Another First: Preschool!

Monday was supposed to be Claire's first day at preschool, but the bug she's been fighting since Christmas came back in the form of a fever Saturday night, and her first day got pushed back.  She spent Monday and Tuesday home with Mimi, and Wednesday turned into her first day of school!

We met her teachers in a home visit a week prior, and had their pictures up on the fridge.  We've been practicing their names every time we walk into the kitchen and have flipped through her transition photo book countless times.

Wednesday morning my mom kept Bridget so that I could take Claire to school.  After two days with Mimi she wasn't thrilled to leave Mimi behind, but she was excited to see friends.  When she's not at day care (school) or preschool (tree school) she's constantly asking for friends.

When we walked into the school Wednesday morning the director was waiting for us to walk Claire to her classroom.  We got to be the first ones in the classroom that morning.  Claire walked in, but didn't get much past the doorway before she just stopped and took everything in.  We moved out of the doorway and watched a few other kids and parents come in.  Claire then took her teacher's hand and they walked off to get her name tag and wash her hands.  I watched for a few minutes, then waved goodbye and slipped out the door.

Her first day was GREAT!  The only "issue" they had was hand washing....she wouldn't finish and let the other kids have a turn.  She had quite a line of kids behind her waiting for their turn, so now they are singing the ABCs, and when the song is over Claire has to be done.

She was a little tired when she got home, and fell asleep a bit earlier for nap than usual yesterday, but she couldn't wait to go back to school this morning.  She had another great drop off today.  She found her name tag without any help this morning, and was happily waiting to wash her hands when I left!

The IEP

Last week was the first of many IEP meetings we will have for Claire in the years to come.  While not really excited about it, I wasn't dreading it either.  Our district preschool is inclusive, and the teacher Claire was placed with had a student with Down syndrome in her class for the last two years.  While every child is different, it's so nice that J (Claire's teacher) is at least familiar with Ds.

Since many of the providers haven't met Claire, I prepared a packet with some additional info on her, how she communicates, and her likes and dislikes.  It also included some general info on Down syndrome and some communication strategies.  The packet I used also included a spot for a photo, which I love as it helps remind everyone that all of this is for *Claire*.

Claire's services in school will be 30 minutes a week each of ST, OT and sign language support.

After the IEP meeting we walked through Claire's classroom to make sure that all places in it were accessible to her, and picked out her cubby.  There is a little person in Claire's class so we were easily able to find a chair and coat hook that will fit her!

Today we finish her behavior support plan, next week is her home visit with her teachers, and the week after that she starts school!

She made it a week....

So I should have written this post last week, but just didn't feel like it because I was bummed out.

I knew that I was probably being naive thinking a new daycare would just instantly fix all the biting...and it didn't.  She made it a week.  Three bites last week  Two on one day, one a couple of days later.  Two were squabbles over toys, the other one was a "big" kid helping too much.  I get it.  She was frustrated.

But I feel so bad that I haven't found the "thing" that teaches her this isn't okay.  Usually, I feel like I know her so well, and now I just feel like I'm missing something...

Drop offs in the morning are a bit rough too, and we're both struggling with that.  I can literally count the number of times she cried in the mornings going to her other daycare, and now the mornings are filled with lots of tears.  When I pick her up in the afternoon she is great, just playing away, but I really hate leaving her crying every morning.

I know this is a big change and she's still adjusting, but *ugh* I really hope things even out before we have to introduce preschool in a couple of months...

New School

Today is Claire's first day at her new school.  It's a brand new facility, and it is a combination preschool and daycare.  Right now, Claire is going to start with just daycare, but we might add morning preschool two days a week for her.  She will start at the district preschool in January, and it will be four mornings a week.  I think the two mornings of preschool might be a nice transition for her.

Claire has been at her previous daycare center since just before her first birthday.  They were there through so many milestones...crawling, walking, first signs and first words.  It's bittersweet to leave, but Claire needs a different environment.  A room full of 13-16 months old isn't challenging  her to do new things, and they are prey for her constant biting.  Her last day at daycare was *hard*.  She came home with six bite reports, when her previous record was three.

Claire will know four or five kids at the new center.  They are mostly kids that were in the previous daycare, but that had to move because they had turned three, so she hasn't seen a couple of them for a while.  I'm glad she will have some familiar faces, but am still awfully nervous.  It will take the staff a  little while to get to know Claire, and while her speech is coming along, her two dozen or so words won't tell them much.  The director has been brushing up on her signing skills, but I have a hard time with some of Claire's signs occasionally, and I know my girl well.

The drop off at school this morning went....ok.  I wasn't as impressed as I wanted to be.  The daycare room has doors off of it that lead to the kitchen and the lobby.  Apparently, they usually leave these doors open.  In the 20 or so minutes I was there with Claire she was (obviously) in and out of all the rooms many times over.   She may stay in her room with the doors open, but I seriously doubt she will.  Other things will probably need to be moved if the staff doesn't want her touching them.  A cd player on a low table just calls Claire's name.  I know we will get these things all worked out together, but today I have a feeling that Claire will show the staff * exactly* what changes need to be made.  The staff that was in there this morning already remarked on how busy she is...yes, she's 2 1/2.  She's into everything, exploring and playing.  You will not be able to sit back and just watch her....

The daycare room only had about six kids in it this morning, since a lot of them are in preschool.  This should give the staff a chance to get to know Claire a bit more before they add a bunch of kids for lunch and afternoon daycare.  

I hope that this change will be exactly what Claire needs.  She'll have peer models that are once again older than her.  I hope that her speech continues to take off, and that her behavior gets under control.  I hope that this is just the transition she needs to be successful in preschool in a few months.

Early Intervention to Preschool Transition

Even though Claire won't be three until January, we've already started worrying about working on the transition to preschool.  We live in a fairly small town, and because of this there are limited preschool options, some of which would need to start at two and a half.

We marked Head Start off our list early.  The location of the program is a bit of a drive and would require a lot of flexibility at work, or a bus ride for Claire.  I'm not ok putting a non-verbal two year old on a bus, so that was out.

Next to be scratched off our list was our church preschool/daycare.  I approached them before Claire's first birthday to see about her attending daycare there.  I told them she wouldn't be walking by then (a requirement), and wanted to know if there were any exceptions that could be made.  I was told they checked with the state and that nothing could be done.  Maybe they checked, maybe they didn't.  All I know is that the daycare we have Claire in now quickly found a way for her to be in the toddler room with her peers even though she wasn't walking.  Which leads me to assume (dangerous, I know) that they just didn't want to be bothered by Claire's "needs" and this was the easiest way to get out of her being there.  If a program can't put forth a little extra effort for my child, I don't want her there.

This left us with two options.  The in district half day preschool program, and an out of district (private) all day preschool/daycare option.

The out of district school is where we would eventually like Claire to go, but we decided against their preschool program for now. First of all, she would have to start this fall, at two and a half, to be guaranteed a spot.  Second, it's a bit of a drive, about 20 minutes.  I can do that with my work schedule, but it does add a little extra crazy to our morning.  The biggest drawback for me with this preschool was the room itself.  The preschool room is SMALL.  Probably a third of the size of the daycare room she's in now.  Add in all the preschool stations, almost double the number of kids she's used to (some of them easily twice her size), and I see her being totally overwhelmed.  Also, while there is supposed to be a nap/quiet time in the afternoons, I don't see the one small room ever really getting quiet enough for her to nap well.  And a good nap is essential for all of our well being.  In addition to all of that, the daycare will also take siblings to age 12 after school, adding more big kids to an already crowded small room.

The in district option has quite a few advantages, at least for this first preschool year.  First, she can transition at three.  They will guarantee her a morning spot, which will leave her afternoons open for the all important nap.  There are five classrooms, and while it is a mixed age group (bigger kids) the rooms are large enough that I'm confident she can find a quiet spot if she needs to decompress for a bit.  She'll also be in the same town as me.  If something comes up, I'll be five minutes away, instead of 25 minutes away.

My one concern about this preschool, which will be addressed, is that when I visited, the classroom I was shown seemed to have a lot of children with special needs in it.  Of course, this was the room that was recommended for Claire.  It was presented as the choice for her as there is usually an aide there and that the teacher knows some sign (which is good), however I will not have her placed in that room *because* she has Down syndrome.  When I visited there were eight children in the room (the other small group of eight was in another room for a project), and 3 or 4 of them had noticeable special needs.  I am concerned that this room has become the unofficial "special ed" preschool class.

Now that the where has been decided, we are focusing on the when.  Claire could start preschool at two and and half.  I would prefer she start at three, but we will also be changing daycare (her center only goes to age 3), and I want to space the changes out so we don't have new daycare and preschool dropped on her all at once.  We have begun the daycare search, and I hope to have her settled someplace new this summer, so that she can start preschool after the winter break.

The next daunting task is the IEP...