Re: Starting PK in School setting at age 3 vs age 3.5

[Guest guest]

Hi " W "

Thanks for the good advice.... what you said makes sense. I will see if

they will agree to write in the IEP that my Son can " visit the Classroom " and

have me present for the first day.

I am not sure how they will react to both of the above..... My EI

Coordinator has already told me that they prefer that the parents just drop them

off.... and leave.... To me this seems like such a " Cold Turkey " type thing.

My older " typical " daughter started PK 2 years ago at a Catholic School.

There were some kids who seemed so scared on the first day.... and their

parents were permitted to stay with them. Each child was also given the

opportunity to have 1:1 time with the teacher. My daughter was very social, so

she had no probs.... but the School's attitude really helped the kids who

were shy. All of this was done for " typical " kids.

I hope that the people who come for my IEP Meeting will feel the same

way..... Again- what I have heard so far tells me that they will just want me to

" drop of my Son and leave " . When we went to tour the class that my Son

will attend (a mix of typical and kids with special needs), all in a

classroom within our local School District)..... the Teacher never even looked

at

us. I asked if there was a School Manual.... they did not have one. I ended

up finding one online by myself! I was told that they are not permitted

to speak to Parents who are touring because their job is to teach the kids

in their Classroom. My thoughts were " come on " .... at least SMILE at us....

The attitude seemed to be so cold..... I am even wondering if such a simple

concept of " letting my child visit the class before he starts " will be

turned down.

Thanks again for the advice- I will see if I can get that added to the IEP.

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I know what you are feeling. I went through this with my adopted daughter who

could not separate from me yet at age three. She was also very shy with very

little speech (she suffered severe neglect and abuse her first two years and had

global delays). I put her into the special needs (50/50 special needs and

typical) class at age three with the stipulation that I stay with her until she

was ready to separate. We were so lucky to get a fabulous teacher and

therapists ...she separated in five days happily and she made such remarkable

gains in just the first weeks it could only be called a miracle. She is now 4.8

years old and we are looking into Kindergarten. She still needs some therapies

but when she doesn't know how to do something she looks to her typical peers, a

strength for her.

You know your son best and what will be best for him....I don't think you can go

wrong with either decision, but, you might have more to gain with putting him

into school. You can always pull him out if things don't look good. Might be

worth a try. You should meet the teacher and therapists that would be working

with him and see how you feel about them. We also had written in the IEP that

my daughter could come to the school over Spring Break (she was scheduled to

start after that) and meet and interact with her teacher 1:1 three times prior

to starting. This helped immensely...she loved their toys!

Good luck. Hope this helps.

W.

you wait a bit longer?

My Son will be turning age 3 soon- and we have the option to enroll him in a PK

setting.... we also could opt for in home Services. I have been getting ready to

try to convince the School that my child needs 1:1 ST in this School

environment, rather than Group ST.... I am now wondering if my child is even

READY to be away from home for 2.5 hours a day, 4 days per week.

My " typical " daughter (age 5) does not go to PK 4 days per week- and she is very

social and advanced. My Son is the opposite..... he is a very sweet boy..... but

he is shy around strangers. He has had no opportunities to join any fun class

for kids, because his therapy schedule always seemed to conflict with class

times in my area. He can understand everything that is said to him, but at

best, he can only produce 2 word sentences.... usually started with " MO " (more)

...... He will say " Mo Mo Mo " (more Elmo), " Mo AHH DOH " (more hot dog), etc.

I am starting to feel so scared for him..... I am hearing that the School will

only offer Group therapy... and I am ready to insist on 1:1 ST..... but at the

same time, I am wondering if I am doing what is right for my child.

I feel like we are in a very frustrating place..... there are no " Private

Schools " in my area that would be able to address his Speech needs, if we put

him in the School System now, he may regress, or become terrified, if we keep

him at home, he will not get the Socialization with peers and exposure to

School. When EI stops at age 3, his schedule will be more open- and we will have

a greater opportunity to find a " fun children's class for him to go to " ..... if

he is in School 4 days per week- this will be hard to do- unless we find an

evening class- these are rare. (School times are 12 to 2:30)..

My child was terrified when we took him to see Sesame Street Live.... he clung

to my legs when he saw all of the other people as we all waited to get to our

seats. It took him over 45 minutes to even LOOK at a Mall Santa this past Xmas.

I am so scared that he will " feel abandoned " if I leave him at a School for 2.5

hours per day, 4 days per week. Could doing this to him ruin his happy little

personality?

So- what to do? Do I wait until the fall to start School..... or do I do it

now..... right after he turns 3. I initially thought that part of my anxiety may

be related to my feelings that I will have to fight to get 1:1 ST in the School

setting..... but now, I am wondering if I am " fighting for the right

thing " ...... If my child is not emotionally ready to start School- would I be

doing him harm by placing him in a School setting?

I'm a mess over this..... he is my baby..... I want to help him...... and I am

so scared. Did any of you feel like this? If any of you started PK right when

your child turned age 3..... please let me know how they did.

Thanks-

------------------------------------

[Guest guest]

It really depends when their birthday is and the child! My Apraxia/CP daughter

has a July Birthday. We had been doing EI since she was 3mos old and we were

both very, very burnt out! I stopped all EI in May of that year to give her the

month of June off. Than she started special needs preschool just after July 4th

that summer. She turned 3yrs old a couple weeks later. In NY--we can choose to

keep services till August or end and send them to school. If they are not

offering ESY/Summer services for school--I'd suggest keeping EI going until

Fall. My daughter was burnt out and I really believe she needed a new

environment with new therapists to challenge her! They did and she also went

from 9-2pm..with lunch a nap in her day. It was right for her.

My youngest, and very typical son--has a Feb birthday. So I had no choice but to

wait till the following Sept before he could start prek. Are they offering you a

spot now? Most prek only start kids in Sept or Jan. So my son is one of the

oldest in his class--which will always benefit him.

>

> Hi-

> I am wondering if all of you started your children in PK- (with mix of

" typical kids " and children with delays) in PK right when they turned age 3....

or did you wait a bit longer?

>

>

[Guest guest]

Is that the school he has to go to or are there other options?  EI put us with

one school but said we could request to transfer if it was not a good fit.  My

son's teacher invited us to come look at the classroom and so she could talk to

my son the week before he was going to start Pre-K in the school district. 

Then on the first day she did let me stay a little while till he was more

comfortable.  If you are uncomfortable with taking your son to school there, I

would look into if you can take him to a different school that would better suit

him! Good luck!!

From: <>

Subject: Re: [ ] Re: Starting PK in School setting at age 3 vs

age 3.5

Date: Wednesday, February 3, 2010, 3:43 PM

 

Hi " W "

Thanks for the good advice.... what you said makes sense. I will see if

they will agree to write in the IEP that my Son can " visit the Classroom " and

have me present for the first day.

I am not sure how they will react to both of the above..... My EI

Coordinator has already told me that they prefer that the parents just drop them

off.... and leave.... To me this seems like such a " Cold Turkey " type thing.

My older " typical " daughter started PK 2 years ago at a Catholic School.

There were some kids who seemed so scared on the first day.... and their

parents were permitted to stay with them. Each child was also given the

opportunity to have 1:1 time with the teacher. My daughter was very social, so

she had no probs.... but the School's attitude really helped the kids who

were shy. All of this was done for " typical " kids.

I hope that the people who come for my IEP Meeting will feel the same

way..... Again- what I have heard so far tells me that they will just want me to

" drop of my Son and leave " . When we went to tour the class that my Son

will attend (a mix of typical and kids with special needs), all in a

classroom within our local School District)... .. the Teacher never even looked

at

us. I asked if there was a School Manual.... they did not have one. I ended

up finding one online by myself! I was told that they are not permitted

to speak to Parents who are touring because their job is to teach the kids

in their Classroom. My thoughts were " come on " .... at least SMILE at us....

The attitude seemed to be so cold..... I am even wondering if such a simple

concept of " letting my child visit the class before he starts " will be

turned down.

Thanks again for the advice- I will see if I can get that added to the IEP.

[Guest guest]

All children are different but I had my son in the early learning PK program. 

He started at age two and went until he started full day kindergaten at age

5.  The PK classroom was a combination of special edcuation chldren and

typical peers.  It was four mornings a week and all services were done while at

school.  This program was wonderful for Matt.  He was able to work on proper

social skills and learn in a lanugage enriched classroom.

Alyssa

________________________________

From: mosense <mosense@...>

Sent: Wed, February 3, 2010 4:50:51 PM

Subject: [ ] Re: Starting PK in School setting at age 3 vs age

3.5

 

It really depends when their birthday is and the child! My Apraxia/CP daughter

has a July Birthday. We had been doing EI since she was 3mos old and we were

both very, very burnt out! I stopped all EI in May of that year to give her the

month of June off. Than she started special needs preschool just after July 4th

that summer. She turned 3yrs old a couple weeks later. In NY--we can choose to

keep services till August or end and send them to school. If they are not

offering ESY/Summer services for school--I'd suggest keeping EI going until

Fall. My daughter was burnt out and I really believe she needed a new

environment with new therapists to challenge her! They did and she also went

from 9-2pm..with lunch a nap in her day. It was right for her.

My youngest, and very typical son--has a Feb birthday. So I had no choice but to

wait till the following Sept before he could start prek. Are they offering you a

spot now? Most prek only start kids in Sept or Jan. So my son is one of the

oldest in his class--which will always benefit him.

>

> Hi-

> I am wondering if all of you started your children in PK- (with mix of

" typical kids " and children with delays) in PK right when they turned age 3....

or did you wait a bit longer?

>

>

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

:

We started my son in a 2.5hr preschool, 2x/week when he was barely 2.5 yrs old.

We were in a very similar spot as your son is now, and our little guy, , had

very few (if any) intelligible words to an outsider.

I had the exact same concerns as you. Will he be worse off b/c he can't

communicate? Will the other kids make him realize he's different, etc. Will it

damage his self esteem to not be able to " keep up " verbally? The preschool we

sent my son to was 100% typically developing children, by the way.

I have to say, we feel it has made a positive impact on . He is excited to

go every day, and his speech has improved since he started. It is as if he's

getting positive peer pressure to communicate. And the idea of having to " mind "

people other than his parents (ie: teachers) has made an impact as well. He

also started self-potty training - again, we think it was the peer pressure. We

believe, most importantly, that he's gained much needed social skills. He's

gone from running behind me when kids approach, to getting excited to be around

them. Granted, he still can't say " hey, do you want to play? " but I can tell he

wants to and is thrilled to be around them. 's teacher says she can't

always understand him, and he doesn't talk to the kids as much as the rest of

the class does, but he generally seems happy to be there. And we're sending him

back again next year for 3 days/wk.

I have no idea what stage your son is at with all of the craziness our kids go

through, but I can't imagine it wouldn't be worth a try. If you, or his

teachers/therapist, feel he is shutting down or regressing you can immediately

pull him out. No harm in trying - he just might blossom even more.

The only reason I'm not putting in a 4-day/wk program is b/c selfishly I'm

not ready to give him up that soon. He'd probably be fine with it.

Good luck with your decision!

Sharon

>

> Hi-

> I am wondering if all of you started your children in PK- (with mix of

" typical kids " and children with delays) in PK right when they turned age 3....

or did you wait a bit longer?

>

> My Son will be turning age 3 soon- and we have the option to enroll him in a

PK setting.... we also could opt for in home Services. I have been getting ready

to try to convince the School that my child needs 1:1 ST in this School

environment, rather than Group ST.... I am now wondering if my child is even

READY to be away from home for 2.5 hours a day, 4 days per week.

>

> My " typical " daughter (age 5) does not go to PK 4 days per week- and she is

very social and advanced. My Son is the opposite..... he is a very sweet

boy..... but he is shy around strangers. He has had no opportunities to join any

fun class for kids, because his therapy schedule always seemed to conflict with

class times in my area. He can understand everything that is said to him, but

at best, he can only produce 2 word sentences.... usually started with " MO "

(more) ..... He will say " Mo Mo Mo " (more Elmo), " Mo AHH DOH " (more hot dog),

etc.

>

> I am starting to feel so scared for him..... I am hearing that the School will

only offer Group therapy... and I am ready to insist on 1:1 ST..... but at the

same time, I am wondering if I am doing what is right for my child.

>

> I feel like we are in a very frustrating place..... there are no " Private

Schools " in my area that would be able to address his Speech needs, if we put

him in the School System now, he may regress, or become terrified, if we keep

him at home, he will not get the Socialization with peers and exposure to

School. When EI stops at age 3, his schedule will be more open- and we will have

a greater opportunity to find a " fun children's class for him to go to " ..... if

he is in School 4 days per week- this will be hard to do- unless we find an

evening class- these are rare. (School times are 12 to 2:30)..

>

> My child was terrified when we took him to see Sesame Street Live.... he clung

to my legs when he saw all of the other people as we all waited to get to our

seats. It took him over 45 minutes to even LOOK at a Mall Santa this past Xmas.

I am so scared that he will " feel abandoned " if I leave him at a School for 2.5

hours per day, 4 days per week. Could doing this to him ruin his happy little

personality?

>

> So- what to do? Do I wait until the fall to start School..... or do I do it

now..... right after he turns 3. I initially thought that part of my anxiety may

be related to my feelings that I will have to fight to get 1:1 ST in the School

setting..... but now, I am wondering if I am " fighting for the right

thing " ...... If my child is not emotionally ready to start School- would I be

doing him harm by placing him in a School setting?

>

> I'm a mess over this..... he is my baby..... I want to help him...... and I am

so scared. Did any of you feel like this? If any of you started PK right when

your child turned age 3..... please let me know how they did.

>

> Thanks-

>

>