The home visit was basically just to get to know the teacher and for them (the teacher and an admin) to hand out the laundry list of materials (handbook, calendar, supply list, etc.) and let you discuss anything about your child you felt needed discussion. She also took a picture of him to put on his bin. 🙂 But it wasn’t bad at all—and I really REALLY like the teacher, Mrs. Ashley.
We went over his general home life (baby sister, three pets, daddy deployed), his potential behavior issues (how he’s generally a very well-behaved and polite kid, but with a recent streak of attitude), his food issues, and of course his poop issues. As I’m sure you can guess, the last two are the biggest worries for me.
As with preschool, all food (in this case, breakfast, lunch, and a snack) are all provided—and you CANNOT bring anything from home. If you don’t like what’s served, too bad. And while on one hand I can understand that…on the other hand, Owen doesn’t like much so I anticipate him being hungry quite a bit. I did tell the teacher about Owen earning “bonus badges” for trying new foods, so she said she’d let me know what he ate or if he tried a new food (I told her it would likely be very obvious if he tried a new food because he would initially refuse to eat it). She says their policy is that the kids have to try something…so that might help Owen—especially if other kids are having to do it, too. They will also call if (for whatever reason) he doesn’t eat anything all day. I guess I’ll just have a stash of granola bars or crackers in the car for when I pick him up.
As far as poop…I reiterated the entire saga to them (a condensed version starting from Day 1 of potty training through being hospitalized last month and the likelihood that he’s already constipated again) because I wanted them to know that I wasn’t hiding anything. I even told them I was honestly TERRIFIED of him getting kicked out due to this issue and that I almost didn’t accept the Pre-K admission because of it. They tried to assure me that it wasn’t that big of a deal and that they “have seen it all” and they “have worked with other kids on this issue”…but at the end of the day, they can ask if he needs to go and suggest he try…but they can’t really can’t assist in any way (and to me, that’s where the biggest problem will be). As she said, “We can stand outside the door and say ‘I think you might need to wipe again’ but that’s about the extent of it.” If it’s something really bad, they have to call me. Yes, call me, so I can drive 15 minutes in to clean him up. 🙁
After they left I tried to tell Owen a little about his new class and expectations so he wouldn’t be surprised. I told him he’d be eating lunch there and he might not like everything but has to try it…and it was like talking to a wall. He doesn’t pay attention and it drives me nuts. So I guess he’ll learn the hard way…