*Gasp* 2 Posts in one week!
Shocking, I know. I'm kind of freaking out and I need all your help here.I just found out that Reed is skipping first grade. They've placed him in the grade 2-3 gifted class this year. How can my 5 year old be a SECOND GRADER already?!?!? It shouldn't be possible. Anyway, that's beside the point.
My problem is this, this is the first school year we've begun since the diagnosis. I am unsure how to prepare Reed for school to start again. Since he is mainstreamed (he attends a small Charter school and has an EA), this class will likely be nothing like his Kindergarten class last year. After being away from school, and then it being completely unpredictable for him until he learns the new schedule, I'm afraid the changes will be more than any of us can take. How do you prepare your child for the start of something familiar yet different? I think it would almost be easier if this was totally new, since he wouldn't have any expectations at all, but I'm pretty sure he will be expecting it to be just like last year.
Help! I have less than a month to prepare and I have no idea what I'm doing!
posted by Steph at
11:08 PM
2 comment(s):
I have Boo go in and meet the teacher and see the school the week before school starts. Most teachers should be getting their room together then.
Wow, skipping grades. Will he be socially ready for such a change? Is he mature enough? I know you have probably already explored those same thoughts. They are just ones that I would be really concerned about.
Sounds like Reed is still doing great :o) It sounds like he may have lost his diagnosis? Does that sound silly? (lol) Like he misplaced it somewhere or something. OH! that's where I left my Autism! Just curious. I know that his label had changed last I heard.
Take it easy,
Kristin
By
Mom to Mr. Handsome, at
9:07 AM
Yikes. Were you part of the decision to have him skip grades? I have to be honest - it sends up big red flags for me. Even if he is cognitively and socially ready for it now, I would be concerned about how he will manage down the line (middle school, high school) when his social/emotional maturity and his physical development are significantly behind those of his peers who are further along in the puberty years. The difference between a 16-year-old girl and a 16-year-old boy is already significant - the difference between a 16-year-old girl and a 14-year-old boy is staggering.
Bud has a September birthday and our school district has a September 30 cut-off, but I knew before he was born that I would hold him back and start him a year late for this very reason. I work with college students, and have seen the ones who start young really struggle with having to manage autonomously before they are developmentally ready (despite the fact that they are usually very bright and intellectually advanced).
Just my two cents. Of course, you know Reed best and your knowledge of him could easily override these concerns.
By
Mary, at
9:20 AM
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