In Which Connor Loves School, And I Am Grateful For It

I was lazy today and didn't take a picture, so here's Connor's backpack again because this is, after all, a school related post.  It's working out really well, and I just received a bunch of iron-on labels in the mail for his clothes and burp cloths, so pretty soon everything will be labeled for the school year.

Connor has had an amazing time at school so far!

This Friday he had one of his best days yet; his teacher said that he was repeating sounds back to them, participating in songs, and even playing Go Fish with the other children!  What a long, long way he's come from the quiet, withdrawn child of last year who obviously loved school but was too overwhelmed to participate.

There are probably a few things helping him along; right now he has a smaller class size and all of the children are familiar from last year.  One of the interesting issues within a special needs preschool is that children enter the classroom when they turn three and not when school starts, so it is likely that as the school year progresses Connor's class will grow.  However, starting out with children who are all familiar to him is really helpful because it lets him get comfortable in the classroom before changes are made.  He already knows most of the staff who are working with him as well, which probably helps him out even more.  While Connor usually bonds with other children pretty quickly it takes him longer to open up to adults, so having lots of familiar faces in the classroom seems to make him feel a lot better.

So he's having the time of his life right now, and it's pretty neat to see just how excited he gets in the morning when I tell him it's time to go to school! 

It's a really great thing that he enjoys school so much, because they push him there just as hard as Jeremy and I do at home.  They're forever sticking his hands and feet into substances he doesn't particularly want to touch and doing plenty of activities that are outside his comfort zone.  But he still really enjoys his classroom experience despite all the unpleasent things he has to do there, and that makes me extremely happy.  I remember just how fun I thought preschool was, and I'm so glad that Connor's getting the same sort of experience.  It's really nice to have a kid who wakes up in the morning and wants to go to school, and it's very important to us that Connor gets as much out of his time at school as he possibly can. 

He had a substitute teacher today for the first time this year, and we were in a rush to leave so I didn't get the chance to ask how things went.  However he came home in a pretty good mood, so I'm assuming he had a pretty good day.  It's so great to hear the glowing reports the staff are giving me every day when I go to pick him up at school; it's obvious they love having him as a student and are as excited about his progress as I am. 

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to be able to send him off and not worry about what he's doing while I'm not with him!

~Jess