I never know what to expect when Hailey's teacher or therapist walks her to the car after school or I get an email from her teacher. Actually, my heart skips a beat. The boys have always acted a little different at school than they do at home. They listen a little better and they are a little quieter. It's always interesting to hear how they act in their own domain without mom and dad around.
With Hailey, it has been a little bit different. Her personality seems to be very similar at home and at school. Hailey's teacher started our conference going over what she showed during her testing. She identifies some of her letters and some of her numbers. She "knows" all of her colors and has shown her teacher but didn't show it during testing. She also showed me a paper that the other kids tested on. They sat in their seats for quite awhile working on it. Hailey didn't follow instructions so to speak, but she stayed in her seat the entire time and focused on what she was doing. That seems minor to some, but that is great for her focusing and listening without anyone prompting her or redirecting her. Hailey knows all of her classmates and they play well together.
With the boys, I mainly focused on academics and social skills. With Hailey, I ask a few more questions about stuff that other people may not think about. We talked about transitioning. Hailey had issues when school first started with transitioning from one task to another. She is like that at home as well. If she is playing with her dolls, you can't just spring on her "let's go outside". She has to finish her train of thought and it might involve her putting stuff away as well. At school, they obviously don't have time for Hailey to finish what she feel is important so she uses a visual schedule that shows her what the next task is. It seems to be working well so we are going to implement a couple of them at home. One for morning routine..lunch routine and then bedtime routine. I asked how Hailey does with coming into class in the morning. She takes off her coat and hangs it and her backpack up and sits down for table time. She has difficulty putting her jacket on, but they are working on it. She's getting better at sitting for circle time (she ran off a few times). Her favorite part of school is the dramatic play area. She loves it when it is set up as a pet clinic...wonder why?!?!
We are very fortunate with our preschool. We have been told, it is a hidden gem and I truly believe it. Every teacher, para, therapist or administrator at that school seems to have the same passion about the school. I feel like they truly love my daughter and expect her to learn exactly what the other students do. They push her when she needs pushed and give in when they think she needs it. Of all the "stunts" Hailey has pulled, I have never heard an ounce of negativity or dread in their voice. They seem to think she likes to test the waters and see what she can get away with. They handle everything like true professionals.
I am grateful that there are only 9 in her class...they can have up to 12. 6 typicals and 6 atypical (on an IEP). It seems to be a good number for Hailey right now. The speech therapist was in there during my conference. The two of them shared a few funny stories with me. Hailey seems to like to take on the role of "teacher". She tries to stand in front of class and lead the class in the days of the week song. She has been known to sit in the teacher's chair and declare "I read it". One "friend" wasn't following directions and joining everyone for story time. Hailey was very bothered by it and seemed annoyed that the teacher wasn't doing anything about it (she was ignoring the bad behavior). Hailey couldn't take it any longer and went over to get the friend and try to persuade her to join everyone for the story. Apparently, Hailey thinks it is okay if she doesn't follow rules, but for everyone else....it's a different story!!!
Yesterday, they were washing their hands and Hailey decided that no one would notice if she threw away her glasses along with her paper towel. She's quite the stinker!!! She is speaking more and more at school. She is using more two and three word phrases every day. This is huge in itself because at the end of last school year, she still wasn't speaking to her teacher!
Knock on wood, school is going good for Hailey...attitude and all. She is an active participant in school and is learning along with her peers. For the most part, she's no more disruptive than any other 3 year old and she is learning her alphabet, numbers, days of the week and how to use the computer. She truly seems to be thriving at school and I am very grateful for the supportive dedicated team that we have at school. However, even with all those positives, we have an IEP meeting in two weeks....and I'm already getting nervous about it!
I don't have a new pic of Hailey so I guess I will just post her artwork that was outside of her classroom last night. It is from Hailey's new favorite book.
Sounds like Hailey is making some fantastic progress! Getting into the swing of school can take awhile. Owen is just now really understanding his role as a student and this is his 3rd year of school. It's so awesome to watch them grow into themselves and really develop a personality. I know Miss Attitude has got that part down!
ReplyDelete