Our neighborhood elementary school's PFO had a panel last night on Children's Mental Health. Unfortunately, it wasn't well attended, but husband & I were there and I'm so encouraged by the things I heard.
Sam won't attend this particular school until 1st grade (our District has separate centers for Kindergarten & preschool), but I wanted to see what I could expect once he gets there.
First, the principal seems so forward thinking -- very open-minded that children can be handicapped by emotional/mental issues. in my elementary days, I think kids like my son would have simply been labeled troublemakers and treated as such.
There are such great supports available between the assistant principal, resource teacher, on-site full-time therapist, as well as other staff available throughout the district.
I was really encouraged when the principal discussed their efforts to work with collaborative problem solving with all their students -- The Explosive Child came to mind!
I recently heard that all the staff of the Kindergarten/preschool program were given a copy of The Explosive Child as well as special training -- even if Sam doesn't qualify for IEP, there will be supports available to help him (that was something I was really concerned about).
As a newbie to all of this, it was nice to have the administration reach out with this information.
Sam won't attend this particular school until 1st grade (our District has separate centers for Kindergarten & preschool), but I wanted to see what I could expect once he gets there.
First, the principal seems so forward thinking -- very open-minded that children can be handicapped by emotional/mental issues. in my elementary days, I think kids like my son would have simply been labeled troublemakers and treated as such.
There are such great supports available between the assistant principal, resource teacher, on-site full-time therapist, as well as other staff available throughout the district.
I was really encouraged when the principal discussed their efforts to work with collaborative problem solving with all their students -- The Explosive Child came to mind!
I recently heard that all the staff of the Kindergarten/preschool program were given a copy of The Explosive Child as well as special training -- even if Sam doesn't qualify for IEP, there will be supports available to help him (that was something I was really concerned about).
As a newbie to all of this, it was nice to have the administration reach out with this information.
