Last Day of School

Unfortunately, my pictures are missing from the Last Day of School! ARGH!! I can't figure out what I did with them. So, this post will just be stories...

Start out with Taylor the night before the last day of school. Imagine, Taylor melting down, sobbing about having to go to school the next day. I talked to her for quite awhile before I got out of her that she didn't want it to be the last day of school because she didn't want to go to 1st grade. NERVOUS!! ANXIOUS!! She doesn't handle change well. I agred that she didn't have to go and she settled right down. The next morning, Alyssa tried to convince her to go and Taylor was still set against it. There was nothing I could say or do to convincer her to choose to go to school. I probably could have FORCED her to go but it wouldn't have been happy and since school is only 90 minutes the lsat day, I didn't really care if she missed it. I called her teacher and she agreed it wasn't a big deal. She also mentioned that Taylor had been really quiet and a little nervous all week ... hmmmm too much change for her! All of the extra year end activities had disrupted that for her causing intense anxiety. Taylor is my child who loves a schedule and knowing when and what is going on. I hope that she can overcome that and deal with change. That's my job with her - help her learn to deal with change without freaking out.

Then you go with Alyssa's morning. After unsuccessfully trying to convince Taylor to go to school, Alyssa left (very frustrated that Taylor didn't want to go). Tay, Jess and I got ready to go to the school to take the annual year end pictures. First we went to Alyssa's class where they were playing a final game. They were in a circle and rec iting a poem. The person with the sunglasses then had to say something nice about the person on their right. I got there just before it was Alyssa's turn. The person sitting beside her was none other than her least favorite person in the class, Jacob. I was intrigued to see what he'd come up with about her. I even wondered if her teacher had arranged the seating arrangements. She's quite aware of the conflict between them and at the field trip she took some pictures of him with my camera and suggested a scrapbook page about it. So, what did he say? Her shirt ... he said he liked her shirt. It was all I could do not to just crack up laughing! We took a few pics and then went to Taylor's class where she refused to sit with her friends or even leave my side. As the kids were lining up to leave, she did pick up her final papers from her teacher and then agree to take a picture with one of her friends. She was NOT about to let me leave her though.

As we headed out, I had a thought ... introduce her to her teacher for next year. I took Alyssa, Jessica and the rest of the carpool kids to the van and then Taylor and I went back inside. We went to Miss Crowton's classroom. After talking to several people and interacting with the 1st grade teachers, I've decided to request Miss Crowton for Taylor. Because of Taylor's speech and other issues, she has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). Students with an IEP require extra effort and time from the teacher for the students to succeed. Also, many of them see more success with one teacher than they would with another because of their needs and personality of both of them. That's Taylor! She needs to be comfortable. So on that last day of school, I decided to test it out. I took her to Miss Crowton's class and asked Miss Crowton if she would meet Taylor because I was requesting her for the next year. She readily agreed to it. She knelt down and asked Taylor what her name is. Taylor actually spoke up and told her ... which is a surprise for shy Tay! We talked for a few minutes about being in her class and then I asked if Tay would take a picture with Miss Crowton. Tay said yes, and slid right up next to Miss Crowton and even smiled for the picture - without her nervous look! Miss Crowton asked if she was excited to be in 1st grade and Taylor even nodded and said yes - although a little unsure. HUGE SUCCESS! It reaffirmed my decision to request Miss Crowton. Now some of you may be thinking but what if you don't get her ... with an IEP, I have some extra rights and get to be a little more involved in decisions regarding Taylor's education. :) Unless the principal, speech therapist and IEP coordinator can come up with an educational benefit for Taylor to be in another class, she will have Miss Crowton. I really wish I still had my pics from this day! I had planned to print the picture of Taylor and Miss Crowton and hang it where Taylor would see it regularly just to reaffirm how much fun she'll have in 1st grade and help her adapt to being more comfortable with the change! Grrrrr... I try to help her make the change easier and I lose my pictures.