As worried as we all were about beginning preschool and thought we found the right fit, one would assume she stayed there, loved it, learned lots, and jumped into K ready to go. Well. That didn't happen. Nothing awful happened either. The school she was at was far too crowded for my liking and even more so, Addilyn's. If anyone would ask her about school, she would just say "There's a lot of kids.". She never got upset, never cried, and always seemed happy to go just never knew another child's name, didn't know what was going on, etc. And, we were still taking her to speech twice a week after school. Meaning I attempted to keep three children under 2 happy in a small waiting room twice a week for a half hour. It was so not fun.
So, when we were at speech a few weeks ago and a social worker for the early childhood center informs me that they have a Title 1 opening as a peer model in a special needs class and would we like to bring her here? Oh, and she can have speech during preschool time, a bus will pick her up and drop her off at your driveway (only to you or your husband), and her class has 5 kids. And, just as a reminder...Title 1 preschools are completely free (told you we didn't make a lot of money. ;) ). We didn't really love the idea of switching her just as she could tell us one child's name in her class. But, that's a lot of positives. Then I email her soon to be teacher to see if we could meet her and see the classroom before we decided for sure. She emailed me back quickly, excited to meet us, even used some of her precious lunch time to do so, and sent me a social story of pictures of the places in the school so Addilyn could learn about it before coming. On Addilyn's first day, she sent me a picture collage of things she did during the day. I've been so impressed. I know when she gets to Kindergarten, she'll have to get used to a bigger class again. But, hopefully by then she will be accustomed to a school setting and environment (while being away from her family-that's still a struggle for her sometimes) so the amount of kids will be the only new thing and she'll be able to learn and thrive. Because I don't know that she would have been able to truly learn anything new in a class as large as hers was.
So, we let go of her hand just a little bit more and she rides the bus to school and home from school because it makes our lives SOOO much easier. One car meant anytime we had to take Addilyn to school or speech we (4 kids during the day) all had to get in and out of the car multiple times to drop derrick off for work, get Addilyn where she needed to go, pick them both up which would ALWAYS mess up nap times, etc.
Derrick and I were both terrified for her. She on the other hand thought it was the coolest thing ever. She feels like such a big kid.
She's only been there a few weeks and she can already tell me all the kids in her class, some in the class they do music with, sing me a song they learned, tell me about books they read in the library, and so much more. I'm so proud of her and am thankful to God for giving me these positive glimpses so fast, helps a mom know we made the right decision.
She still misses Josiah. A lot apparently. This was our conversation waiting for the bus earlier this week:
"Mom, does Josiah miss me during the day?" Addilyn
"Of course! He asks me lots of times where you are and wants to come pick you up. I bet you miss him a little bit too, don't you?"
"No. Not a little bit. A lot. I cried a little at school yesterday I missed you guys so much. But I know I get to come home and see you!"
And then she squeals out of excitement that the bus is here and jumps right on.
Thankful that she is ok missing us and still excited to go to school. Today she took a family picture to school just in case she needed to see our faces (her teacher's idea).
Thankful that she is ok missing us and still excited to go to school. Today she took a family picture to school just in case she needed to see our faces (her teacher's idea).
