Declan’s Day Highlighted!

I walked to the end of the driveway as Declan’s bus turned the corner and headed to our house.

As the bus was coming to a stop, I saw Declan’s head against his window, looking at me with confused eyes.

The bus stopped and the doors opened.  Declan sat and stared at me.

“Come on!” I encouraged to Declan through his window, “Time to get off the bus!”

Declan stood, went to the front of the bus to get his backpack and lunch box.

“Hey bud, how was your day?” I asked as he stumbled down the stairs staring at me.

Instead of answering my question, Declan blurted out, “Why can’t penguins fly?”

Not what I was prepared for at all.

“What?  Why can’t penguins fly?  Ummm, you know I don’t know.  I guess I would say because their bodies are so much bigger than their wings, but I don’t know if that is right.”

“Yeah,” Declan replied and added, “Maybe they don’t like to fly.”

“Maybe they don’t, you’re right,” I said as I opened the front door and ushered him inside, “Why don’t you watch a YouTube video about penguins and find out?”

“Okay,” he said, grabbed his device, headed to his trampoline and began to bounce.

After giving him his grilled cheese sandwich with a side of strawberries to munch on in between videos, I took his book bag to my desk chair to go through his homework folder.

I pulled out various papers and one homemade pamphlet.

I looked at it closer and smiled.  It was another homemade book he wrote with his 1/1 aid.  This one was titled, “Eat with Orca’s.”

I smiled and flipped through the pages.

His books always make me smile.

I put the book down and picked up a sheet I had acquired from Pinterest, labeled “10 Minutes to Highlight Your Day.”

I had printed the sheet for personal reflection.  A way to mark each day and to find something special or unique about it.

Truth be told, I never did the worksheet.  But maybe I could use it a different way….

“Hey Declan, come here.  I found something fun we can do together!”

And sure enough, Declan was intrigued.  We began to fill the form out.

“Ohhhhhhh, okay!” I thought when I heard he saw a video about penguins.

“Oh good!” I thought when he said his favorite thing he tasted today was donuts.  Now I know he likes them, I can put them on the rotation.

I laughed when I asked him when did he feel paper and he answered simply, “When I had paper.”

And that his favorite moment today was when he made his Orca book with his 1/1 aid during indoor recess.  Knowing that he has had a hard time with recess, I was happy to hear this was his favorite moment of the day.

 

“NO!”

“I don’t know.”

“Fine.”

These are the answers I get when I ask Declan about his day.  If I probe, I get an immediate, “STOP IT!  I DON’T WANT TO TALK ABOUT SCHOOL!”

I guess my approach could use a little tweak.  The question itself, “How was your day?” is probably too vague and hard for him to mentally break down.

I had no idea if he would be into this new worksheet, but am thrilled he was.  I learned so much more about Declan’s day from him and not through me guessing or asking another adult.

Hopefully he will keep this activity up with me.  Because I love hearing (and understanding) the highlights of Declan’s day!