepted, and we went uniform shopping. The interview/tour was pretty awesome;  Gratton was asking the vice principal questions, and informed her that he was going to need advanced classes. It honestly felt like my son was interviewing her!  

So once he started, they spent a few weeks testing him, trying out different classes and approaches, and finally they had a conference with the principal about his education plan. There were quite a few teachers involved in creating this plan. I really couldn't believe how thorough they were, deciding on an actual educational plan for Gratton. We finally got a phone call from his teacher, asking permission to fully integrate Gratton into third grade. They had already tried him in second grade classes, but he still wasn't challenged properly. We agreed, but asked that he still be able to do homeroom with his first grade peers for the last few months of the school year. He had already had to leave behind his peers in Idaho, and had been with the first graders at his new school for a month, and was excited about these new friends. So he goes to homeroom with his first grade friends at the beginning and end of the days, but then goes to third grade for his math, science, english and language arts- all the academic classes. He'll start 4th grade as a 7yr old in a few months.

He loves his third grade classes because he says it's finally challenging, and also that the students are not as loud. He doesn't like how loud the kids his own age are. When he's doing his work, he likes to focus, and was getting frustrated with how immature his first grade classmates were. That part of the conversation with his teacher was actually really funny, when she said she thought he would be more comfortable with older peers because he's so much more mature than kids his age. He talks and acts like a miniature adult; he was just born that way!

Gratton has also done a few pretty big acting auditions this last year! The movie in theaters right now- A Quiet Place- he auditioned for it! His Manager in Santa Monica submitted him for it with a first video submission, and then he actually got an official audition, which is a pretty big deal. It's so hard getting past the first submission. The casting director even said he was adorable! 

He really wants to be an actor, so now that we're in Utah, his manager from CA said we should get him a local agent for print and commercials, for practice. So I am working on that right now. He got to do an audition for a pilot series for CBS a few weeks a go too. It was very impressive that he was able to do that one- there was 13 pages of script that he learned in one day! He is the one who wants to do it though, David and I are far from stage parents. We just want to support our kids ambitions. Kahlan hasn't decided if she's interested at all. She says it looks like too much work, which is completely fine to me!

Next post I'll update you about Kahlan, our nutsy kookoo child. Boy how we love her!