Mini-Society Night...

Last week, Max got to participate in the 3rd Grade mini-society night.  He worked long and hard on making his product, My Work, My Play, My Music.  The CD of his music which he sold at his store at school.



We got him set up in the corner of the classroom, near the door, in case we needed to make a quick escape.





Once the store was open, chaos ensued and he was selling CD's left and right.  It was all with their own currency, so he didn't make any real money, but he had so much fun!  He set the price of his CD's at $20, and his first buyer was the school's P.E. teacher.



His classmates were encouraging him the whole time, and making sure the buyers made it to Max's desk to buy a CD.



At one point I looked over at Max and saw he was smiling from ear to ear.  He was genuinely so excited to be at school!  He was participating with his classmates in a way he's never been able to before.  The thrill of being there with his classmates, being proud of the product he was selling, and all the excitement was so much that he just had to let out of few squeals.



I asked him if he was having fun, and how he was feeling.



His badge was on his desk with his picture on it, proving he was "official" to sell his product.

He worked at getting people to come to his desk, although no one could hear his computer talking, he was calling them over.


"Look at me at me you people want"

A lot of "please wait for me to answer" being thrown out there because people would say hello, good to see you Max, then move on.  Not a lot of time to stop and wait for him to answer.

Before we knew it, he was down to his last couple of CD's, out of 65.


We sent Daddy around to buy one of all his classmates products, and into the neighboring rooms to buy from classmates from other years.


And he came back with a few items he just thought were clever.


Today, during school, he and Mrs. S. counted up all his money. He had a lot of it!

This was the $50's, he had to tell her how many he had.  He got it right, $850.

In the end, these were his totals.


He told us it was his allowance, and it sort of is.  He gets to buy something special with his profit, just like his classmates get to with their profit.


He was concentrating while she added up this huge problem, but got really excited with it too.  I don't know if it was because he made so much money, or he loved the huge math problem.  My guess is all the money.


It was such a great project for him to participate in.  In the last couple of months, he felt truly included.  He got to make a flag that was voted on, and in the running for their class flag.  He got to collaborate with classmates at his music therapy time to make a few songs that are on his CD.  His classmates gave him an opinion of what they thought of his music.   And he got to do a very special project with his Mrs. Laura to make such beautiful music.

When we started this project, several teachers said wouldn't it be great for him to make the CD for school, but also sell it on his webpage to raise funds for music therapy.  We agreed, a great idea!  The CD came out the same day as the mini-society night and we sold a few copies, which is definitely going to help off-set the costs of music therapy, which comes out of pocket.  But, seeing Max so excited and so proud on that night with his classmates and friends, selling the CD he worked so hard for...for fake school money...that was his reward.  And that's what was important.  He taught me a great lesson that night.  One that makes my heart full, and so proud of who he is.  He wants to share his music, because it's his joy.  His work, his play, his music.