School Search!

Puzzle time

Practicing pre-writing skills (occupational therapy) at his new kids' table from Pottery Barn (thanks Honey & G-Dad!)


Playing with the letter "O"
The teacher inside me can no longer be contained! I've started doing little lessons with Will during our day & it's so fun!

The flash cards have arrived!!!

Have you read Momzillas by Jill Kargman? It's a hilarious book about exteme mothering in NYC's Upper East Side. In Momzillas, moms and dads begin looking into preschools before their child is even conceived. And once the child is born, everything is all about getting the child into the BEST school... because everyone knows that how well you do in preschool affects your college choices, careers, & future marriage options, right? (just kidding)

So, at the risk of sounding a little "momzillaish," we're now looking into schools for Will. However, in our defense, here's why we're looking when he is only 1:

• I'm a former teacher so this kind of thing interests me... it's one of my passions & I find it fun!


• We take a loooooong time to make decisions in our marriage- just ask our parents who have had to endure our long decision making process! So many schools require you to sign up in the previous February yet they don't offer their open houses until the January. Therefore, if we attend the open houses this month & set up conferences with the principals this semester, that gives us a good 9-12 months to decide.


• Obviously, our situation is a little "unique." We need to find a school that we feel best meets Will's needs, that he can excel at, and that will hold him to a high standard while also offering grace when needed. (Example: a mom of a child with hand differences once shared with me how her son came home with a bad grade in kindergarten for not using scissors "properly." Clearly, the teacher was not giving him grace! I want Will to be given the opportunity to use scissors & I want him to be expected to cut. However, it may take me a couple of years to find the perfect brand of scissors for Will to cut with or it may take him a couple of years to develop the hand strength to cut... or he may choose to never cut at all & in the grand scheme of life... that's ok - not a critical skill for life! I need a teacher that can work with us and give him flexibility & grace to do things differently.)

So- we began our educational hunt with a "journey of silence" at the local Montessori school. Wow! I was super impressed! It was incredible. Having taught in a traditional school, I was unfamiliar with the montessori method but it has amazed me! The things they had 3 and 4 year olds doing was really incredible! I also was impressed with the facility and the teachers. I can definitely see Will doing great in a situation like this - it is very "hands-on" & self-paced learning, which I like. That evening, Reagan & I attended the open house/meet the teachers. We were impressed with the teachers although we would have some issues to work through with them regarding our unique situation. Bless their hearts, they would kindly ask us about our prospective student... & boy did they get an answer to that as I would then spring some of my hard questions on them. I still need a conference with the teachers and the director which I hope to have sometime this spring as we continue to think about this option.

We'll try another local school I've heard great things about this week... I'll be posting soon!

In case you are super bored today... I filmed some of our recent therapy sessions! This is just Will & I with out our therapists. In the above clip, we are working on some OT skills like stacking 4 or more blocks. In the lower clip, he's practicing walking in his zancos.
Again - this is just if you're super bored (or a grandparent!)