Kindergarten Meeting

I was telling you yesterday how filling out the kindergarten forms was getting me depressed.

Attending the meeting was even harder.  When we were leaving Jesse asked me why we even went if it didn’t pertain to us at all.

I knew this was a general meeting for all the kiddos going into kindergarten.  Bella is going into kindergarten, but it has basically been determined that her developmental delays are severe enough that she will not be integrated into the normal classroom, but instead will be placed in a separate classroom.  In our particular school it is called a FOCUS room.

We haven’t finalized anything yet, so this is the placement we are leaning towards.  But back to the general meeting.  It was held so the parents could meet the kindergarten teachers, the principal of the school, get paperwork turned in, and determine if they want morning/afternoon or full day kindergarten.

They went over things you could work on over the summer to prepare your kids for entering school.  As I was listening to the different things they were talking about, I was holding back tears.  There are different times I find myself almost crying in regards to Bella.  It’s normally when we are in a situation surrounded by “normal” children and we have the hard reality of seeing just how far behind she is.  I always tear up in church when the young kids sing in front of the congregation.  I often tear up when I attend Bella’s school classroom for parties and events.

Mainly it’s because I want Bella to be able to enjoy all these activities that the other kids are doing….and I know she can’t, or at least not in the same way.

So last night as I was holding back tears because my daughter wouldn’t be learning any of the things “normal” kindergartners learn, the only hope I have is that she continues to enjoy school and is able to enjoy learning what she is capable of learning.