One-Way Window

After dropping Ane off at school on Wednesdays and Thursdays, I have an hour and a half to myself before Tad gets out of school. The Webmaster had taken Tad to school yesterday morning, so after I got Ane to school, I decided to drive over to Tad’s school to peek in at him.

Each of the classrooms at Tad’s school has an alcove with a one-way window for parents to peek in. I hadn’t looked at Tad in class since his first day, so I signed myself in at the office, put on a visitor’s badge, and went to watch from the alcove.

The class – which has grown from six kids to eight already – had just come in from recess and was washing up for snack. Tad got washed up and then sat in his chair, listening fairly well, as his teacher read If You Give A Pig A Pancake to the class. Then each child got a pancake and syrup for snack.

Tad’s teachers are brave souls to give three-year-olds syrup on pancakes, let me tell you.

Tad wasn’t that enthralled with his pancake, but gamely picked at it and actually picked up a couple of bites with his fork, which I was impressed with. When his teacher handed him an open cup of water, I held my breath, but Tad actually used both hands to hold it and take a couple of sips before deciding to see how far down his hand fit in his cup.

I snickered a little, because that is just so Tad. His teacher saw it, and took the cup away. He was able to take his cup nicely to the sink, and then it was music time, so I slipped away. The kids were coming out into the meeting area to sing with the other classes, so I wouldn’t be able to see Tad without him seeing me. I made a quick exit before he could turn and look.

One of the speech therapists saw me while I was watching the class have snack and asked if I was Tad’s mom. “Oh, he was just chatting up a storm in speech therapy today,” she told me. “You can tell he’s really enjoying himself at school.”

And you really can. All of the notes I’ve been getting from his speech therapist have been positive – Tad’s been making a real effort and been cooperating well in his individual sessions, as well as in the class language group that they do together. There’s only been a couple of incidents at snack time that his teachers have had to tell me about – pouring out his juice and splashing in it, and tossing his placemat on the floor instead of putting it away nicely – but otherwise, he’s behaving well.

I would like to observe him at the beginning of his school day, when they have free play time and he’s interacting with the other kids. I’d like to see how he’s doing with that, and maybe I’ll make some time to do that later. But, for now, I’m pleased. One of my prayers have been answered – Tad actually likes school.

Now, I just have to remember to take the class snack for the week in on Monday.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 3rd, 2008 at 1:33 am and is filed under Children, School Days, Speech Therapy Saga.
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