A Boy and His Blog

Posts Tagged ‘preschool’

Owen had his first day of preschool on Thursday.  He is now enrolled in therapeutic preschool that serves children with mild anxiety and sensory issues, which makes it difficult for them to adapt to normal classroom settings.  They will use things like weighted vests, heavy balls, social stories, and picture boards to help the kids feel comfortable in school, learn to develop socially, and separate from their parents without to much emotional distress.  Owen will attend two days a week, on Tuesday and Thursday from 9:00 to noon.

As you can see from the photo, Owen was just thrilled to go   He is standing like R2-D2 here, but when we got to his school he decided to be T-800 (from terminator, and no he has NOT seen that movie, just pictures of the robot).  I imagine T-800 is a bit more brave and Owen was trying to pull from that on his first day of school.  Owen was a bit excited to go, but on the actual day, he had a change of heart and became angered at the prospect.  I told him we would just go try it out and see if he liked it.

When we arrived Owen was nervous and wanted me to stay by his side the whole time.  He liked free play the best, and disliked circle time the most.  He does not like singing or doing hand movements to songs, and he didn’t like sitting so that everyone could see him.  He kept scooting back to sit alongside of me.  When his teacher read a book in circle, he refused to look at it, and turned his head and looked the other way.  Before circle time I had left the room for 10 minutes, telling him I was going to use the bathroom.  He didn’t seem to care and just gave me a simple wave of his hand as I walked out.  He didn’t cry, but his teacher said he got a little nervous and asked where I was after a few minutes, so she waved me back in.  After circle time, they sat and did an art project, and I left the room then too, telling Owen I had to go to a little meeting.  I watched him through the window and he did great.  I stayed out for about 15 minutes.  When I came back in they had snack, which was a rice krispie bar that Owen took about two bites of and then folded up into his napkin.  He does not like sweet things like that.  He also had some juice, and then they washed up.

They then went into the big muscle room where they play with big balls, or cars, or a parachute, or climb a climbing, wall among other things, and Owen really loved that.  He really loosened up and played a lot, even interacting with the other kids.  At about this time I really felt like I could go, and he would be okay, but it was getting so late that it didn’t make much sense for me to leave at that point.  So, we went back to the room for some more free play, which Owen got really immersed in.  I then really had to go to the bathroom, so I left and when I came back I just stayed in the back of the room.  He didn’t see me for a really long time, and he was perfectly happy not having me there.  They have a closing circle time too, and Owen wasn’t thrilled about that one either, but did better then the first one.

Overall I think he did great, and I was really happy that he fit in so nicely.  All the other kids are boys, and only one of them had any noticeable issues, yet they all are said to have anxiety and sensory stuff going on like Owen does.  There are five other kids so far, all boys, so Owen is the sixth child in the class and there are only two teachers.  They are supposed to add six more kids and make it twelve, so eventually the ratio wont be quite as ideal as it is now.  I’m really happy to have found this preschool, and I am hoping it will be a spring board to being able to do a preschool in our city for three days a week next year.  This preschool is 20 minutes away, and the one near us is much closer, and is a nature based program and very montessori like which I really love.  We will see though how Owen does with preschool in general for the rest of this school year, and then decide what to do for next year after that.  But so far, he is doing very well.  On Tuesday I plan to stay with him until he is fairly comfortable and then try leaving.