First Day of School

I had been on the fence a long time about preschool and its necessity. I never went to preschool, neither did my sisters yet we all excelled academically. Perhaps my only failing as a student was being inept at making friends. But preschool is the norm now and probably just as well considering all the kids with developmental problems, reading comprehension problems, and so forth. While I don't think preschool is strictly necessary, I had been open to the possibility of Novan going simply as a means of transitioning into kindergarten next year. Novan has a bit of a hard time changing routines, and participating in a structured classroom type setting. He is only just now starting to enjoy primary at church after having been in it for a year and a half. He also has some delays in his communication and in his fine motor skills. I had looked for preschools but they all were just too far out of my do-able price range. I looked online and found one school, ABC of NC development center for $135/month, but it catered to Autistic children. Then the very next day, I was outside with the kids and this girl with a toddler comes walking down the street and I say hi and we have a chat. I came to find out that her name is Cindy and she works at a school for autistic children. I said "Oh? What's the name of the school?" and she said "ABC of NC." I was like "No kidding, I was just checking that out online while I was looking for preschool." Anyway, to make this dialogue shorter, Cindy ended up explaining that ABC has an inclusion program that integrates autistic spectrum kids with typical kids and it was only $135 for typical kids. It's actually in the thousands on a monthly basis for Autistic kids. Wow. I finally understood that the price I was seeing online was for these typical kids. They are actually the only Autistic school in NC and it just happens to be 4 miles from my house. Huh, how 'bout that?

So anyway, things just fell into place. Novan got the fifth spot of five available slots for typical kids in the "advanced readiness class." I couldn't be more excited about it because for Novan, it seems like the perfect fit. He needs a little extra help in areas, the same areas that many autistic kids struggle with and now I only pay $165/month for specially trained teachers and a super fantastic facility. (It's 165 because it is the class for older preschool kids which is fine. Seriously, you won't find that price anywhere). Seriously, the place looks like more fun than Chuck-ee cheese.

The only drawback is how sad Beya has been at the prospect of A. She doesn't get to go and B. She's misses Novan. Since my kids understand the "saving up quarters" concept, I explain to her that mom and dad don't have enough quarters to send both her and Novan to school but she will get to go next year. On many occasions, when we mention school, Beya will say "Momma? Can we get some quarters for me so I can go to school with Novan?" Yeah, it rips my heart out too. This appears to be as much an adjustment for her as it is for Novan.


So today was Novan's first day. I packed up his backpack with a change of clothes and sunblock and gave him a lunchbox with PB&J, apples, and popcorn and dropped him off for 4 hours. He was super excited to go.
















I can't say the excitement lasted. As soon as I picked him up, he demanded in his best whiney voice, "Where's Beya?" (at home napping while dad worked) then he asked "Where's my Transformer?" (I don't have a clue which transformer you are talking about Novan) and when I tried to ask him about his day he just gave me a grunt whine. You might be able to imagine that. His teacher informed me he was really tired and admittedly, he has recently been weaned off of naps because he was staying up too late. I think last night he stayed up too late. So I'm going to have to be stricter about getting him in bed and asleep. Well, we'll see. It was only the first day and at least when I asked him if he wanted to go back to school tomorrow he answered in the affirmative. Small victories, right? Well, that's all for now. Apparently Novan's bad temper has worn off on Beya. Or maybe she's still rebelling because she didn't get to go to school. It's kind of hilarious. She's having a three-year old screaming fit in her room at the moment.