Belonging

Have you been wondering how school (Daycare - but don't tell Nate) is going???

Well it's been going great!! Our month long transition into Winston Prouty was worth every minute. The school community is pretty awesome. Nate is in a very diverse class with some pretty cute 15 month to 2 year old kiddos. His teachers are incredibly caring and supportive. They are also quite skilled in what they do. They participate in regular professional development and believe that all students in their program are unique and special little beings. So true.
Here is more info about the program (pretty cool - right?):
http://www.winstonprouty.org/early_learning_center.htm


Now that we're here....2 weeks into it, I can say that we are feeling like this is right for Nate. Truthfully I don't think we could find another daycare situation quite like this. Nate's interventionists work right there in the school. They can provide intervention right in his classroom and model strategies for his teachers to use. It doesn't mean that all is perfect every day...We still find ourselves needing to advocate for Nate - or even just speak up when things don't seem to be handled appropriately for him. For example this week, a 16 month developmental questionnaire came home for us to fill out. Out of about 50 things listed on the questionnaire, Nate could do about two of the listed developmental skills. A big oops on their part. However, they are always ready to listen to our concerns, respect our knowledge of Nate, and support our goals for him.

What really is exciting is that Nate is becoming a part of an inclusive classroom community. Nate's new friends want to play games with him, want to pull him around in the wagon - grab his glasses off his face. When Nate arrives in the morning, they all hurry over to the classroom entrance calling out his name. I am not sure he gets their excitement -It probably means more to us at this moment than Nate. But our hope is that someday he will be able to understand that his classmates like him and care that he's a part of their day. That his presence in is important -- That they would notice if he wasn't there.

What more could we ask for. Isn't that what a lot of us want? To belong?

Thank you Winston Prouty - You are a pretty special place!