A Roller Coaster Week

This week was the first week of school in our area, and it has been a roller coaster of emotions for me as I continue to try to coordinate transportation, after-school programs, support staff and IEP implementation. I am making some progress on getting everything organized, but I have started thinking this is just a taste of what my son experiences every day of his life, as he tries to make sense of the world around him and keep up with all the expectations everyone has of him. (Hmmm, life lesson here?)

All in all, his struggles this week have been minor and for that I am very thankful. There was evidently a meltdown in art class on Tuesday. Why, you ask? Well, it was for the simple reason that they didn't do any art!

The art teacher used the first class to talk about her rules and procedures. I completely understand her desire to teach the children how to take proper care of materials and what her expectations are while they are in her class. It also occurred to me, however, that every time he was shown the art room during tours of the school, he was told they would come to this room to do art. No one ever thought to mention there might be times of instruction which wouldn't include hands-on activities.

Wednesday was music class, so I prepped him that the teacher might also talk about the classroom rules, or they might sing or play instruments. Evidently this teacher prefers to jump right in, because the report I got was, "They were being too loud and annoying me." Although there was a lot of prompting needed to follow directions, there was no meltdown. Progress, yay!

On Thursday, I knew that the teacher wasn't planning to take them to the computer lab, even though it was on the schedule. So we discussed that, and it turned out that this was his favorite day so far. Whether it's because he didn't have to go to a different class in the middle of the afternoon or because he is getting used to being at school, I was so pleased (and a bit surprised) to hear him so happy about it.

So, it sounds like things are going in the right direction for Michael, and I'm sure I, too, will become more relaxed as I learn the intricacies of parent-teacher communication and as the routines of the school year start to fall into place.

Trish can be found writing here at 5MFSN every Friday in addition to hosting Try This Tuesday. You can also find Trish at her blog, Another Piece of the Puzzle.