The Smallest Preschooler

Ellie goes to preschool.

WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS THAT GOING TO LOOK LIKE?!

And, this is technically her last year before becoming a kindergartner.

How was this going to work? She needs to be carried most of her day. She doesn't talk, engage with people, or follow directions like a typical student would.

Well...here is how I believe she feels about preschool....I know she loves me (and I love her SO MUCH), but I can tell you with 100% certainty that she is not happy at parent pick up to see me. No offense is taken of course because I know how HAPPY she is going to school.

A couple years back when the birth to three program talked to us about transitioning my 3 year old into preschool...I kind of thought they were crazy. She was at about a 3-6 month old in most areas of development. How would she do anything at school that would be more beneficial than the care I was providing her at home with frequent visits to therapists.

Ellie and her WONDERFUL teacher Shelley

Well, it has been amazing. Every step of the way. Ellie has a team (or staff, really) of kind, caring, loving, intelligent professionals that go out of their way to provide Ellie with the best and most beneficial experience she could have. They turned this crazy idea of preschool into a safe, therapeutic and fun atmosphere of growth and learning. Leading this team is Shelley, whom we love and adore. She is Ellie's teacher who instructs and coordinates what Ellie's experiences will be like. When we sit down for our IEP meetings, I am always impressed to see how she can get more than 10 working professionals to move their schedules around to meet and discuss Ellie.

Ellie goes 4 days a week for about 2 1/2 hours each day. When we arrive at school, Ellie's one-on-one para-educator, Tammy greets us. She makes sure Ellie stays safe throughout her day and helps transition her between classroom activities and therapy.

Ellie and her AWESOME para-educator Tammy

 One of the great things about preschool is that the therapy is part of the classroom experience. It is incorporated into play. Not always does this work for kiddos but at this point for Ellie it is ideal.

After her favorite "circle time" she works with audiologists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, vision therapists, physical therapists, her para, teacher and all of her friends.


She may not interact in a way that I thought was "preschool appropriate", but I have learned that there are many meaningful ways other than the way I thought, that shouldn't diminish the value or importance. It is still so important because it is her experience as an individual. She has a day that I am not 100% a part of, and that is scary. But it's also beautiful because I see the joy that the autonomy brings to her soul. My sweet girl Ellie is her own person...no matter how small.