Nursery Graduation and Teacher Gifts!

As you may be aware if you read my Last Day post, my Little Ones (or not so!) finally had their last day of school a couple of weeks ago. I've only just got around to writing about Little A's nursery graduation and the teacher gifts we gave away in the last week.  I don't remember giving teacher gifts to Midges Year 1 teacher's but I do remember her reception teachers having gifts because I remember thinking how much they had helped her and I wanted to say thank you. I made them little buckets full of stationery and chocolates which they all loved. Midge has now left year 2 and she is old enough to say whether she wants to go and share a gift with her teachers or not (some would find it embarrassing after all) of course, as I assumed, she wanted to give her teachers something to remember her by!

I had several very lovely little plushies made for me in gift swaps from a long time ago that I hadn't looked at in some some time so I thought, as they are so lovely I asked Midge if she would like to give them to her teachers. She said yes and added that she would like to put some candles with them. We bought two smaller Yankee candles and one large strawberry flavoured candle from The Card Factory for her main teacher. Midge got some hugs from her teachers so I think they went down well.

Little A had his nursery graduation a few days before the last day of term. The photos of the children on the large screen were quite a tear jerker but the actual singing and awarding ceremony were just filled with lots of smiles and clapping. 

Little A  with his cupcake and certificate

Finally Little A's lovely teacher gifts which I purchased from Danielle Louise Designs through facebook. The notebooks were the perfect gift for Little A's teachers who have done so, so much for him and us since he started. 

I ordered 5 of these notebooks in total and loved them all.

I love the little button apples

'It takes a big heart to help shape little minds'

How was last day for your children? Did you do teacher gifts this year too?

Cupcake Mumma

Last Day ~ A Mix of Emotions!

Today marked the last day of school for my two. I had to convince Little A that his last day was yesterday because he's come down with a bug which started this morning, poor thing. Midge has had her last day though and had a great time saying goodbye to everyone and watching DVDs. The school have spent 3 weeks doing lots of fun activities with the children which is so nice.

I'm very excited for Midge. I felt sad watching her play last week because I realised that would be her last play of KS1, my little girl is growing up and fast. I am excited for her though because she has gained a lot of confidence in this year and I know KS2 will bring lots more opportunities for her to learn and grow in many ways. In the first week back there is an activity day and camping at school. This will be a big deal for Midge, I'm planning on getting her to sleep over at her cousins and my mums house in preparation.

Midge has had a great year with really good attendance which would have been perfect if not for those pesky ear aches (must be inherited!) she had several awards for hard work and had a good day at a sports event to build her confidence. She's made more friends and strengthened those ones that have been there for the longest. We have had no problems with Midge, we just want to help build her confidence and help her anxieties, she's very much like I was as a youngster so naturally I'm trying to guide her in fighting what she's afraid of.

Little A has also had an amazing year. It has been a long one and often hard, filled with meetings and appointments but we have got to the end and he is a totally different child to the one who started last year. When he started nursery I was often heart broken at not being able to understand my own son. Now we chat all the time and although others can't always understand him I can now translate! Great feeling! The nursery staff have been truly amazing and I will miss them so very much. I feel sad because he had such amazing teachers, the same ones Midge had and there has not been another teacher to match up to their standards so far! He does have a wonderful teacher next year I'm pleased to say. It's also the end of many things. No more nursery, ever. No more morning hot chocolate dates sat with my Little Man and talking, playing and relaxing before popping to the library and then heading to school. No more piggy backs on the way to school in the afternoon (I can't do mum taxi in the mornings!) No more 9.05am train to watch with my train loving buddy. No more spontaneous breakfasts at Spoons. A money saver of course but man will I miss those. Of course we'll make new routines and maybe I'll bring the odd babychino to school at pick up!

So yes, a mix of emotions but I know we're heading on a brand new education journey with Midge entering year 3 and starting more in depth work and swimming and Little A starting Reception where he'll start learning to read and write but still have loads of fun!

Happy holidays everyone, I'm going to be sharing our summer on the blog and I can't wait to read everyone else's holiday posts too.

Cupcake Mumma

Little A an Update

Things have been up and down with Little A for a couple of years and it's been difficult. When I first realised I needed some help with A I phoned a health visitor in tears but now we are 2 years on things are getting easier. We had his transitional meeting at nursery recently and it was so good to know that my boy is going to be understood and not left behind during his first year of school. If all goes well he will be signed off the list for these school meetings we attend with a lovely special needs worker. Little A has some sensory issues but he doesn't have any other issues and as long as people who are close to him understand these he will be okay.

He will continue with speech therapy which has been such a gift. I cannot explain how much this has meant to us. With his speech sessions and with the nursery setting and teachers being so wonderful and his skills with socialising and interacting with other children constantly building he has come such a long way. I always said I was offended by the the line "once he starts talking you'll want him to shut up" and I stand firmly by that still. Until you are the parent of a child and you cannot understand a single word they say and they are angry, stressed and frustrated because of all the people in the world you should know what he is saying and you don't, you just don't know what a gift it is to hear words and sentences tumble from his lips after school, at bedtime, with his big sister, with me in the middle of the night, it goes on and I love it. He is still very repetitive which of course is something that wears thin but overall I couldn't be a happier Mum if I tried!

We've had an occupational therapy consultation which was a success. I think it went very well. The therapist did agree with sensory issues, once written down we could see his main issues revolved around touch and he also has trouble self regulating. He is sensitive to noise but a lot of what I described made her feel that it was best to see our doctor (we think he could be experiencing tinnitus which is just horrible because I have it) and to get him a hearing test just to be sure. She also felt the head rocking and banging and the sleep disturbances and night terrors were not sensory so we have been referred to Sleep Solutions. I'm not sure what they can advise, I think we have a mixture of waiting it out to do and habits to break which is all very difficult when we all just want sleep but I'm willing to hear suggestions and honest views on our situation. Obviously I'm prepared for the inevitable hard work and screaming in future too...

We have a paediatric appointment next month which I think may be our last one but I'm not sure. We have a specialist dental appointment coming up because for the first few years we really struggled to brush Little A's teeth and I'm hoping that although now he copes better with the feel of tooth brushing he still finds it distressing, so I'm meeting the dental team to see if they'll coat his teeth to help protect the enamel. His doctors appointment is this week and I'm sure his hearing test won't be far behind! In the mean time, nursery is helping his transition to reception with visits and meeting the teacher (the whole class do this) A will have a personalised picture table of his new class and teachers that we can show him over the holidays. I think this will work with any child who is nervous about reception not just children who may struggle to understand their next step, so maybe if you're worried ask your nursery team or new teachers what they think.

So to sum it all up we are so pleased with A's speech and language, I'm happy with the outcome of the OT appointment because I think there are children who struggle with sensory issues much more than A who could benefit from their time. Since I took A to his first paediatric appointment last year I researched so much into sensory processing disorder and I changed the way I deal with him, our routines changed and when I started seeing what he struggled with I made allowances, or changed things or just understood him more, it's changed him so much I don't think OT could've provided much. I'm thinking of doing some posts about Little A's biggest sensory difficulties (tooth brushing, clothing etc) and how we deal with this. If it's any use to anyone let me know!

Cupcake Mumma

Developmental Delay and Our Son

My Husband and I had a meeting recently with a lady from the Special Educational Needs Department. The meeting took place in the nursery school Little A attends (we could see his little face bobbing up and down occasionally as he looked in the door window) Neither of us were really sure what to expect from this meeting. I guess we thought we would simply be talking about how to help A with his communication and speech, talk about positive steps we could all take and run through some good ideas for games he could play both in nursery and at home to help him.

We have both said all along we are not thinking he has any behavioural problems or learning difficulties. We still weren't really prepared to hear just how far back our little boy is. I would like to state here that I am aware developmental delays are common and he can catch up and I am aware that parents face much harder journeys with their children than this but I am still finding it difficult to process my thoughts and feelings and I hope people can respect that.

Throughout the meeting we all spoke about how A doesn't have much speech, has little understanding of questions put to him eg If you asked him his name he wouldn't respond, he hasn't a clue what you're on about! It was noted that he is a very social boy who maintains eye contact and has an overall enjoyment when in the class and gets on well in general. He doesn't interact much and isn't doing roll playing or imaginative play simply because he has very little physical speech (and without physical speech it's hard to have that in his head) he should be, at the age of nearly 4, using his imagination in that way and playing a little more with others and not so much on his own which he tends to do.

We had some great suggestions on ideas to help him start recognising colours and learning people's names and the nursery are going to supply us with a few bits to use at home which is just fantastic. We are being referred for hearing tests which I'm confident he will pass but that are necessary. In fact, he should have had that a fair while ago but he wasn't referred. He will also be referred to a paediatrician because there are concerns over his sleep which naturally would effect how he does at school.

In regards to the paediatrician, we are hoping to get some answers regarding his head banging at night which has always distressed is but we have been unable to get help for. As he is nearly 4 it's a behaviour he should be growing out of but he is no where near to growing out of it. I'm sure it's all to do with patterns of sleep and probably there isn't much we can do but I'm willing to see what a paediatrician makes of Little A and his whole development.

I guess what really threw me off was that the lady misunderstood the teacher and whilst talking about A she thought he wasn't even 3 yet and she was saying he was behind..when she realised he'll be 4 in a few months and starting school next September she said he is more behind than originally thought. And that just upsets me a little. You can't help but wonder if you did or didn't do something.

Anyway, it was a really positive meeting and we are still aware that of course milestones should be taken with a pinch of salt but sadly he's missing so many you can't turn a blind eye to that. Of course I am confident that we have great support especially as I don't think it's going to be easy!

Thank you to those of you who have read about little A in recent months and offered your support, especially when most of you face far tougher or longer journeys of your own. I very much appreciate it.

Cupcake Mumma