The Road to First IEP

So much has happened I’m not sure where to begin. Sweet Pea is doing really well. The novelty of school has worn off and she still loves going to school. So that’s a good thing. Many of her classmates at school wave and say “Hi” when she’s on campus, but it’s their parents that she’s most interested in. I’m happy she seems well liked by peers but there’s always a part of me wondering “when will she be as interested in them as they are in her?” Sweet Pea does keep her emotions close to her so it maybe that she is interested and hasn’t quite figured out a way to communicate it yet. The bonus is the Montessori charter school provides ample opportunity for her to practice and that’s a good thing.

In the last 30 days I’ve had a lot of conversations, emails, academic assessment, and observations in order to prepare for the IEP. Here are some things that I’ve learned.

Bumps, Bruises, Getting Back Up, Parent/Teacher Meeting

With Monday being a holiday, sweet pea was ready and raring to go back to school after the long weekend. On Tuesday, I dropped sweet pea off and then delivered her little sister (pumpkin) to her first day of daycare. All day, I was worried about pumpkin, hoping she was making the transition OK and enjoying her new teachers. When I went to go pick up pumpkin, she gave me a huge hug and a happy smile. I knew right off the bat she had a fantastic time.

Pumpkin and I made our way to pick up sweet pea and when I laid eyes on her I knew she had a BIG tumble at school. Scratched nose, swollen upper lip, bruised knee and scratched up elbow. I went to go ask her teacher what happened she said she didn’t know what happened. With prompting, sweet pea was able to tell me that she got run over while on the playground and was taken to the office to get cleaned up.

First Grader In The House! First Week Of School

Sweet Pea, all dressed in her navy blue pants and white collared polo is over shadowed by her enormous new pink and orange polka dotted backpack with matching lunch bag. The lunch bag contained a thermos filled with Indian chana masala and rice, champagne grapes, pretzles/banana/chocolate chip trail mix, and water. Before leaving the house I quickly grabbed some glitter decorated orange colored construction paper from our craft box and scribbled “We love you so much! Mama, Daddy and Cordie” and stuffed it in her lunchbox. I hoped some kind adult or older kid would read her the note during lunch.

We arrived early to find parking in the little residential neighborhood filled with cute homes and cottage gardens. Sweet Pea isn’t nervous at all and surprisingly I’m not either as we (me, daddy, baby sister, nana, and sweet pea) approach the entry way of her new school. Excited yes, nervous no.

No Time To Lose. Why We Chose A Montessori Charter School For Our Child With Special Needs

Every Minute Counts

When my husband and I were first given sweet pea’s rare and complex congenital heart defect diagnosis we asked a lot of questions regarding her “quality of life.” At the time, quality of life was another way of asking how “normal” sweet pea would be in order to take advantage of all that life had to offer. Would she have a lot of hospitalizations? Would she be able to participate in physical activities such as hiking, running, swimming and most importantly golfing? Would living with half a heart affect her ability to make friends and keep friends? With time, my definition of “quality of life” changed from sweet pea behaving “normal” to sweet pea’s state of mind. A good quality of life means that sweet pea experiences joy, love, and contentment no matter what her physical, social, emotional and mental capabilities are.

Inclusion School Mixer Impressions

She put her hand gently on my daughter’s head while looking at the play structure at Diamond Park. Smiling, she turned to me and said, “It will be fun!”

Two months ago, my husband and I attended my daughter’s IEP meeting with a team of 5 folks from the school district. “It will be hard,” they all chimed. “The demands for writing will be much more in 1^st grade. She will get the support she needs in a special day class,” said her teacher.