Friday, September 2, 2011

Honestly, It Couldn't Get Any Better


I am so very glad we live in our specific school district. The Universal Pre-K program at our school is simply fantastic. Nolan's teacher is beyond fantastic. Things are just going beautifully at school.

Nolan's teacher sends home a letter at the end of each week, detailing what they learned and what they are going to learn the following week. This is vital information for us - and for Nolan's Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) and Speech Language Pathologist (SLP) - because it allows us to pre-teach some material and vocabulary.

This week, Nolan's class:

  • Read stories about starting school
  • Sang familiar songs (like Twinkle Twinkle and the Wheels on the Bus)
  • Met the classroom puppet (dubbed Lola the Lamb)
  • Talked about the calendar and weather at circle time
  • Explored the classroom and played at centers
  • Practiced walking in a line
  • Practiced fire drill procedures.
Honestly, this is so wonderful. The kids are familiarizing themselves with the routine, and reinforcing the concepts by helping Lola the Lamb prepare for Pre-Kindergarten. They are practicing fire drill routines so that no one freaks out and screams like a banshee everyone knows what to do when the alarm goes off.

His teacher is using his FM system and that is working out VERY well. I have been setting the program on Nolan's hearing aids and connecting the receivers, then placing the FM unit in its case in Nolan's back pack (microphone on mute). The teacher just has to pull it out and un-mute the microphone, and voila - the FM is "on." This does mean that Nolan's program slightly mutes sound on the bus, but he can still hear his friends if they are in close proximity. It is the best trade-off at this time, since he doesn't have a TOD to set the system up every morning at school.

Next week they are studying Monarch caterpillars.

Nolan will miss Tuesday's class because of our trip to the Cleveland Clinic, but he'll get back into the swing of things very quickly on Wednesday.

Matt is also feeling better today. He broke out in a sweat last night and the fever disappeared. He seemed right as rain this morning, so I sent him off to school. He should get off his bus in about 45 minutes - I love seeing my boys after their exciting days at school!

6 comments:

Julia said...

I'm so glad things are shaping up so well for both boys! Although smoething's got to give soon on the cpap stuff. Enjoy the long weekend.

rouchi6 said...

What a relief ! Its so good to hear that the school is so interactive and is exchanging news of what they are doing. Really happy for you !

Herding Grasshoppers said...

Hurray! Glad it's going so well for you and the boys :D

Kyla said...

I'm so glad it is going well!

xraevision said...

Glad to hear that school is going so well for Nolan! Sounds like you have a teacher who can really give his education a good, solid start. The communication for pre-teaching is so important! I hope we have a similar experience when X starts next week.

leah said...

Nolan's school is just so wonderful! We are all exhausted, though... Matt starts up with full days starting next week. It is going to be a long and exhausting week (with 3 doc appointments and school)!

Michelle, I really, really hope X gets as wonderful of a teacher as Nolan has.