school - Athan

Athan LOVES his school. Every day he greets us with a wildly excited "I had so much fun at my school!" It's so good to see him that excited...

So school: Athan qualifies for preschool through the public schools at age 3 because of his developmental delay (all motor delay). So he admitted through the special ed program, and is part of a classroom that is designed for kids with special needs. Abilene ISD is GREAT in that they practice "reverse integration" with their special ed classes. They have allowed any teachers in the school to put their 3-year-old in the program as well. So Athan is in a class of 12 or so (with about 3 or 4 adults in there), and I'd guess about half are "normal" (kids with no special needs or learning delay), and about a quarter of them are kids like Athan (some delay in motor or speech, but not greatly delayed), and then a few kids with many special needs and more pronounced developmental delay.

Athan began the year going 2 hours each morning, from 8 to 10. We just had an ARD meeting and they recommended a longer day. They thought he was ready for a 4 hour day. And maybe he is. But I'm not! I like my kid, and our time together is short enough. However, with the addition of some therapies and such, I didn't want him to miss ALL the class activities. So we've decided a 3 hour day is good for him. He will go each day from 8a to 11a.

The main reason we are choosing school for him right now is for therapies. [Laurie and Emily - you'll love this - same schedule as we had with you guys!]: He'll get PT twice a week, and OT once a week. We're excited to get feedback from the therapists on his progress once they get rolling (this week, I believe).

And, of course, his teachers L O V E Athan. Love him. I think they recommended a 4 hour day just to have him around longer. :) It does my Mama's heart good to hear what they say about him.