End of Era

This should have been posted last Friday, but I wanted to post the “current event” items that I did. However, Friday marked the end of an era.
For the last six years I have almost daily had to work preparing materials for Ricki’s Aide to use in her inclusion. The year before that, when she was homeschooled, a full day each week was spent making materials for the next week. And before that, I spent some 3 years making games, flash cards, word cards, etc. for Ricki’s reading program. But the most labor-intensive of these years were the last three, when she was in higher grades, and needed more adaptations than when she was younger, and the Hebrew texts were not that easy for me to read. (Hebrew is a second language for me.)
Suddenly, its over. Ricki finishes eighth* grade in 2 weeks, and these last two weeks are devoted entirely to graduation and end-of-the year-play rehearsals. Her studies in an inclusive class are finished; next year she will be in a special-education class. The teachers will have to do the preparing.**
Of course, it doesn’t mean that I won’t be preparing materials. (I’m probably addicted already.....) I will surely do stuff with Ricki in the afternoons. In fact, on that memorable “last day of studies” Friday last week, I drew a quick map of our neighborhood, and had Ricki join me on an errand, and practice finding the address/location of a place one is unfamiliar with.
The difference is that the pressure is off. No more “must do today” work. And I can choose to teach and spend time on topics of my choice. There need no longer be the scene of my staying awake to 2 AM to prepare a topic, only to discover that the teacher changed her mind at the last moment, and did something else entirely. I am glad I did what I did, but I am happy to be moving on.

(Pictured: a template designed to encourage writing sentences on family events for "writing sentences" instruction.)
[* The reason I prepared materials for six years rather than 8 is that Ricki was in first through third grades at one school, in a class of girls younger than her, and in fourth grade she switched schools, and they jumped her up to her age level, to sixth grade....]
[** I know, in America, the aid does the adaptations, but inclusion is still pretty much in its infancy here. Ricki was the firstchild fully INTEGRATED in grade school ( as opposed to mainstreamed) here in our town.]