First Day of Kindergarten

Yeah!  Natalie started kindergarten today!  I think practicing walking to school paid off...she was still resistant to walking to school, but less so today, also because today she knew it was for real.  And the boys knew the drill, so that helped too.  Before we arrived at school, Natalie still wanted to go home, but when we got there, she knew she wanted to go into the classroom.

The teacher has all the children sit on these benches before class starts...then everyone went inside.  It was a little crazy with all the parents there for the first day, but we got it sorted out (Lukas was such a big help, to keep Dominik occupied in the stroller outside, while I got Natalie situated inside...Konrad as a little in and out).

The great news is that I just found out yesterday that the class will have an instructional aide for two months to help Natalie get adjusted (there is usually no aide for a teacher with 35 kids!  even for gen-ed, that seems crazy!)  Then at Natalie's IEP meeting next month, we'll review everything to see how it is working.  I met the aide this morning and she seems great.

The challenges I saw this morning were just keeping Natalie in one place...she wants to wander all over the room and see all the interesting things the teacher put up.  That why the aide is so important...I knew there would be an aide for a portion of the class, but this is a new situation with an aide for the entire class time.

When we picked Natalie up from class, there were great reports from the aide and the teacher.  Natalie's strengths and challenges were just as we expected.  I really like Natalie's aide!  And Natalie said she had a very fun time!