Last week was the first week of full days at school. All in all I think Brendan did really well. He seems to really like school and so far has seemed to enjoy mostly everything. They have at least one special activity each day, and sometimes more, including Spanish, library time, music, computer room, gym. He was especially excited to go to the gym and to get to play with “the big blue ball” and to go to music where they learned new songs. He also was very excited to have his “job” this week in the classroom be the weather and the calendar. He got to change the day and the date on the calendar (this actually used to be his job too at his old preschool) and to check the weather at the window so they could put up the appropriate weather card (sunny, rainy, etc.). He seems to like the kids in his class, he loves his teachers and enjoys being a big boy who gets to eat lunch in school and who gets to use the boys bathroom and pee in the urinal.
There were a few hiccups though. On Tuesday he told me that he had cried in class and that he went to the principal’s office. I spoke to the principal the next day and it seems like they were coloring and he didn’t want to color and got a little fresh with the teacher’s assistant. He told the teacher he’d rather read (apparently she let him read a prayer sheet to her) but then pitched a little tantrum when he was still expected to color. He went to the principal’s office down the hall to chill a little. According to the principal this is a fairly common occurrence at the beginning of the year when her office she said is filled with pre-K and K kids who need a space to get calmed. On Thursday night there were orientation meetings at the school, a general one first and then in his classroom. After the classroom I got a few minutes to speak to the teacher. Mostly I just wanted to be sure she was aware that he was reading, of his other abilities, and to let her know how much Brendan was enjoying school. She seemed mostly focused though on his behavior. She said he was a good boy, but then mentioned the coloring incident and his being fresh another time (I believe her, her description of what he said is exactly something he’d say at home to me). She also noted that he hung back a little with the other kids and talked about his maturity level. I acknowledged what she was saying, but tried to bring the conversation around to his overall abilities and needs, but she didn’t even seem to acknowledge what I was saying. I left the meeting not feeling really happy about our conversation.
I put a note in his parent folder the next morning where I told her I was glad we had a chance to meet and talk and that I agreed with her about the maturity issues, but I also listed some of the things he was passionate about like astronomy and geography and discussed some of his skills because I wanted her to have a more well-rounded image of him. I also thanked her and the teaching assistant for giving him a good introduction to school and that he loves them and that I hoped we can work together to help Brendan grow and learn, etc. I didn’t get any response to the note on Friday. I wasn’t sure whether to be concerned about this or not, not that I'm sure what I was looking for. I know she reads the notes from the parents each day because I sent one last week about pizza day and had a response back in his folder the same day. I asked Brendan if the teacher asked him any questions on Friday beyond the regular class stuff she didn't. I guess I feel like if you had a parent who told you one of your kids knew all the states and capitals or that he loved to add and subtract and some other stuff, wouldn't you at least be curious to see if this is true or just to see what your student could do? I'm really hoping that she doesn't wind up just ignoring what he's capable of and that maybe she's still just settling into the school year too and will do this later on. And Brendan seems very happy at school. But I still feel a little uneasy.
And we had a really fun day yesterday. I had been thinking of taking Brendan to a local fair, but when we got up he told me we had a "list" of things to do and going to the fair wasn't on it. I decided to let him have some fun and totally plan our day and he was in heaven. Our day - watching Noggin on my bed, eating breakfast in the living room while watching more Noggin, getting dressed, going to BJs (I swear that was his choice), playing with the big Play Doh assortment we got at BJs, playing Chutes and Ladders, eating lunch, having a half hour of quiet time, tossing a ball around, playing Magnetix, having a pretend marshmallow roast, going on a walk, watching some DVRed Mickey's Clubhouse, playing bingo, drawing with Color Wonder, eating dinner, having a bath, doing some puzzles, reading and then bedtime for him. He just loved being able to control his day like this. I'm thinking after a week and a half of his new school where he's had to learn all their rules and structure that it was really freeing for him to be able to be in charge like this for a little while, and as long as what he wanted to do wasn't dangerous or really inappropriate, I figured why not?
And he made made me laugh too. When we were out on our walk he pulled some bark off a tree and asked if we should eat the bark and when I said no, that we never eat bark he told me "We would eat bark if we were pygmy marmosets so we could get to the milk sap". I have no idea where he learned that. And at the day before we saw some butterflies at the playground and another mother was telling her daughter "First they're caterpillars and then they become butterflies" and he corrects her and says "No, first they're caterpillars, then they're a chrysalis, and then they're butterflies.”
