Preschool

On Joel's 3rd birthday (February 3rd) he started attending the county preschool for 3-4 year olds. I was thrilled that we were FINALLY able to get him into a program, and even more thrilled that we could FINALLY start focusing on his progress instead of all the areas of delays. (It feels like a punch in the gut when you have to sit through meeting after meeting and listen to a stranger explain test results that show your child is delayed. I just wanted to scream at them and say "YES I KNOW, NOW JUST HELP HIM!")

The first two days were rough. Joel had a difficult time when I had to drop him off and I had a difficult time leaving him knowing he was upset. Thankfully he adjusted quickly to the new routine and he is doing AWESOME. He has been communicating with us more than ever and it also seems to be helping sensory wise. It's exciting to see how he is growing, and even more exciting to see the smile on his face when he realizes that he learned something new.. like counting, for instance. One day he came home from preschool and counted to 6 all by himself. A few days later he was trying to count to 18!! He now walks around the house counting everything. :-)

I have to admit though, I felt a little bit of mom guilt when he started to progress. I felt like I [obviously] wasn't doing a good enough job at home or else he would already know these things. Right? Wrong. Joel has issues focusing. He still has issues with it at school. So regardless of what I could try at home, it really wouldn't have mattered. He needed the structure of the classroom setting. Being around the other kids definitely helps too.

Summer is approaching quickly and I'm nervous he will lose everything he has learned so far. I'm trying to find programs and activities that will hopefully help during the break from school. One fun thing we will be trying is teeball for 3-4 year olds. I'm not sure he will really learn anything from it but I know he will have fun meeting new friends and running around.  :-)