Big Wows and Book Bucks

It's hard to believe the changes we've been seeing in Michael lately. On Friday, he was able to go on a school field trip and fully participate, even though he didn't know everyone. He actually raised his hand and answered questions. Before, I would have been terrified that he would get overwhelmed by all the stimulation and get into trouble or run away. I never expect to get glowing reports on field trip days. I could get used to this!

Michael has been willing to read to me for a while now, but he has never expressed any interest in doing the 'book bucks' journal for school. Basically, he has to keep a log of what he reads, and write a one sentence summary for each entry. Today, we read the first chapter of 'The Mystery of the Stolen Sword'. When I gently broached the subject of filling out the journal entry, he was all excited and happy.

Admitedly, his sentence was not the most compelling summary of what he read, but it did indicate that he understood what he read, and who the characters are. He even told me that we'd fill in another line when we read the next chapter. What happened next is what floored me. He went to the table of contents to see that there were ten chapters. Then he told me we would need to read two books to fill out the whole form. I was shocked not at the math, but that he was looking ahead and tacitly agreeing to fill in the whole journal.

We've been seeing so many high days, the low ones still catch me off guard. But, thankfully, they are fewer and far between. Yes, I am grinning from ear to ear.