Monday, June 9, 2008

First day of school

Today Lukas went to preschool! He was very excited to go and had a wonderful time. These are before and after pictures.

For those who thought we were homeschooling, yes, we're still planning to go that route, but Tom and I decided, almost on the spur of the moment (thinking and praying about it for about a week) to put Lukas in a local Christian preschool on Monday and Thursday mornings (the same days Natalie has therapy at the clinic). Their summer schedule started today, so Lukas did too.

I had a hard time last week, imagining that he would be learning without me being there, but we knew this would be good for him, instead of getting schlepped around with Natalie's therapy schedule twice a week. Now Konrad is the only one getting schlepped around, but he's ok with it. :)

In addition to giving Lukas something for him while Natalie's busy, we also hope he will be able to practice social skills with other kids in a controlled environment. When we talked to the preschool teachers about this, they seemed to easily understand what we're talking about: our goals for him are less about education and more about social maturity. Not that Lukas is socially immature, but with two other kids who require a lot of attention, I am not always able to give him all the attention he needs in social situations to help him learn how to handle new or difficult situations.

Tom will usually pick Lukas up and bring him home for lunch. Today Tom reported that the teacher said Lukas is very smart (we already knew that!) and he did great with the other kids...Lukas was very helpful. This is great to hear and we hope it helps to build confidence to continue in a positive way in other, less structured situations.

Of course Lukas told us everything he did today, and I enjoyed cuddling with him after quiet time and asking him questions about his day. I'm really glad he's started this program.

1 comment:

Myssie@PendletonMarket said...

Looks like Lukas is going to be an artist!! Way to go Lukas! I am glad you had an awesome first day of school!