Friday was Henry’s second day of in-person pre-K. Yesterday I wrote about how much he loved his first day, and was excited to tell us all about it. We were very glad to see that he was just as excited to go to his second day.
We debated for quite a while about how and when to approach in-person pre-K for Henry. Amelia has been remote through all of COVID and is doing well with it, but with Henry set to start Kindergarten in the fall, we really want him to get some kind of experience being in an actual classroom.
Before COVID, he did a few days a week at a daycare/preschool that Amelia also went to before Kindergarten, and he did well there. But it’s now been almost a year since he’s had that kind of social interaction. So we found ourselves how to best serve him while also staying safe from infection.
We’ve been in touch with the school district since late last summer, when he had him assessed for an IEP (individualized education plan). The district has been great and put together a very good plan, and basically told us we could work him in when we felt comfortable. The whole school was shut down much of the fall, but they did start bringing in some small preschool classes, and the school now is open for in-person learning for students doing that.
After lots of discussion with the school, we decided the benefit Henry would get was well worth giving it a try, so for starters he will be doing just two half-days a week for a little while. We want to keep him in his ABA therapy, but now he can also get some services from the school district and get to interact with other kids in his class.
With Henry, 90 percent of the battle is his own attitude toward it, and we are thrilled that school is something he’s actually been asking about for a while. He lights up and gets all excited when it’s time to go. He was very proud to carry his Cars backpack with him.
Erin, Amelia and I all walked him to school after lunch. Erin and i were both admittedly a little misty about how fast our little ones are growing up.
After dropping him off, I got back to work in my office, and Islay got to work doing some shredding for me.
Erin had to head off to client’s for dog training, so Amelia and I walked back to school and picked Henry up when he was finished. He was jumping with excitement, proud of the art he had made, and thrilled to tell us about his day. We walked back, like old times pre-COVID when we’d all pick Amelia up from school. And as back then, they had to rush off and play in the sand for a minute.
Back home, the kids lounged around while I finished up work and did some tidying up around the house. Henry was clearly a little tired from his big week, but that is well earned. We are happy to see him take this step forward, and couldn’t be prouder.
