Days 30 and 31

So Zack was so cute today. . .we were doing our sight words in literacy (he stayed with me the whole literacy block today for the first time in a while), and he knew the word "they" before all of the other kids! His letter recognition is still slow, so for him to be able to put the four letters together and know the word from memory was great. His vision teacher was thrilled! We did "choose someone you've never been with before" partners in math today, and one little boy who hasn't seemed to notice Zack couldn't wait to be his partner. There was even a small argument over who asked Zack first. . .the kids really love him. He is assigned to be one of two lunch tub carriers this week, and the other child who is carrying the tub with him seems to be bonding with Zack, too. I was really hesitant to give him that type of a classroom job, but I am fighting my instincts and trying to treat him just like everyone else. I've noticed him "parroting" or echoing my words and the kids' words during a story or when we're doing our discussion in reading. . .is this part of a developmental thing or just his response to his environment? I'm going to have to start doing some additional reading and research to be able to generate enough info for the blog as I'm finding I'm not working with him enough to have new information to share every day. One article that was referenced in my visually impaired education text book relating to the developmental delays in blind children was really interesting. I'd like to dig in deeper to this and start to watch Zack in comparison with the other kids. I think it will give me more food for thought. . .