Tuesday, January 29, 2008

What an Improvement!!

Jacob has always been a really busy kid. He doesn't slow down, or stop for much. I am talking SERIOUS energy...since he could move. Listening has always been something I work on with him. Having Sydney join the family when he was only 18 months old didn't work miracles on my discipline success! But it seems like every 6 months or so, he makes positive changes in his behavior.
Right after Christmas we learned from his natural doctor that his is VERY sensitive to sugar; his body has a hard time metabolizing it. So, since learning this we have really limited his sugar intake. (And he actually has gone along with it without much complaining) His behavior has dramatically improved...BIG Time! His preschool teacher even commented on how much more "mature" he has become recently. I've focused on pointing out to him when I see him listening well, or being helpful, or sharing, etc...and Jake's quite aware how well he is doing, and is very proud of himself.
So, I think the combination of being 4 1/2 and limited sugar intake has made a very dramatic impact on his behavior! Hooray!
Now we just have to decide if he is off to Kindergarten next year, or if we should hold him one year. He is a summer birthday, so we can really go either way. But, we have time to make that decision thankfully!

2 comments:

Pepper Bridges said...

I know this is your decision, but as a 17 year old graduate and Mark is too, we wish our parents had held us back another year. I had such a hard time with my classes, I was there more for the social aspect. Our baby will be born in July and there is no doubt we will hold him/her back till the next year. We feel there are lots of advantages to being held back and not very many with starting early. Good Luck with your decision, I know it is not an easy one.

Shannon said...

Thanks for your perspective! I appreciate it a lot. Most likely we'll hold him a year, because like you mentioned there are a lot of advantages to waiting to start.