A Visit to Hannah’s School

I’m guessing you’re noticing a theme here.  School, school and more school. 

I made a conscious decision to slow down our lives substantially for the first couple of weeks of school so there isn’t much else to write about right now.  Hannah and I normally live very busy and active lives but since she is suddenly going to school all day, every day, I guessed that she would need more mommy time and more down time so I slowed us down.  And I’m glad we’ve done that.  Last Friday night she had 2 long crying spells in her sleep and I’m sure they we caused by all the changes she had experienced in the previous few days combined with how tired she was.  I held her, rocked her and comforted her through them and she eventually settled both times.  In the morning she had no recollection of them which is typical.  When she was a baby she suffered with night terrors especially when we travelled, was over stimulated or tired and they still occur occasionally although thankfully not nearly so often.  This week she has done really well even with the hiccup in her bussing.  Ange is still taking her each morning and I pick her up each afternoon.  Hopefully all will be resolved by the end of the week.

Wednesday was a welcome BBQ and meet the teacher night.  I was really excited to go to Hannah’s school with her and she couldn’t wait to show me around!  Here she is in front of her cubby with her box of duck tissues and self portrait above.

We ate our lunch in the area that she waits for her bus with her Early Childhood Educator (ECE), Miss H.  Miss H works alongside her teacher Mrs. C in her classroom fulltime.  I am thankful that there are 2 fulltime staff in her class of 23 students.

After the BBQ Hannah led me to the gym where there was a hands on display of therapy animals for the kids to look at and touch.  All of these animals are used by a local organization that does therapy with children.  There was a baby kangaroo

a hedgehog

a white cockatoo

and even a baby fox!

There was also a tortoise there and suddenly the story of the tortoise and the hare made much more sense.  Give this boy space and he could move!!

I was really excited to see her classroom so that I could picture where she is each day.  She was in her glory in the kitchen area

and we built many block towers together before it was time to go home.  This one collapsed just as I snapped the picture.

Hannah is loving school and is excited to go each morning!  Details of her days are still slow in coming but over time they do.  I have been nothing but impressed by her school, her teachers, the office staff and the organization and care they have for all of their students!

An update on the bus:  Thankfully the bus situation was resolved yesterday.  It ended up being much more involved then either the principal or I realized but thankfully a solution was found and Hannah will be back on her first bus with her bus buddies on Tuesday.  I’ve enjoyed the extra time I’ve had each day when I picked her up and took her to daycare but will be happy when she’s back into her normal routine too.

Hannah is flourishing and JK is great!