Kindy Sneak Peek

Oy. Samantha grabbed the laptop the other day and hit Publish on this post when it was not anywhere near complete. If any of you saw it flash up in Networked Blogs or on other people's blog rolls, my apologies...

At our IEP meeting a few weeks ago, it was suggested that, due to Samantha's issues transitioning into new environments, we bring her over to her home school a few times before the end of the year to meet the office staff, the principals, and the two Kindergarten teachers. The hope is that if she feels comfortable enough with them and the new scenery (seriously, the scenery is hardly new, considering every single elementary school in the area has exactly. the. same. layout as her current school), the transition to the new class will be at least a little bit less traumatic.

Obviously, at the IEP meeting, only her current teachers/therapists/Vice Principal actually knew Samantha. The Kindergarten teacher from the home school (we won't know until much later which of the two Kindy teachers she'll actually have next year), as well as their Vice Principal and Special Education teacher, had never met Samantha, but got to hear everyone speak very highly of her. But through blogs and Facebook and all of the other Down syndrome resources out there, I have heard time and time again of schools and teachers who are considerably less than enthusiastic to have a child with Ds in their midst, for any number of reasons. The families immediately feel that the welcome wagon had passed them by, and that there was no red carpet to greet them. Worse, they often feel that their child may be neglected or left behind in the classes, or made to not feel a part of the class.

While the home school members of the IEP team never once seemed to be hesitant about Samantha's imminent entrance into Kindergarten there, I couldn't help remembering all of those stories. I was expecting them to be giving us the plastic smiles while inside thinking, crap, crap, crap. I knew that the visit would be very telling.

When Samantha got home from school on Friday afternoon, Steve walked over to the home school with her, taking them up on their offer, ready to let Samantha loose on the unsuspecting staff. Unsuspecting because we know she can pretty much charm the pants off just about anyone.

And she did.

Whew.

They spent about 25 minutes there, visiting the office, visiting both Kindy classrooms, and got more oohs and ahhhhs than her rapidly-swelling ego can handle. Teachers from surrounding classes opened their doors to see who was causing such a stir. Samantha got a severe case of the sillies, though, and took a few too many liberties, allowing Steve a rare opportunity to show them how to deal with her to rein her in to focus and listen.

Speaking of which, the lesson of the week has been "Listen." Ever since we eliminated her afternoon naps, Samantha has gotten a little unfocused and obstinate on a slightly more frequent basis. Getting her to stop, look you in the eye, and hear you explain why it's so important to listen to daddy, mommy,teachers, M., etc. generally works pretty well. She wants to be a good girl, a big girl, and tries so hard to correct things when she starts to act up. It's really pretty amazing. Magical, actually.

All very important lessons for this rising Kindergartner. Ahhhh, I still can't say that word without feeling that little bit of panic and a whole lot of pride.