Remember how busy our February turned out to be? Well, finding Daniel a school stayed on the back burner until I saw on that school's Facebook page that they would be hosting an Open House on February 28th. So, Daniel and I went to check out Spring Hill Day School...
I liked the directors and the staff that I was able to meet that day and before I knew it, I was sitting in the office writing them a check so he could start on Monday, March 2nd. I have him registered to go 3 days a week- Monday, Wednesday, Friday.
So, I scrambled a little bit on Sunday and pulled together items for him to use at school until his new backpack and lunchbox arrived. And on Monday, it was time for the Big Day!
Daniel was pretty excited about the IDEA of school. He had been asking to go to school for a couple of months, but I don't think he realized what he was asking for and that I would be leaving him with a bunch of strangers who had expectations (like following directions, and resting quietly at nap time).
Mel came down that morning to watch Alice so that I could drop him off without any other distractions.
He was excited to see his room again and to find his cubby for his backpack, but when it came time for me to leave he turned whiny and sad and I had to just hand him to a teacher and walk out so it didn't get any worse. I watched him through the window for a few minutes and then I just had to leave. I really felt for him. This is his first experience with any sort of daycare/preschool. In fact, I have never left him with anyone who wasn't a grandparent before. Oh, and the one thing he was the MOST excited about was the school's playground (which he calls a "park"), but it was raining that day and he didn't get to go out there (but they played in the school's big atrium area).
So, I went about my morning (Keith and I had a meeting to go to. So, I was distracted by that). I got a text around noon with a couple blurry pictures of Daniel playing during indoor recess that put me at ease a little.
Then, it was finally time to pick him up!
He was SO excited to run out of there and I got a great hug! His teacher said he had a pretty good day for a first day. He didn't nap, and was disruptive to the other kids who were napping. :(
So, we went home and came back on Wednesday. He was a little less excited about being dropped off that morning. His day wasn't great either. He didn't participate in any of the group activities, had trouble with transitions, and was incredibly disruptive at rest time. They asked me for suggestions... *Sigh*
So, Friday turned out to be a snow day and he went back to school on Monday with a list of suggestions in his backpack. The school called me around noon that day. My heart stopped when I saw it was his school calling me, but when I answered, it was the director telling me thank you for all of the suggestions and that they had implemented a sticker reward system and he had been having a great day! YES!!!! When I picked him up, I learned that he didn't nap, and was still a little disruptive, but seemed to be getting better... The rest of that second week went pretty well. He did a little better each day and by Friday he rested quietly (as long as his teacher sat next to him and held his hand)
What should have been his third week of school, was actually Spring Break.
The Monday after Spring Break was a little rough. It's difficult to get into a school routine when there are so many missed days right at the start of it. The best part of his day was when he got to FINALLY go play outside on the "park" (a lot of rainy weather/ cold days kept them inside). He did well on Wednesday and Friday last week.
I am fairly confident that he will get the school routines soon. He is already looking forward to going back to school tomorrow. :)
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