News from the School Front

A second conversation with the school today confirmed that CJ and AJ will be attending a local charter school with a language immersion program. The program seems to offer everything we wanted so we're pretty happy.

Language immersion was one of the psychologist's recommendations for CJ. It will play on his verbal strengths, giving him an opportunity to excel in that area and also helping him hone that skill and hopefully use it more effectively to mediate his non-verbal weaknesses. We think it will also be great for AJ to have an additional challenge in the classroom to keep him engaged, a plus on both ends. They also have a very hands-on curriculum, which is especially important for CJ in the math department. Both boys seem to be more kinesthetic learners so we love the idea of their doing project-based learning in the classroom rather than an endless series of worksheets.

Another bonus is that I already know and like the Special Education Coordinator at the school. We've already started talking about what he needs and it sounds like it will be good fit. They have a social skills group in place that he can join (a big bonus since it saves us having to search one out) and a SPED teacher that has a solid background in Early Childhood Education to work with him. This is especially important since developmentally they are so different from older kids that you need the specialized knowledge to be able to work with them effectively.

I'd like to say I am worry-free, but I think that is too much to hope for at this point. November through February were hard months and I have moments where I fear we will end up back there. I do, however, feel like we are in the best possible position we can be in right now and that gives us a lot of hope for the future. That is a welcome change from the uncertainty we've been feeling lately.