How We Prepped Jackie for School
How We Prepped Jackie for School | About Last Week
Now that we are over the flu, I am back to posting blog posts! I usually try to have content done ahead of time but I'll be honest, I was behind and was planning on catching up when Jackie was in school. But since we had the flu, I didn't get a chance! So here I am now. Last week, I shared that Jackie started preschool and why. Before I start on this post, I want to thank you all for the amazing messages, texts, calls, etc about that post. We have such an amazing support system that really loves Jackie! And now, I want to talk about how we prepped Jackie for school!
How We Prepped Jackie for School | My Plan
When we had Jackie's IEP meeting, I was pretty insistent that Jackie wait to start school in January. There were 3 weeks of school in December and then there was 2 weeks of winter break. I knew that there would be a transition period and I didn't want to have to do that twice so close together due to the break. Luckily, Jackie's teachers and the school were on board with this plan.
I also wanted to take the month of December to prep Jackie (and me) for school. I knew I was going to have a hard time sending her to school so I wanted to take time to wrap my head around that. But Jackie also thrives in a routine and we were going to change her routine. So I needed to spend the time and get Jackie into a new routine.
How We Prepped Jackie for School | New Routine
Since Jackie was going to take the bus to school, we found out several weeks in advance when the bus would come. Which gave me a chance to start getting Jackie up in time to get her out the door when we would need to once school started. This may seem like a little thing to most people, easy even. But when you have a child on the spectrum, every little change impacts them. So you have to plan, well at least I do. Jackie has been used to sleeping as late as she wants (anywhere between 8 and 10 am depending on how she slept the night before). So waking her up at 7:45 was NOT POPULAR to say the least.
We worked on getting dressed, doing her hair, brushing her teeth, putting on her coat, getting her backpack and leaving every day. We did this for most of the month of December. Up until this point, Jackie refused to wear a coat. I was thrilled to find this cute coat at Target that Jackie loves. She calls it her cat coat and makes sure we bring it with us whenever we leave the house. I also made a lunch for her that we took to Paris's every day so Jackie could practice eating out of a lunch box. We also worked on wearing sneakers and boots instead of the mini sole moccasins from Freshly Picked. I felt like she needed something sturdier for school and while it took a few days to warm up to the shoes, she loves them now!
How We Prepped Jackie for School | A New Set Up
One of the things I read about was setting up a place for Jackie to put her stuff, where she knew it went. So I got these hooks from Amazon and hung them low enough that Jackie can reach them and we can hang her coat, hat, and backpack. We are still working on Jackie putting her stuff there but it's been working for now. I actually love how it looks under the mirror in our front hall too!
Because there are hooks and a ledge, this has ended up being a really great fit for the whole family. I always know where my keys are now!
How We Prepped Jackie for School | Prepping For the Bus
Prepping for the bus was the biggest thing on my list of to dos to get Jackie ready for school. It was the biggest unknown. The thing I had the least control over. So I emailed Jackie's teacher and asked how I could prep Jackie. Asking the expert made sense. She suggested a social story. This is a tool many therapists/teachers suggest for kids on the spectrum for pretty much every new situation.
Enter bus book. I took this suggestion and ran with it. I used the limited Photoshop skills I have to put Jackie into pictures with buses and created the cutest little book. It is very homemade but Jackie loves it. She wants to read it every day, more than once a day. And I really think it prepped her for the bus!
How We Prepped Jackie for School | Going to the School
The last thing we did was take Jackie to the school the week before winter break started. I didn't think of it before then but I couldn't recommend this enough if you are going through this process. Talk to your child's teacher. See if you can bring your child into the classroom so they have been there before the first day of school.
This was huge for Jackie, and me. I had this fear of how Jackie would feel when we put her on a bus, with people she didn't know, going to a place she hadn't been with more people she didn't know. So getting Jackie to the school was a big deal for me. Jackie was thrilled about the school and her classroom. She was happy with the teacher and aids and loved exploring the toys. I felt so much more at peace when I knew Jackie would recognize this place and these people on the first day.
How We Prepped Jackie for School | Shop
[show_boutique_widget id="910409"]