So suddenly it's September and I'm not sure where the time is flying off to but it sure is flying. This has been a very busy week for Noah, one of many firsts! There have been many emotions through out the week that I hope have been hidden from Noah - mostly with him starting preschool this week. We are still homeschooling - but the district here felt that the best fit for his IEP for speech would be their community based program that is actually at the CDC on base for our location. We asked lots of questions and really prayed about the best place for Noah to be. Our reservations were many, including the fact that he'd be out of our care for 10 hours a week, quite a jump for us! We also had not heard great things about the schools here from really anyone, doctors, parents, speech teachers, etc. However, it did give us a bit more hope that things would be run smoothly since we had such a good experience with preschool last year at the CDC. Noah would get to ride the bus and this excited him greatly! So we registered him and met his preschool teacher last week during a home-visit.
The home visit confirmed for me 2 things - one that I thought he would do fine and learn and have a good experience at preschool. The teacher seemed experienced and knowledgeable, she was very good with Noah and he was excited. The second thing it confirmed though was that I really thought homeschooling would be the best fit right now for our family. The meeting went well, however, I had a million questions about how we'd have daily/regular communication about how Noah's day went, how we'd communicate regularly with his speech teacher on homework and sounds to work on and such, how would we know what areas he was struggling with and excelling at. I wanted to know more details about the curriculum and lesson plans, how were these things decided. I wanted to know what happened if Noah was getting something quickly, would there be opportunities then that would challenge him and of course what if he was struggling in an area what would be done to help him master something? Yes, basically I wanted to have some control or at least know all the details. I was sad thinking about not knowing what he would do for 10 hours a day. There would be no daily communication (which I find disappointing, every school that I have worked with at all - which is only 5 I know if you count my pre-service teaching experiences - has had daily communication folders for at least the primary grades).
I have had an emotional week with preschool. The first day was much more chaotic for dropping off than either Mike or I were comfortable with, it was quite different than last year. The inclusive environment that we were assured was there seemed to be missing as there was a constant "Ms. Rosie's kids" statements everywhere we turned. The bus picked up Noah on Tuesday and then called me after they had dropped him off to ensure they had dropped him off at the correct place and they weren't sure how he would get home. To call me after the fact was upsetting! Then it was that he hadn't been put in the system correctly or it wasn't showing up so that we could sign the consent forms for testing to redo his IEP. There is legally 30 days from the time we sign the consent form and I tried to make sure that all the paperwork was complete before school started. Essentially I have filled out the same forms 3 different times because it doesn't seem to get from one office to the teacher or the other office. Then yesterday to top it off they asked if I could bring in a copy of his IEP from NE because they couldn't locate it either. Now that is the third time or fourth time that we have provided them with a copy of the NE IEP - and I am concerned that you have a child in your classroom that has an IEP which will direct you as to how to best teach and accommodate that child and you don't have a copy...that is crazy to me! Now thankfully for Noah he simply has speech concerns and I am sure they have been able to accommodate him fine, but the point is that it should be to the teacher!
I am sure that his teacher is very capable and caring, the district is a large district which I know causes some issues and obstacles. I am sure as a teacher the hoops are frustrating and they must work within the district confines - but still as a parent it has been beyond frustrating. I think having taught previously, and even for a very large district, I feel like I know how things should run, as a parent I want only the best for my child and the combination of these two things has created some heartache this week.
The best news is that Noah has not seen any of this, he has enjoyed the bus ride and has really enjoyed school. He made red play dough on Monday, bracelets yesterday and got to paint. There are even a Simon and Jacob in his class, though he said not Simon like Simon, you know Simon in Bellevue. I am doing my best to put behind us the negative and focus on the positive things, but still feel like I am slightly cautious that Noah is getting what he needs from the program. This week we've taken off from homeschooling - partially to let us all adjust to a new schedule (preschool is in the afternoon) and also partially because I slacked off on the planning this weekend because of preschool and running around. Stayed tuned, we took some pictures of the first day (2 only sadly) and a few from the first bus ride - I will get those posted and some updates on the rest of the big week Noah is having!
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