we survived the first week!

We survived the first week of school. I have to honestly say that it was difficult and a  lot of tears were shed ( mine not Aidan lol.)  I am having a hard time with this transition. Work is ok but I don't love it. The kiddos I work with are really sweet ( but challenging each in their own way). I am hoping just to learn as much as I can from them. ;0). One little girl is really sweet. She is nonverbal and communicates through an ipad type machine using her eye gaze. She is mobile but I have to have a hand on her at all times. Working with her is difficult physically but really fascinating. I am fearful that I am going to hurt my back. I really miss my boy and am having a difficult time being away from him. Home schooling is in the back of my mind.

The good news is that Aidan seems to be enjoying school. The full day schedule is wearing him out and he could barely put together a sentence by Friday but he is dirty and sweaty when I pick him up so I figure all is good. I really like his school. I like that it is small and the nurturing feel of it. Everyone on campus seems to already know Aidan by name and say hi to him when they see him. It has a very homey feel and "it takes a village" feel. I am really interested in learning more about Montessori. The feel of the school where I work and the feel of Aidan's school is vastly different. The special ed teachers at my school are wonderful and good teachers but now that I am a mom there are things in the regular ed.classrooms that really bother me. Some of it has to do with the attitude of some of the teachers. When I was out walking around with my student I witnessed a Kindergarten student ask his teacher very innocently to help him with his back pack ( remember this is the FIRST week of school and it was a KINDERGARTEN student). The teacher just barked at him that he was in Kindergarten now and he should do it himself! Luckily our very sweet Assistant Principal was walking by at the time and helped the little boy. It turns out the zipper was stuck and even she had a difficult time with it! I also witnessed a teacher of an older class who had her students walking in line like soldiers with their hands by their sides. I just feel like teachers today have so much on their plate and so much pressure placed on them that they have lost some of the compassion and don't always "hear" when students talk to them.

Well the clothes have been washed, ironed, and put away and lunches have been prepped for the week. We are ready to roll into week 2. Hopefully, this week will be better than last week. Sorry if this post is kind of a downer but it is just where I am at the moment.