honeymoon

I know things are bound to arise - but I am so happy that we are off to a positive start to the school year. I thinkt the teachers I have encountered at the twins school are great. My hat is off to them. I did the parent training for their reading program (for the older years) today - and that looks like it will be fun - it is a good programme and the woman in charge has a lovely manner. They rang me to come and collect Hanah - she is technically still recuperating from her surgery but I didn't want her to totally 'lose' the feeling of being at school - and as she seems fine at home - I sent her in and just asked that they call me if they think she has had enough. So I went and got her at lunch. The teachers have read Voctoria's Day with the class and got Kit to help talk about DS with the other children - they said it went really well and meant that Han got a good greeting this morning when the kids saw her back at school. Kit is loving it. They have just put the kids into their literacy numeracy groups (levelled). Kit's favourite part of the week includes library time - and I think hannah will love that too - so I will send her for another half day tomorrow. I have also had a few Mums say they liked the letter that went home 'from Hannah'. So I feel that was a good strategy as it puts it out there - people can say something to me if they like - and then we move on - no big deal - so that is great - just what I was hoping - and I am pleased that they actually read it - as I know how many forms come home in the school bag - can be daunting some days!! It also means that these parents will be able to talk about it clearly and in an 'up to date' way with their kids should the need arise - and maybe I won't have too many people refer to her as 'a Downs' or tell me that she is 'mild downs' lol!!
I'd best get her asleep in fornt of the tele while I get back to trying to get the floors mopped ...

Parent information session

Dh and I went to the school for a parent info session. It was good - informative and very psoitive - although we were gently told some 'rules' by the kindy teachers and given homework. We were also told not to carry our kids bags - but they look so tired at the end of the day!! It was affirming to hear the principal speak about the school's philosophy and approach to early education - so much of it was what I am familiar with and what I would (and have) chosen for the twins.
Tomorrow is my trianing session...

Done!

One afternoon Hannah decided to experiment with Kit's school shoes and socks.
Hannah had her T & A done - she did great. Yesterday was probably her best day since it was done - I cut back her painrelief as she was doing so well and it seemed to be ok. The twins had their first music lesson - I took Han and DH took Kit - because Kit is on book2 this year whereas han is repeating Book 1 - I can see why having had a look at Book 2 - it gets hard pretty quick. Hannah finds the fine motor and especially by the end of the course when there is playing with 2 hands very tricky so it should be good to give her another go at it. She did very well yesterday - but I'd expect that as it was really simple stuff that she mastered last year. I was pleased to see how much she remembered as we haven't looked at any of it for 2 months.

I took Hannah (or her father did) to pick up Kit from school each afternoon last week - it was fantastic to see a little girl (one I'd picked out on the first day as being gorgeous) come up to Hannah 'her friend' (!!!!) to say hello - unfortunately Hannah was often sore and sorry and just wanting to see Kit by then - but still I certainly didn't expect 'success' this early on - this little girl is clearly one of those 'mama bear' types just like I have been hoping for. Kit too has started asking when Hannah will be going back to school - he has been so strong and brave - cos I know he is still struggling to find his place with the other kids although he loves the classroom stuff.

I think I'll try her early next week when I am at the school in the morning training for the parent volunteers reading program. I have spoken to the staff about Hannah - I only cried once - felt like such a goose - otherwise I think it was ok. I have had a few teachers come up to me and say thanks - my main concern was that I'd come across as a crazy overprotective and demanding mother - when that wasn't my intention - I just think some information and background might help them. I did stress that I don't know about primary school, I aknowledged that many of them would already have some experiences of disability and perhaps DS specifically and finished with saying that one of the best resources was them - their professionalism and experience - I used aquote from the NSW DSA calendar - "When a child with down syndrome is born the most important thing that has happened is that a child has been born" and converted it to a 'new student starts kindergarten" type thing.

It sounds to me that the kindy teachers are going great with her - when talking with one she did comment that it was good for them to hear me talk about being firm with Hannah - and she gave an example where they'd done it - sounded great to me!! Another teacher told me of her interactions with a friend's sibling who has DS - she had regular contact growing up. Another commented on how she liked hearing about Hannah's EI. I gave the talk the afternoon after Hannah's surgery and that night in the shared hospital room (sigh) I barely slept a wink - earlier on in the afternoon a nurse had asked me if Hannah usually had a slow heartbeat (at 64) so when it was 50 !!! as she slept - plus I kept going over what I'd said at the staff meeting - trying to think what might have not worked and what I missed out and just how crazy I sounded... then I'd peer up to check Hannah and her heart monitor - needless to say I was exhausted when we finally got home the next day!

Yesterday she had her first music lesson of the year - she is repeating Book 1 - and she did great. That night we went to dinner at our friends house - they have just finished a fantastic reno - but I digress - we don't see these guys that often any more - they have 3 kids - one is a little older than the twins and started kindy this year too (in fact one of Hannah's friends from EI has started kindy at the same school). Anyways - it was great to see Hannah find the play room on the third floor and then she and their little girl - stayed up there playing so comfortably together for ages. Hannah wouldn't have done that 6 months ago - lovely progress.

Two days done

Day one - Fantastic!!

The kids had staggered starts - all the kindys in the large undivided room - both teachers were there as well as the Principal, the sports teacher, the English as Second language teacher, and both teachers aides. It was so well organised but still flexible enough to cater to however the kids reacted - because that must be one of the tricky things about kindy - who knows how they are going to react on this first day?

The kids bags went on the shelf - a photo of each child told them where their bag went - and then they went into the room and had to find their name on the buckets so they could put their morning tea in ready. I noticed hannah's PECS book was nice and accessible on the shelf above so I made a point of showing it to her. She quickly chose playdoh and went and was happily playing there still when we left. Kit wanted to explore a bit more bt he also wanted to stay close to a little boy he already knows from LDC - that boy was crying so Kit stayed with hima dna teacher at the computers for a while.

In the afternoon we picked them up and they were both happy exhausted vegemites. They ahd had a good day.

The next day The teachers came and got them from a 'drop off' area. They went in quite happily. At about 12 I got a call to say Hannah had had an 'accident' - my heart was in my mouth until the girl finally said that it was ok she was in sick bay - it had been a toilet accident and the teachers hadn't been able to find any spare underwear in her bag. I had packed some (thinking they'd probably have a spare uniform for these occassions) and I'd told the twins were they were - I packed some for Kit too of course. ANyway the office lady told me that she had also wet her uniform. I offered to come up to the school with both - although I also did tell her where I had put the spare undies. As I was driving up there she rang back to say it was all ok - they ahd found the underwear and the principal had founda spare uniform for her. I suggested that they take her to the toilet - and tell ehr to just check that there wasn't any wee left - cos I know that even if she looks like she has had an accident - she is still actually 'holding some in' cos she doesn't want to wee everywhere - she is toilet trained really. Anyway - that really made me cry. I wished they hadn't rung back with it all sorted because I wanted to be there to cuddle her and tell ehr it was ok. To reiterate with ehr where the toilet was and show her the pecs book with the tiolet pic and remind her to bring it to the teacher before going to the toilet - but it was done (I hope!!). I role played it with ehr this morning - she is so cute - her response to 'What do you do if you need to do a wee at school?" was to put her hand up!! - lovely except then I remembered that with all those kids and her being so quite that they probably wouldn't even see her - so we added in the step where she goes up to the teacher and shows them a pic of a toilet - and then takes herself across to the toilet. She thought it was fun to roleplay with me being the teacher - so I will keep that strategy in mind.

The principal is going to send home a letter from Hannah (that I wrote based on others I'd seen) letting them know a little bit about her and giving them direction as to how to talk about it with their kids if need be. Hoepfully there will be some parent with a lovely caring daughter who chooses to encourage a friendship of sorts with Hannah. Hannah has her T & A on Tuesday which is not great timing - hopefully in the morning cos I have told the principal that I will still be able to talk with the staff in the afternoon. I thought I'd just talk briefly about Hannah - aminly focussing on specific areas - like Gross Motor, Fine Motor, Language and Communication and Intellectual Disability - I am going to use photoes and give them a chance to ask questions too.

Today I finally got the kids haircuts done and Hannah has gone off to rainbow club with ehr father - she loves it there - and it is the only thing at the moment that is for 'special needs' where she isn't under pressure to conform to 'regular' expectations - so I hope she is having a blast.

7 days to go

Well the therapies have ended and so has the swimming intensive. I had been going to take the twins out for the day but I think they need a day at home to relax. SO now - the pecs book is made but the uniforms aren't labeled yet. The presentation for staff is basically done although it will need a last minute edit. For this week I want the kids to enjoy being at home and to look forward to school. I have Adelaide's list of good books about strting school - I will try and find them - if not I do have a couple here too that I can use. Oh and haircuts are needed - if those blasted lice have gone.

10 Days to go

Preparing for kindy -
On the weekend we took the twins to the Powerhouse Museum. they loved it. Hannah got a bit wild and tired running riot but she also loved the 80s music - good girl that she is! Now it is time to encourage focus on tehrapeutic play and school enhancing routines. I have had mixed success with breakfasts - Hannah just doens't like to eat too early in the morning but I also know she doesn't eat much at school (well she didn't at preschool) so I still have a few strategies to try to get her used to the idea that breakfast is important. Tv in the morning still needs refining - but that is more my slackness - Kit insists on getting up at 6am and it is just too easy for us to leave him in front of the tele while we catch a bit more sleep - which makes it hard to turn the tele off a little later - jsut as Hannah gets up.

Hannah had a good OT session today then we visited a friend of mine and her 2 kiddos. We all went to the park and that was a lot of fun. There were a couple of awkward boys (about 12yo) I guess - poor darlings - it really is a most unattractive stage - yet they nice boys and Kit and the other 2 kids with us had soon engaged them in a game of chasings. Later on 3 girls arrived - 2 13 yo? and another about 8 I guess. Hannah thought that was cool and approached them for a cuddle and was pretty quick in trying to boss them around. Until then she had stayed apart playing on the swing so it was nice to see her join in with others. They all sat together on the small slide - which would have made a great photo!

DH is out at a work do so it feels good to be able to put some happy tired kids to sleep and then to sit up with a little time for me. Tomorrow Hannah has a 30 mins swimming lesson with a special needs instructor then we are meeting a friend who has 2 kiddos - (one about the twins age with DS) for a play at an indoor centre - all good gross motor!

The OT today commented on how much stronger her upper body strength was - must have been all the digging in the sand on holidays - oh and pushing the grown ups out of the way! She has another OT session on Wed and speech on Thursday. I have left Friday free and not much is happening at the start of next week - cos then it is school.

I still have to label their uniforms, make a pecs book for Hannah to use at home - as part of her prep to use it at school.

I am pleased with how she has grown over the holidays. She is getting more confident and is more keen to engage in play with other kids although she still needs a lot of encouragement with that.

She has also been doing lots of help with cooking - on Sunday she and Kit helped me make hotcakes for breakfast and then their father make pizza for dinner. Cooking has lots of skills that they really enjoy - measuring, stirring, talking about what we are doing. We also played a game of snakes and ladders - to try and get Han so familiar witht he dice that she recognises the 'look' of 3, 4, 5 etc without actually counting them (which she can do quite well) and that was fun. I won! It's tough love here in the Dock, if they want to win that way they have to play Grandpa.

They also played for ages iwth playdoh on the weekend and set up an elaborate picnic/birthday party. They have been using the wonderful dollshouse that Pop made Hannah as the setting for playing too - they have a campervan each and set off from the house for a picnic - it is too cute really.

Kit has had a hideous dose of lice so I did Hannah and myself as well yesterday - now I thought that that was something I wouldn't have to worry about until they were actually at school - not as part of the 'getting ready' activity programme!!

Routine

Well we had a chaotic and very busy Christmas here. Hannah had a seizure a week or so beforehand which really scared me however the EEG was 'normal' and so slowly we are getting on with things. I still listen carefully when she is in the bath and while we were away I supervised all water related activities even more carefully than usual - she has 3 days of swimming lessons (30 minutes) coming up - and I will make sure I mention it to the coordinator.

After a hectic Christmas where all 'therapy' was incidental rather than timetabled we went away for a week with another family. Hannah ADORES their 2 children (13 and 11) and also played happily (and assertively!!) with one of their girlfriends who came down for a visit. DH took the twins for the rest of their school shoe requirements just before we went away. I took some therapy work away with us - with the new school term fast approaching I felt I needed to start the old 'routines' again. Hannah was compliant and enjoyed the few sessions we had - mostly focussing on speech (drills for dyspraxia as well as some phonics work) and a little bit of writing, getting her to say her name and address etc. Her drawings were really improving too - she did a great one of Ben 10 and the omnitrix where without prompting she gave him arms and legs as well as a pretty reasonable face.

Yesterday was our first day back home with their father back at work. We did grocery shopping ten han had her first ST session for the new year. She was a little scatty but not too bad considering she has ha d abit of a break. Today I think I'll try and focus on some OT stuff - I have some theraputty for her to use and she hasn't done cutting and pasting for a while so I might get onto some of that too - it is overcast today so not a great day for outside craft which I know they'd both like.

I have started to plan what I might say tot he teachers about han - it has only given me one sleepless night so far which I think is pretty good considering!! I have also enrolled in Uni - a bit disabppointed to realise that by applying for a postgrad certificate instead of masters that the pain of all that work and assessments is going to cost me more!! (UGH)I had thought it might be useful to get a piece of paper at the end of this year (for employment purposes - in case I look to find work in spec ed field) and as the courses are the same as for the masters I never considered tat the costs might differ - oh well - you live and learn I guess.

Key goals for the next 2 weeks:
try for 30 minutes sitdown work a day -
including theraputty; cutting; pasting; hand strength like tug o war etc
speech drills (Nuffield skills); Ants in the Apple - recognition of letters and sounds; regocnition of written number symbols 1- 10; Expressive language - name, address and school; writing of her name (tracing over master sheet given out by the school at kindy orientation).
As usual reading of books is a daily event not specifically included in this 30 minutes.
Greater time allowed for dressing self and putting on her own shoes etc.

I am sure there is more but these are my current priorities.

Her T & A is scheduled for the first full week of term - not best timing I know - I will try and find out how ling she may need to be off school for that too. At least she will have 3 days prior to 'settle in'. She is very excited about school and looking forward to it.