Preschool tours have begun

Gasp!  Two posts in two days.  Don't worry.  It won't happen again.  I just wanted to write out how our first day of preschool touring went, because if I don't know my husband will never hear about it.  He says he has to read on facebook and this blog to know what's going in my life.  If he'd quit his job, let us buy an RV and just travel around like I said, we'd have much more time together.  Maybe. 

Back to the preschool tours.

We went to two preschools today.  They were both typical preschools.  I have 2 more typical ones I'd like to see, and then there's a few "special needs" (we call them LIU) ones I'd like to look at.  Decisions, decisions.

First of all, you may ask, If you're homeschooling, why are considering preschool?  Good question.  My long term goal is still to homeschool, and I plan on continuing our own curriculum at home on her "off" days.  (If we decide) She will go to preschool two days a week.  I'm not sure yet how the therapy at school will go, but we are planning on doing outpatient therapy also, so she will still get therapy.  Kamdyn is very motivated by her peers, and I am hoping that spending some time with other kids her age will encourage speech, language, and age appropriate behavior and play.  Just the little bit of time she spent in the classroom today, I could see how much it motivated her.  The first classroom visit, she only crawled once.  She wanted to be up with the other kids.  That's my main reason for wanting to do preschool.

The first preschool we went to had a teacher and one helper.  I could tell pretty quickly it wouldn't be a good fit for Kamdyn.  I asked about the "curriculum", and she didn't really have a clear cut plan.  I got the feeling that they spent most of their time playing and not as much on learning activities.  Kamdyn played around the room, while I sat, watched her play, and got a feeling for the classroom.  The teacher did a craft with the kids.  She would verbally correct them if they needed help, but there wasn't much hands-on help.  I don't want to assume that Kamdyn will need extra help, but chances are that she will, and I didn't feel like that would be something they would want to do.  While I was observing, the teacher, who is an older lady, asked me what "they" say Kamdyn's age level is, and what level do "they" think she'll be able to reach.  There was a time, when I would have answered that.  Now, I wouldn't even think about giving someone an age level.  Why?  So they can underestimate her?  So they can have an excuse why they shouldn't push her?  I don't think so.  My answer was that she is evaluated once a year, and they give us age equivalencies, but I don't know them (I really don't.  I don't remember what they are now.)  Then, I explained to her that our goal with Kamdyn is to expect the same things out of her as any other child, and then adapt where necessary.  If we don't, we'll never know what she really is capable of.  On our way out, I had to change Kamdyn's diaper, and the assistant brought a child to the bathroom while we were in there.  She stopped at the door, while the child went into the bathroom and used it independently.  Once again, I don't want to assume that Kamdyn will need help, but c'mon.  It's a regular sized toilet, and she's a head shorter than the average kid her age.  I asked the assistant what the potty training requirement was, and she said that if she pooped while she was at school, they would call me to come change it.  What!?  So if I'm at the grocery store, for example, I would have to finish, take my stuff home, and rush to school, all the while Kamdyn sits in her poop.  Ain't gonna happen, y'all. 

The second preschool was everything I would want.  The classrooms had 3 teachers in them. The teachers sat with the kids while they played, and they were more hands-on.  This preschool starts at 2 and goes up until they graduate to Kindergarten, and they just had a little girl with Down syndrome graduate last year.  And they just "get it".  They said we could start Kamdyn in the twos room if her attention span isn't quite ready for the threes room yet, but we can move her up whenever she's ready.  They understand that I want to push her to do her best, while helping where needed.  The rooms have a bathroom in them, and the potty is toddler-sized, and they help the parents potty train.  Best of all, if she poops, they will change it (haha).  Their curriculum is a letter of the alphabet a week.  Whatever letter they are working on dictates the theme that week.  They pick crafts, activities, and other things that go along with the letter.  They also just started using Handwriting Without Tears this year.  Kamdyn just started some basic stuff with her OT, so this would pick up perfectly with where she will be leaving off.  The circle time is focused on teaching letters and other things, but they also sing songs.  At this point, this school is the front runner, but I still have more to look at.  After today, I actually feel pretty good about everything.

I did have a little break down, while we were at lunch with my friend, who watched Madison and Austin for me.  In my head I know that there is nothing wrong with keeping Kamdyn in a twos room, even when she is 3.  I know that if she isn't able to focus like the other kids in the classroom or participate like they do, it may lead to her being frustrated, which could even cause her to misbehave.  I know that.  But I hate it.  I want her to be able to be right there with the kids her age.  I want everything to be the same, but sometimes its not.  And sometimes, that hurts.  Today it did.  I'm not resigning to the idea yet, because we have the rest of the year and all the through the summer before we will know what Kamdyn's attention span and abilities are when she enters school.  But for now, she was able to sit with the group of kids in circle time for about 2 minutes before she was done.  She's the same way at home, when we do our circle time, so it's something we need to work on. 

Our next tours will be after Christmas, and then in Feburary, I'll go visit some of the LIU (special needs) classes and see how I feel about those.