special needs Pre-K vs. Kindergarten

talk about a brain cramp.

after missing the appointment tuesday and resigning myself to just sending her to all-day, every day kindergarten i was a bit crushed. tears started to flow for no reason. other than, i screwed up again. i try so hard to do things right and do all i can to help her and i ruined it for her.

then i remembered, God is in control. He knows whats best. it will be okay. i learned a bit over a year ago, to really take phii 4:6-7 to heart.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

so i went on my about daily chores and folding laundry (notice it isn't a daily chore, lol.) and the phone rings. ashlyn grabbed it and pressed talk before i could even see the caller ID. it was becky. from the school admin office. just returning a call i made weeeeeeeeeeks ago. i mean weeks ago. like probably 8 weeks ago. she wanted to explain the difference of the special needs pre-K vs. kindergarten--something i inquired about through a voicemail to them.

seriously? yep, seriously.
what are the chances of that?
see, God knew all along.

she went on to explain that K is now all day every day with a class size of 30 and SN Pre-K is 12 (8 special needs kids/4 "normal" kids)....half day every day and they meet with the K class once a week. special needs doesn't mean mentally retarded/handicapped...just the child has a deficit in 2 areas out of ummmmm....i can't remember 10 or 12 i think. things like fine motor, comprehension, attention deficit, ability to adapt, those sorts of things.

so in order to qualify the child has to go through a screening evaluation. that's what we missed. not another scheduled til early sept (see last blog entry).

but while drilling becky with question upon question, she politely interrupted and asked if we had any sort of evaulation report from her Occupational Therapist at Children's. absolutely! so, she asked that i bring that to her to evaluate with the school psychologist and asked that we filled out a Behavioral Assessment questionaire---those alone would possibly qualify her in the 2 areas allowing her to attend special needs pre-K.

i gathered the papers, got the girls ready and dropped them off to the admin offices. IF she qualifies based on those 2 evaulations, then we can forego the normal screening session in early september and instead meet with them in early august to write her Individual Education Program (IEP). you can read more about IEPs under the Individuals with Disabilites Education Act on the Government website.


if she doesn't qualify, then she goes to kindergarten and has a whole other ball of red tape to climb through the get any help she might need. then we will really get to find out how true the "No child left behind" motto really is.

so the papers are in their hands to review for qualification.
now we wait.
trusting God knows whats best for her.