Just when I think we have settled on something, I start questioning things again. Olem and I toured another preschool about 25 minutes away from the house. This preschool caters to developmentally typical kids and to kids with special needs. I didn’t expect to love it. I thought “I have heard good things about this school but it is quite far away. Olem and I have to love this school b/c it is quite a drive.” To my surprise, we both love it for so many reasons. The biggies are 1) Olem & I feel we can be actively involved in CB’s education, 2) They provide flexible scheduling so CB can attend 4 days and be off on Fridays. Olem & I also determine how many and what hours CB attends, 3) They track each of CB’s skills and chart/monitor them regularly so we will have a much better idea of CB’s progress and current skills, 4) They incorporate more outside playtime and prioritize it, 5) They are reasonably priced, 6) The classes are a mix of boys and girls, 7) The primary teacher has so much energy and exudes positivity, 8) Parents can drop-in and observe anytime, 9) CB interacted well with the other kids and very well with the teacher during his first trial day, 10) The teacher has time built in to work with kids 1-on-1 to work on skills were they need extra guidance, and 11) The teachers are trained in ABA therapy and know how to positively change behavior. (We hope this will help CB with his confidence and perspective. He currently tells us about the negative things that happen at school. We hope he will start telling us more about the positive things that happen. If his focus does not change, maybe the ABA trained teacher can help us understand why he focuses on these things :).)
Unless something changes, CB will not attend PPCD next school year and will attend Petunia Preschool instead.