I was quick to jump all over the idea of keeping Sadie in special ed preschool one more year. She should start Kindergarten in September, but she is making so much progress in the Special Education Preschool "Reverse Mainstreaming" Inclusion class. Sadie's class has 6 special ed students and 6 regular ed students. She has really picked up on hand holding, following simple directions, and her receptive language has exploded. She will even push her arm through the sleeve of her shirt when I hold the shirt open for her. She also lifts her leg up to put it in her pants when we stand behind her and support her. She even took her coat off one day last week when we came home and put it next to the closet. Although she requires a lot of prompting, she is at least responding to one step directions.
She is such a social little girl and we are so thankful that the school system offered this opportunity for her to be with her peers in an inclusive environment. Kindergarten is such a big transition for any child, but more especially for a child with special needs. The teacher said she'd probably be in a self contained class if she went into Kindergarten. I hope she can always be included with all children, but I also know that sometime what we want isn't always what's best.
While, I did jump all over the idea of her being in preschool one more year, it really hit home for me when I got the call last week for her tri-annual evaluation for special education services in preparation for Kindergarten. I told the coordinator that we decided to hold her back and she confirmed this decision with the teachers. And so, next week we with meet with everyone again for her 3 year evaluation of services, and we will tell them how happy we are that Sadie is in inclusion. With a heavy heart, I know my daughter will stay back instead of moving on like her same age regular ed peers I know it's what's best, but it is just another jab to our life that we live in Holland, NOT Italy.
