I meet once a month with Ruby’s teacher to just chat about things she is working on, areas we can help with at home, things she is doing really well at, and everything in between. Last week at our meeting she told me that they were starting Spelling Tests this week. Her first one will be on Friday and my initial reaction is always to start sweating it (literally…ha!). But because she is fully included in her first grade class, she is working on all the same things they do. Some of her work may look a little different and be modified somewhat, but for the most part she is expected to do everything her peers do.

And you know what? Because of this she comes home and surprises me every.single.day with way she knows and what she CAN do. Working side by side with her peers pushes her to grow and learn in a way that we could never teach her. I wanted to get a leg up for her first test this Friday so I decided to give her a mock spelling test at home (you can see some of it in the video I posted in the comments of this post). She needed a little help in the beginning knowing exactly what I was asking her to do, but once she got it? She was sounding out the letters and doing it mostly by herself. She absorbs and learns SO MUCH in her school environment that a lot of the time she blows me away with the stuff she knows. This picture of Ruby and Nella is adorable and all, but this is truly how we learn…from EACH OTHER!! Pass me that beaker Ruby Doobs! We can all certainly learn a thing or two from you!!