I think that I posted these pictures last year but the purpose for this post is to share with my POLP (Parents Of Little People) group on Facebook.
I was very nervous last year for Quentin to start Kindergarten in a "real" school outside the safe walls of his preschool, Starbright. I had made an appointment to meet with the principal and the school psychologist at the end of the school year prior to Quentin's arrival. At that meeting we went over what Quentin's needs would be for the following school year - Quentin did not attend this meeting it was simply a brain storming session.
When the teachers and principal returned to school, after summer break to prepare for the school year we once again met with them and brought Quentin along to this meeting. I also had a tape measure and 3M hooks that could be utilized if needed. The meeting took about an hour and half; we walked around the whole school and took measurements and made notes of where stools should be placed - we would return the week before school started to check to make sure that everything was ready for the first day of Kindergarten! I couldn't have been more pleased.
Quentin's teacher was very excited to have him in her class. The school did an excellent job at making the stools and had them in place for him - they were perfect They did much more than I expected, including lowering a swing on the playground for him to reach, as well as making the foot rests for his chair in the computer lab and a bathroom stool in the nurses office when he was out of his classroom at music or gym in case he needed to use the bathroom. They also had a stool at a water fountain by the gym so he could get a drink after gym like the other kids.
Fast forward an entire year to First Grade - when we went to the Back to School BBQ to meet Quentin's new teacher I was impressed when my independent son asked his teacher, "you have my stools from Mrs. Dudley?" his teacher smiled and said yes that everything would be ready for him. I was proud and sad at the same time, he is becoming aware of what his needs are for school, and asking his teacher showed this is something that he feels is completely normal for him.
We had to order a couple of extra stools since Quentin is participating in the before and after school program this year - so there were two more bathroom stools that the school ordered for him.
The new thing we had to work with this year was that Quentin didn't want the "fake" jeans (the ones with elastic waist and no zipper or snap) he wanted real jeans because as he put it "I look awesome in jeans" So I purchased jeans for the boy however I knew that they would have to be modified because he has a hard time still with the snaps and zipper - his reach is just not quite there for him to be able to do this easily.
Sadly when I looked online I couldn't find anything that would easily assist in making this daily task easy for a 6 1/2 year old.
I did find a Velcro button conversion kit, however they didn't look sturdy - so my mom helped me make our own conversion kit.
We bought one package of Velcro and sewed them over the button so he can now button
his pants himself - for the zipper I tried a couple of zipper pulls that I had made from fish line and string - but the eye of the zipper was so small (toddler size pants zippers are small) I just couldn't get the pull to be sturdy enough. I got some jewelry hooks and attached them to the zipper I clamped the loop on the zipper and it worked perfectly!
The look on Quentin's face was priceless when he was able to button and zip his pants himself! I must admit I was pretty giddy myself!!
I know that there will be more adjustments as he gets older but for now I am happy that the little things like fixing the zipper and snaps on his jeans are what makes him happy!!
