The time has come, school is back in session. Daniel started at the new school here in Colorado Springs. So far we are off to an ok start. He was super excited to be back in school, but that excitement had faded by the end of the first day.
This transition has been a little difficult for all three boys, but it could be extra difficult for Daniel. The life skills class in Kansas had four students in it. On top of that, he had the same para for three years in a row. She was like family to us. Now not only does he not have his favorite people, but the class is much bigger. He now has 15 students in the SSN classroom, although some only spend a small portion of the day in there. He is suddenly a little fish in a big pond.
The shear size of the schools is a big change. The elementary school Daniel attends is one of 24 elementary schools in the district. They have three middle schools and two high schools. The middle school and high school’s our kids attend alone have more students than the entire district we came form in Kansas. The high school alone has 1800 students and 120 staff members! Needless to say, it took a lot of adjusting for the kids. I was even overwhelmed at Super D’s back to school night.
This is also the first time in the kid’s life that they can walk or bike to school. The older kids are ok with it, Daniel not so much. The school is about a half mile from the house, so we walked to the back to school night. He did very well that day, so we set out Thursday morning. Daniel was excited to be there, so I thought this would work out well.
Boy was I wrong.
I made the decision to take Ben and walk down to get Daniel after school. Ben complained halfway there that he wanted to sit in the shade. Then he fell down, so he was upset by the time we got to school. Daniel seemed ok until we started off. Turns out making him walk home after a big day at school was a recipe for disaster. He made it home, but he was not having it the next day.
Friday morning brought a huge fit when we mentioned school. In the end Daniel would only go if I got the wheelchair out. No big deal. It would have made the trip easier and faster, if I had left Ben at home. By Friday night I had given up and drove the car to get Super D.
Today was a new week. This morning I loaded Super D into the Weehoo behind the bike and set off for school. He loved it and seemed to be happy to be there. Hopefully this week he will get back into the swing of things and back to the point where he likes school.
Life With Super D! 