I really feel like daycare/preschool is going to be a great thing for Anna. Her pediatrician knows her pretty well and recommended for her to start going even if I'm not working at her last appointment just to hurry along her speech. She said that Anna is obviously very bright and inquisitive, can understand directions well, but she feels like not speaking is Anna's last hurrah over her little brother and wanting to be a baby.
I know I'm going to be sending her to a really good preschool with a good curriculum, and a fairly big staff of teachers trained up to kindergarten. She's going to be with lots of kids her own age. She's already shown she loves being in a school/play type environment. In fact whenever we go to one, she books it in and doesn't look back.
Awhile back I read Bringing up Bebe, and really saw from a different perspective how good it is for toddlers to be in a fun learning environment away from parents and with children their own age.
Even with all this, I have my fears.
For one, she's still not good at sharing. Christmas was a good example of it. She took all of baby Iggy's toys and cried when we would give it to him. This isn't something I like and I always tell her it's not okay for her to be so greedy and she'll cry and I'll soothe her without giving in.
The problem is I'm obviously not going to be there to soothe her in daycare. Everyone I've told my fear to so far has told me she'll learn faster in daycare than with me. Two weeks tops until she grasps the concept without tears.
Now the other fear.
What if other kids don't like her?
She's used to being around cousins and my friend's kids that are a little bit older. She gets a free pass at a lot of thing because she's "the baby". This is kind of why she's bad at sharing and a little pushy. But with kids her age it just makes them not like her so what if my little bear becomes lonely? What if she finally learns to share and be nice but the other kids don't give her a chance? That happened to one of my nephews when he started kindergarten, and he was miserable until he got pulled out. He restarted at a different school and has done a complete 180 and loves school now.
I know that if she doesn't like being there I'll definitely make other arrangements until she's ready, but I really hope she just loves it and it's a good experience from the get go.
She'll be fine. Sometimes other kids are are the best teachers when it comes to sharing.
ReplyDeleteYou might find this link useful:
http://www.asha.org/public/speech/disorders/LateBlooming.htm
When does she turn three? She can receive speech therapy from your local public school district if she is found to be eligible.
Feel free to contact me if you have any speech-language development questions.
Merry Christmas!
(I should have specified: She can receive speech therapy from your local school district at age 3, if she is eligible. Eligibility is based on whether or not she exhibits a speech-language delay. It's best to make the referral 4-6 weeks before her third birthday. That way, the assessment can be completed and a treatment plan developed before her third birthday, allowing her to start as soon as she is three.)
ReplyDeleteWe are starting speech therapy at the beginning of the year! She already got the referral for it but my doctor said not to worry too much about it. Thank you though!
ReplyDeleteIt will be great and she will love it! I am a teacher and I think it makes a huge difference for little ones to be a part of a group of kids of the same age. Don't get me wrong, I think multi-age settings are great for kids too, but she will take cues from the teacher and the other kids.
ReplyDeleteMy sister has 4- and 2-year olds and both have speech delay. Her oldest has gone to preschool since he was 2 and it has helped a bunch!! She is going to start her youngest as soon as he is ready.
Good luck!!
thanks jennifer!
ReplyDelete