Starting school

Michael recently "graduated" from Primary at his Montessori school where he's been with his sweet teacher Ms. Tricia for the past two years.  She was a little teary-eyed at saying goodbye to him but was so proud of how far he's come since he started.  Michael made her a nice card on his last day.  I really love the Montessori method and think it's been great for him, so we're really going to miss it.

Michael also spent one year in speech therapy classes to help improve his conversation, emotional, and social skills to get ready for kindergarten.  We got ready by making a new feeling board, reviewing all his "good friends" rules and discussing how to be "superflexible" when it comes to school.  We are thankful to his teachers for helping give him the tools and skills he would need to be ready.  After his last class, he and I (and Snoopy) got to go out for a special lunch at Chick-fil-A to celebrate.

Dad helped Michael pick out a new Star Wars lunch box and some new shoes for school.  We all enjoyed meeting the new teacher at "Popsicles in the Park" night and seeing where Michael's desk would be and how the classroom was set up a few days before class started.  The first day Malcolm was so excited for Michael, he jumped right into the first-day-of-school picture outside :)

Michael was ready to go from Day 1.  He seemed comfortable with the classroom and his teacher, waved goodbye and starting focusing on setting up at his seat.  Among so many other things, I was really nervous that kids have to walk into school by themselves starting on the second day - parents can't come in.  We talked about it and on the second day, Michael just jumped out and walked right in without looking back.  I didn't get too emotional on the first day, but seeing my little boy run right into school with that much confidence definitely made me weepy the first week.  We're so proud of him.  We've also been enjoying hearing stories about the kids and teachers he is meeting at school.

Malcolm is really concerned about taking care of his big brother.  Every morning he wants to help pack Michael's lunch, and he asks him lots of questions about school.  When we drop Michael off from the carpool line, he'll say, "Make sure you tell your friends about your new shoes, Michael!" or "Have a great day, Michael!"  After school he says, "Did you get to do circle time today?" and "Did you like your lunch today, Michael?"  It's so sweet.  I'm still very cautious about several issues at school overall, but so far things are going really well, Michael's teacher is very nice, and we are very thankful.