Transitioning Back to School

Today we had a HUGE meeting about Prema's return to public school in the Deaf Education program. HUGE not only in size (15 plus people in attendance), but also in importance for our family and her future. We had been feeling that Prema needed to return back to school for academics to give myself and the boys a break from her and also for her to be around other deaf people. However, we also know that Prema is not fully attached yet and therefore we still need to keep her environment small and limited in the the number adults she is around. We came with our 4 goals to have Prema's therapy and academics be at school, but still giving her enough time at home to work on her attachment and be with family. The other important piece was the fact that Prema's test results show 10.5 year old normal deaf child but her academic abilities are lower than kindergarden level. Therefore we wanted her placed in at least 2nd grade but still having her academics focusing on the lower level skills she has yet to aquire. The meeting was a big success. All of our goals are going to be met. Prema will be attending school 3-4 hours a day depending on the classes schedule. She will be in a 2nd grade classroom. And we have made a schedule to try and eliminate as many changes in environment and adult interaction as possible. We are going to begin on Wednesday August 30 with a transition plan of at least 2 weeks where Prema goes only for a few hours a day with me shadowing. Gradually she will increase her time at school and without me there until we meet her permenant modified schedule. Keep us in our prayers as there are going to be some big adjustments for everyone involved (Prema, Isaac, Eli, Grandma Cullum, Kyle and me, teachers, etc).