First Day of Preschool

This kid was dragging me to go inside preschool.  And he remembered exactly what to do once we got to the classroom.  He put his backpack away and then went to go play with the toys.  He's loving going to preschool again!

Preschool Graduation

First and Last Day of Preschool

Since when do parents give a dozen roses to their child for preschool graduation?  Just wondering.  Nate was just happy with all the pomp and circumstance.

Children's Museum

This was one of the best field trips of the year with Nate's preschool class!  The Children's Museum in Denver is a really great one.  I am usually pretty apprehensive about these places being too much for Nate, but this one had a good balance of fun and places for sensory breaks.  They even had a whole dedicated room as a quiet place for kids to calm down.  It was amazing.  I wanted to stay in there and take a nap in all the cozy furniture.  But there was too much to do for that!  The giant bubbles were a big hit as was the water works.  And of course we had to play dentist!  We also spent most of the time with Nate's favorite teacher, Miss Melissa, which was a lot of fun.  The Children's Museum also offers free mornings for kids with autism so we'll have to head back again.

Making Progress

Nathan's Preschool Picture

Nathan was in the typical classroom playing at the sensory table with some tissue paper.  He walked across the classroom, grabbed a little boy by the hand, and lead him back to the sensory table.  Nathan told the little boy, "Look!" That may not seem huge to most people, but Nathan rarely seeks out a friend to play with him.  It's so awesome to see the progress he's making with his peer interactions!

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On the first snow day of the year, both Evy and Nathan were standing at our sliding glass door looking in awe at the snow.  Nathan turned, looked Evy in the eye and said, "Evy I like it. Snow."It's so sweet to see him talking to his sister.

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We had Nathan's parent teacher conferences.  Nathan's teacher from the typically developing side was telling me he's become really great buddies with another little boy.  Even though Nate can't really talk with his friend, they just click and do so many things together.  It makes me so so so happy to see him making friends.

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I was loading Nathan into the car and I asked Nathan, "Have you been good so Santa can bring you presents?"  I got an enthusiastic, "Yes! Yes! Yes!" in reply.  We have been really struggling with Nathan responding to yes and no questions so getting 3 yeses made me beyond excited!

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We were driving around doing some errands and Nathan said something in the backseat that I didn't understand.  He said it again and this time I caught that he was saying, "Heavenly Father." So we had a little conversation about how Heavenly Father loves Nathan.  He must be listening to all our prayers we've been saying with him.

Flat Acre Farms

Nathan's preschool class went on a field trip to a farm.  They had so much going on!  There was a petting zoo, pumpkin patch, corn bins, rubber ducky racing, bounce house, swings, and hayrides.  Nate had the time of his life.

Nate's teacher Miss Melissa is so wonderful with him!

Nathan's favorite activity of the day: duck racing!  He was freezing cold, but he didn't want to leave.

Nathan was not sure about the bounce house, but Nathan's friend, Odin, convinced him it was pretty fun.

There was a bunny that was being held so the kids could pet it, but Nathan just wanted to see this bunny.  He kept going back over and over to see him.

Now that we're on fall break for 2 weeks, Nathan is missing preschool.  He keeps wanting to put his shoes on and go to preschool.  He's even asked for Odin a few times.  But we're enjoying our break and being able to go do fun things together!

Wheels on the Bus

This little boy rides the bus to school and he loves it!  I was a little worried about sending my little three year old off on his own, but they do a great job taking care of him.  They have built in carseats for the preschoolers so he's safe while he's riding.  He gets so happy waiting for the bus every morning. I'm so happy he loves the bus and preschool.

Preschool

I can hardly believe Nathan is old enough to go to preschool.  I wish he could still get at-home therapy, but it's how the system works to get him therapy.  The thing that helps me be ok with it is that he needs to be around his peers and that he loves it so much!

The best of first day pictures

His class has a unusual set up, but it works great. Nathan is in a small class of 6 students who are all autistic.  They have a special ed teacher, occupational therapist, speech therapist, and psychologist to work with Nathan individually on his goals.  Nathan's class is paired with another class of 10 typically developing kids.  Nathan's class joins them at least for snack and recess, but as Nathan is able to he will join in with the typical classroom for more activities. They have several para-professionals in the typical classroom to help out the special needs kids if they need a little extra support.  In total, there are 9 professionals working in the 2 classrooms.  I'm really happy with the classroom Nathan is in.  From all the research I've done on the effectiveness of preschool classrooms, the ones that mix autistic kids and typically developing kids have the best outcomes.

Preschool open house

They did a great job getting the kids ready for preschool.  First, Nathan's teacher, occupational therapist, and speech therapist all came to our house to meet Nathan and so we could talk about Nathan.  Nathan was so happy meet all of them and was very friendly.  They also had a preschool open house so mom and Nathan could go see the classroom and meet all the staff before preschool actually started.  Nathan was so eager to go see everything.  He colored his snack mat, stood for pictures, and explored the classrooms.  Of course he found the trains right away!

On his first day, Nathan did great.  When I was driving him to preschool, I was talking to him about preschool and he said, "Preschool.  Bus."  I was so happy with him for  making the connection!  He will get to ride the bus to preschool very soon.  Once we got in the building he couldn't wait for me to sign in so he could go into class.  He went right in and didn't even care if I was there.  I said goodbye and had to get him to stop playing for him to say goodbye back.  It was so weird being at home without him.  I really started to miss my little buddy.  But Nathan's preschool teacher, knowing it was probably going to be hard sending him to preschool, sent me some cute pictures and let me know he was having lots of fun at singing time and reading time.

Nathan was happy to see me at pick up.  He would not stop talking about "preschool teacher" afterwards.  He can say all of his teachers names except for his actual preschool teacher, Miss Melissa, but calls her "Aunt Alissa".

He is absolutely loving it! His teachers tell me all the time that he loves singing time.  And he's even made a little friend in his class.  There is another boy in Nathan's class that we see before they open the building to let the kids in.  I've been helping Nathan to go up and say hi to his friend Odin and Odin says hi back.  Well, this last Thursday Nathan ran up to a boy that looked like his friend and said, "Hi Odin," all on his own.

And to be completely honest, mommy is loving preschool too.  Evy gets a completely undisturbed nap and I get so much done.  And Nathan gets in a lot of therapy at preschool.  It's a win-win-win for everyone.