He Helps Me to Stay Good

I keep waiting to write and update about Kindergarten.  I keep thinking that I haven't given it enough time to really give an accurate picture on how it is going. I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop.  Shame on me.

John is doing exceptional in Kindergarten.  While being denied at our final IEP (about 2 weeks into the school year) with the public school district, words such as "exceptional", "fantastic", and "wonderful" were being used to describe my son.  The evaluators said that he got to parts of the test that they normally don't administer (usually a child will "top out" on a section of the test when they get 3 wrong in a row, or something similar to that---they keep administering that section until he tops out.) Many sections, John was able to get into 5th grade material.  I never doubted his intellectual ability.  I've never questioned his academic ability.  We always knew he was smart, even brilliant in some areas.  Now we had some testing that showed that.  Needless to say, these test results were showing us that his "issues" were not interfering with his ability to learn.  In fact, he was accelerated in many areas.

As far as Kindergarten itself, John has integrated well.  He is focused, attentive, wants to please, and keeps up with the daily demands placed on him.  He is well behaved and socially at the level he needs to be.  He has made a best friend and has a group of buddies.  He is reading 5th grade level words and his reading comprehension is at a 3rd grade level.  He is highly interested in math and doing 1st grade level skills.  He is struggling with his writing and drawing as it relates to spacial relationships.  He is still going to OT and working on fine motor skills, sensory processing, and eating.  He is now one third of his way through the school year and everything is going better than we could have even hoped for, considering that when he was 2 and a half, they told me he was only functioning at a 10-17 month old developmental level.   He was only functioning at one third his chronological age.  They had prepared me that there was a chance he may never function at the appropriate age level of his peers.  There were so many unanswered questions and "what if"s back then.

John is an amazing little boy who has worked so hard to be where he is at.  I am so proud of him.  I cannot tell you how relaxed and at peace I have become on this journey.  I owe it all to faith, prayers and hard work. 

John goes to a private school and on Fridays they go to mass.  One morning, the priest was asking the children where God is.   John raised his hand.  Into the microphone, he said that God is in his heart.  The priest turned to John and said, "what is he doing in there?".  John replied, "He helps me to stay good".

Starting Kindergarten

Lots of thoughts, fears, and excitement have been built up for tomorrow.  I feel like we've spent the last 3 years working towards this one day.  There is a whole life for John past Kindergarten and yet, there is something very special about tomorrow.  I have spent the whole summer, going back and forth between feelings of "he's ready" to "there is no way he's going to be able to do this".

But, no matter how tomorrow goes and no matter how the year goes, John has been preparing for milestones like this since we found out about his at risk behaviors.  We have helped John become ready by being proactive parents when we were told that something wasn't quite right.  Regardless of a label or the absence of a diagnosis, every child struggles with something.  I'm at a point where I can say that I am proud of Bill and I for being proactive in learning what it was John needed to succeed.  I am proud of my boy who is now entering Kindergarten at a private school with his sister.  There was a time when we didn't know if they would be going to the same school or not.

I am proud of the therapists at Casa Colina and the teachers John has had along the way.  La Verne Parent Participation Preschool and My Gym Little Learners were the best pre-K prep for John.  He excelled this year and I'm so thankful that we decided to have him wait a year for Kindergarten.  John has a big heart and this year, he was able to show it off.  The growth he has shown has been amazing and watching him over the last year made me realize that the pathway we went down 3 years ago was the best thing that happened to us.

The people we have met, the programs he's been in, the friends we've made, the stumbles we've had, and the teachers he's learned from has led us to be in a wonderful place today.  It's why I've written this blog.  Being proactive and learning how to help John navigate the world has been (and will continue to be) the best (and hardest) thing I've ever done and will do.  This journey has taught me to appreciate development and not take simple milestones for granted.  We really have only just begun, but I've learned to rejoice in the milestones along the way.  And right now, I want to take a breath and enjoy where we are and not worry about where we are going.  Right now, I want to celebrate his successes.   I don't want a label to set him up for failure  --- I want the journey to build his confidence.

Here's to Kindergarten.