...On Behavior and Transitions

I received a call today from Colin's teacher at the day care that while he was laying on his mat at naptime next to his friend, he bit her finger.  I was honestly quite surprised because we have only experienced this 3 other times, 2 of which were while he was at that daycare we were unhappy with for the short period of time last year.  I am confident it wasn't a malicious bite based on the setting she described, but it's still always hard for me to hear behavior reports.  Apparently he was pretty mischievous at his public school today as well with coloring on the carpet, sticking his hand in the toilet and "missing" the toilet while going to the bathroom today.  When I told Chris about those ones he laughed and said "isn't that just typical toddler boy stuff?".  Sometimes I do have to remind myself that Colin IS still JUST a toddler who challenges just like other 4 year old boys.  However, despite this I still handled the behavior issues and got what I expected in return...Colin hanging his head when I asked about what he did today. 

 

This just added to all that I have had on my mind this week as we start to get ready for Colin's IEP meeting that begins the transition process to Kindergarten.  After speaking with our case manager, I know that this will be introducing us to the process that lies ahead including testing and placement options so it was a relief to know that the first meeting next week isn't where we have to make any decisions.  We have been very fortunate that we have a team that have been very easy to work with and who have made such great progress with Colin while he has been in the preschool program.  



 

 



Chris and I have always had some pretty strong feelings on where with think Colin's future will lead him but we are also open to variations based on where his needs are.  Our district went to full day kindergarten at the start of the school year this year but unfortunately, segregated the kindergarten special education classes into a separate building than the home schools where the rest of the kindergarteners attend.  That leaves no inclusive opportunities into typical kindergarten classrooms and challenges the very idea of what we expect and want for Colin.  

We know we are being presented with some challenges that we will have to work through and just like everything else, am sure it won't be easy.  It's honestly scary to think about making big decisions that impact the start of Colin's educational journey but also know all we can do is the best we can...

...stay tuned for our IEP experience as it's going to be very new for us!