Our Own Games... (and a parents visit to kindergarten! oh! and a sports wheelchair!)

the parade to the Games

her teacher's class banner

working out race strategy with Aunt Karen :)

wheelchair push (independent)
(miss shannon in the background)

wheelchair pull with Aunt Karen

several attempts at a class picture...
at last, this!

our favoritest teacher

blue ribbons or not, our inspiration.

... and E wouldn't know a blue ribbon from a white, and would prefer purple! it was just such a fun and inspiring day to watch so many children with all kinds of abilities get together for their own version of school Olymp*cs. Aunt Karen made the trip up and i can't thank her enough for making this day all the more special by participating in one of the events so that i could continue to be the spectator that i adore being... plus, she is the athlete :)

what incredible work these teachers, volunteers, aides, and students put into making this day possible. we are so grateful to miss shannon, her Pre-K teacher who we adore and are struggling with saying good-bye to this summer. i am beginning to think it will be a harder transition for Mom than for E! just look at her face in that photo of E racing on her own- it epitomizes who she is... the support and backbone of her students, who looks on with so much pride in who her students have become.

we met with E's potential K teacher today. we are trying to get her into the multi-age program at the school we are zoned for, slots are few but thanks for some wonderful connections and her unique needs, hopefully we will be selected without any glitches. this will mean she is in the same class with the same teacher for grades K-2, something that i feel she needs for multiple reasons. 1, she has had enough major life changes in the short first 3.5 years of her life. this will give her a solid foundation to move into grade 3 and beyond. 2, she is a natural leader. (read between the lines, for all her shyness, once she is comfortable, girl has a little boss in her). that's not a bad thing, at all, and truthfully it's not that horrible- she's not at all or in the least overbearing. but having peers and mentors and students that are assigned leaders that are older than her will greatly benefit her. and she's an only child and likely will remain one unless we strike it rich (HA! ha. ha.), so being in this sort of program is not unlike being in a family- children older than you, younger than you, which can make negotiating problems and communicating more challenging- as it would be in any family- while she will benefit from learning from her older peers too and eventually will make an amazing role model herself. 3, the structure of the class itself mimics the Montessori based programs essentially. they don't state that specifically, but it's apparent. since the children are all learning in the same classroom most of the time (math not included), they are achieving at different levels because some might be grasping the 1st and 2nd grade concepts as they are able. there is a set curriculum for each grade level though. 4. as it turns out, they happened to have a 2nd grader in a wheelchair now who will be moving on to 3rd grade. so the room she would be placed in is already adapted for a child in a wheelchair (this is a mainstream class, not a class for children with special needs). it financially makes sense for the school to place her here so that further adaptations don't have to be made to another class. 5th, i just love the whole concept. since when were we meant to move from one grade to another (or a new class each year) at such a young age? certainly wasn't done that way originally when we had the same teacher from kindergarten to grade 12 (you know, when OUR parents had to walk 2 miles in the snow uphill to and from school). i know, that is ancient history, but still. it's a lot to ask a 5 year old and a 6 year old and a 7 year old to suck it up, year after year. and she's had to suck it up enough already :) now is her time to settle in for 3 years of solid. 3 years of familiar. she thrives on that. and i am so excited about her future.

LASTLY, but just as exciting (if you even got through that last paragraph), an anonymous person donated money to Kids Abilities here in town so that our local tennis coach (he played professional wheelchair tennis/basketball, etc and comes to the monthly Adaptive Tennis games) could have CUSTOM SPORTS CHAIRS made for E and her friend A from P.T. (who also plays tennis). BONUS. coach johnny offered to give them private lessons! at no cost! she LOVES tennis. and of course, she chose purple :)

i hope one day this person will reveal themselves, so i can squeeze them tight and thank them. it amazes me and renews my faith in the human spirit, the generosity of strangers...

and as you can see from the last post, well, ransom is alive and well, 5 months after diagnosis.

so life? it's still good. :)