CB is 4 years old…
Olem (my partner, husband and trusty-confidant) and I have been deliberating for months over where CB will attend preschool for the fall. Currently, CB goes to preschool at the local public preschool for children with disabilities M-F from 7:45am-10:45am. For the 4 year old program for next year, the schedule changes to 7:45am-2:00pm M-F. This felt like a big adjustment from the current preschool schedule. On top of that, CB still needs to attend his private therapies and selected sports activities and potentially take naps. We toured a language-focused school in the area and highly considered sending CB there for the next year. Besides the big schedule adjustment, we weren’t sure CB’s teacher would be the best fit for him. His teacher will most likely be the same one next year and we weren’t sure her personality meshed with our son’s. We were also concerned his personality was being stifled. After evaluating the other school and really comparing both options, we determined that his current school is the best fit for the following reasons:
- His executive function has improved greatly while attending the public preschool
- CB is the most aggressive of his classmates so the fear of being bullied or learning negative physical behaviors is less of a concern (assuming his class remains fairly similar)
- CB’s class is diverse (on many levels)
- CB is thriving and appears to enjoy going to school
- The classroom is quiet which helps CB to focus and not be distracted by other sounds
- CB performs best in a structured environment and the program is very structured
- The preschool introduces the concepts CB will need to master in kinder. CB needs to perform tasks over and over before he learns them. Getting the extra practice is very important for CB.
- We plan to keep CB in public school if we can so CB is learning early what to expect.
- CB receives 2 speech therapy sessions provided by the school a week
- The program incorporates the handwriting without tears principles, which we think the multi-sensory method will be easier for CB to learn his letters.
- Although, the class is more rigid than we prefer (especially for a 3 or 4 year old), we realized that CB needs more rigidity than we prefer.
- Even though CB’s teacher is more firm than we prefer, CB is doing very well in the class.
- We hope this will boost his confidence b/c he will have a good foundation for starting kinder the following year.
- We can always transfer him to the private language school if the public preschool system is not working out.
Homeschooling is not a serious consideration. CB performs well for his teachers and therapists but fights Olem & I tooth and nail at home when we recommend an activity he is unsure he wants to do.
Glowing Glances: Last Tuesday, we visited a pediatric therapy play gym CB has played at 2x before. They have all sorts of equipment used by physical therapists, including a ball pit, rock climbing wall, kid-size building blocks, 7 different types of swings, and much more. CB tried all 7 different types of swings comfortably and enjoyed them :). On one of the swings where you stand on the triangular base and hold on to the ropes, CB was jumping while the swing was moving in circles. I can’t believe it!!
UPDATE 6/17/15: We are still hesitant about the public preschool due to the requirement for him to go M-F 7:45-2:00. We plan to try to use the dual enrollment option to have CB attend public preschool M-TH 7:45-2:00, with the exception of getting out a little early on Mondays for private speech therapy. On Fridays, I plan to home school him. This will provide more time for playdates with his typically developing friends, outdoor play, time with his younger brother who greatly influences him, and time that I can spend with him :). Our state law “made the decision to allow 3- and 4-year-olds to be dually enrolled to give them more opportunities to interact with their typically developing peers”. The students can be enrolled in public/private school or public/home school.