Tuesday, September 05, 2006

We're getting there.

First off, a giant THANK YOU to everyone who has held my hand while I've acted like a giant goober through all of this. Secondly, I already put all of this on my baby board, so if you've read it there, skip this.

Preschool was a mixed bag today. I dropped Izzy off and he was crying a little, but again, without tears, and I left. Went and dropped Sophie off at mom's, went to exercise, then I went back to spy. As I checked in with the secretary, she asked me which one was mine, and I told her the biggest. She laughed and then told me that he'd had a hard morning and it took him a while to calm down. I told her we were both having a difficult transition and that’s why I was there to peek in on him and see how it was going.

I went on to his classroom and I watched through the window where he couldn't see me. He was perfect while I was there - about 15 minutes. I got there right as they were sitting down for their snack, and he sat quietly in his seat. It was actually amazing to see 16 three-year old's all sitting nicely! He calmly ate and then for some reason another little boy got a few more crackers and Izzy said, "I want more!" but he wasn’t given any. Teeny grrrr. He had spilled some of his on the floor and they made him clean it up, which I always do too, and he did so very nicely and then tried to eat them. No one else was given any extra crackers either, and truthfully, if they started giving in to his requests for more food, that's all they'd get done.

The teacher then came out and asked me, "Did the secretary call you?" Very confused, I told her no, but I wanted to just see how Izzy acted in the class, so that I would have a better idea of how to help him. Which is true, but I didn't feel the need to add that I thought they were being too mean and my taking him out of that class might be the way I could help him. Anyhow, he apparently cried for so long this morning that she took him to the office!! She said to calm him down, which did work - I went back and asked the secretary about it and she said he wasn’t in trouble, but the different location calmed him immediately. He sat beside her in a little chair and she gave him a Scooby Doo to hold for a little while. Poor little guy. After I picked him up, I asked him why he'd been so upset, and he said, "Because I need you!"

Once he got back in class, the teacher went on to tell me, he was calm. But then when it was time to go to the rug for story time, he crawled under the table and wouldn't come out for either her or the assistant, even after she told him that might be what cost him his star for the day. Eventually he did come out for the story, though. I told her that he seems to be very nervous about coming. He sleeps poorly the night before, cries as I leave, and this weekend he kept telling us, “They not happy. They not happy. I no get star.” I also told her that he probably wasn't having any fun, getting in trouble for two and half hours there then coming home and getting in trouble. She said that it was a big adjustment and this was only his third day so it would get better and to just give him a chance.

Then I asked her,"Is he doing anything good??" I'm afraid I put a little of my annoyance with all her negativity, in my voice. She said, "Oh yes! Of course he is. Today during the story he turned to another boy who was talking and said, "Shhh! Ms. LXXXX* is talking now!" I told her that I needed her to give me more instances of him doing well, because he really did much better with positive reinforcement.

I then apologized for interrupting her class, which she said was no problem since it was just snack time, then I again explained that I just wanted to observe for a few more minutes, which I did.

They then worked on the letter "A" and Izzy sat in his seat the whole time, answering her questions. Then he colored his letter "A" again while staying in his seat very well.

When he came out after school, he had a star!! I asked her if the afternoon had gone better, and she said, "Much better!" But I don’t know if she gave Izzy the star because his behavior was better or because I told her I didn't like him getting so much negative attention. But I do know that the whole time I was watching, he was very, very good - way better for them than he is for me. But I think that is probably due to just getting used to what's expected of him.

Oh, and on Thursday, I'm planning on dropping off Sophie before we go to school, so I can stay with him a few extra minutes if I need to, then go exercise, and then go back to spy at a different time. I'm so sneaky.

*Name omitted to protect the ummmm...well, person who didn't say I could use her name.

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