Allisa.... or anyone who can help..

[andrewsmom]

Hi Allisa ;D
I was just reading another thread and you posted asking if her daughter was in school full time. I am also from Massachusetts and I'm not at all clear on the whole school issue. EI has told us that Andrew will go to preschool the very day he turns 3.

My question is this... Will he go to preschool part-time or full time? Do we have a choice in any of this? I don't mind him going to pre-school part-time but I just feel full time would be too much. But on the other hand.....will they have time for PT, OT and ST to continue on a regular basis if he is only there 4 days a week 2 1/2 hours a day? How will they fit any classroom activities in with so much therapy to be done at the same time?

I know... I have another year and a half but already the time seems to be flying by. I was just curious if you (or anyone else out there) might know the answers to some of my "overly protective" questions.

Thanks for any input!!!
-Trisha

P.S.- Do you have a support group near you? Myself and 2 other Moms have gotten together recently and would LOVE to get together with other parents. Just a thought.

[Valerie]

Trisha, I live in Iowa, so it may be different, but here's what I was told so far.

Nicholas will turn 3 in April. If I want, I can have him start pre-school then, or we can do an extended school year in the summer and start pre-school in the fall, or we can do nothing and just wait until fall to start. Where he will be going, they have pre-school 4 days a week. I was told it was up to my husband and I, we could send him as much or as little as we want. 4 full days, 2 full days, 4 half day, 2 half days, whatever.

They have also set a date in January for us to take Nicholas to the school, meet the teacher, see his room, etc. In our situation, I really don't think we'll send him in April, as there will be only a month of school left and the kids already in the class would be so much older than him.

I also don't think we'll do full days, that just seems like a long day for a 3 yr old to me. I know, kids attend day care for that amount of time at an even younger age, but I'm just not quite ready for him to be gone that much!

Like you, we still have a little time to decide. Right now we're leaning towards checking out the ESY, and probably start with 2 half days in the fall, possibly going to 4 half days if he really enjoys it.

I'm sure it's probably different from state to state, and even from district to district within each state, but your EI coordinator should discuss it with you further before the time comes.

[meghans_mom]

Trisha - I'll let you know our options here in New York.
When the child turns 3, we switch from EI to "State Ed". At that point, in the year the child turns 3 you have 3 different dates to switch over to state ed. It doesnt take effect on the child's exact b-day but at points thruout the year. I think it's April 30, June 30th and Dec 31st. If your child turns 3 before those dates, then that is your endpoint. (for example - Meghans b-day is Dec 12 so our endpoint was Dec 31st.)

We had 3 choices for preschool. Half days AM or PM or full days. She HAD to go 5 days a week no matter which we chose (this was the school's rule, not a state rule).
Depending on the number of hours you are in school - you can only get MAXIMUM 1 or 2 therapies a day. They don't want the child being pulled out from services too much, otherwise what is the reason for being there?

I didn't want Meghan in full day so we chose instead to have her therapies cut down. She would have been eligible for more (I think only one extra PT session) , but I didn't want her in school 6 hours a day at 3 years of age. Some children are eligible for outside services (given at home), if they need the extra help. The school district must approve this, because I guess they are paying for it. Some districts are easier than others in allowing these services.

Also - Meghan was receiving one hour of services each session (each PT 1 hr, each OT 1 hr) at home. As soon as she switched to school based services it dropped down to one-half hour each session. This is how they fit the therapies in.

hope this makes some sense...my thinking is a bit disjointed these days :-)
laurie

[lexismom]

Trisha,
I am from cape cod and my daughter attended 4 Mornings a week the first year and then I think it was 5.
I think it can be different from even district to district. The second year included 1 morning of swim classes at the ymca ! Fun ! A district within 10 miles of us does 5 days and they are longer days....so I guess it depends where you are and the plan they have for your child. You are entering into the world of the IEP so what you get may not be cookie cutter and by rights you have input into how much your child receives!
Lexismom

[Chester]

I was curious too what would happen at the magic age of three. I'd call your school district and find out.

Here in Wisconsin, He was elgible to start "public school" at the age of three. We're in a small district, so the option we have is UP TO 4 afternoons a week. He turned three last March and from March until the end of the school year I chose to do just three afternoons. This year he is going all four afternoons. I believe that I would also have the choice of a private preschool, but I wanted to take advantage of the public school and all of the OT, ST and PT therapists at school.

I do take him once a week to a private therapy center for an hour of OT, ST, and PT. They would like to see him twice a week, but I said no. He's gotta have some time to be a boy!

I also said no to the school bus. I just can't.......I'd call your school district. My bet is that you'll have some options.

Dawn

[Many]

This is very informative even though my daughter is still young. Do you have to pay for the OT, ST and PT at the school? I assume that you don't cause it's part of the school, right?

Many

[angela2]

Hi Trisha,

I am also in MA and my son is four and in his second year of preschool. His birthday is in August, so he started preschool in September, last year when he was 3. He went 3 mornings, 2.5 hrs each. He got PT, OT, and ST while at school. This year he goes 4 days, still 2.5 hrs, and gets all of his therapies during school. He also takes the bus, which is a minivan. He is in an integrated preschool, which is half special needs/half typical kids. His class has a teacher and two aides. I'm not sure how many kids there are in the class this year...but last year it was about 14.
Where do you live? I live in Tewksbury.

[Chester]

Many,
You are correct, OT, PT and ST are a part of the public school education and aren't an additional fee.

[CC]

I'm in New Jersey so this probably doesn't help you much BUT I thought I would share anyway

Chris was in EI till his third birthday and being his birthday is in December I figured he would not start pre-school till the following September, WRONG. Here they age out of EI on their 3rd Birthday, literally. So the December he turned 3 he started in our home public school pre-school which was only half day. That following September we stared him going both am and pm sessions as he no longer napped and was missing much of the class time due to OT, PT and ST pull outs. Our district didn't have anyone going full day in preschool Chris was the first and for Chris worked GREAT ;D

At 5 he started Kindy which was also full day and again worked GREAT ;D

BEST of LUCK ~

CC

[momofrussell]

I think it all depends on the school district AND the child's needs. Alot of districts offer half day EC, alot are 4 day programs... BUT... depending on your child's needs... he can go full day EVEN if they SAY they only have a half day program... it's an IEP team decision. Russell has been placed full day in a supposed half day program.. he just went to both sessions. And then some districts and/or facilities HAVE full day EC programs..... sometimes at more of the "profound" schools... Russell has been at those types of settings too and full day was what they offer so I took it. When we moved to MO he started in two sessions of full day and then we switched to half day because he was sleeping too much. LOL

Most kids do great on the half day programs... Russell is very delayed so we thought full day would be best for retention.

A.

[andrewsmom]

Thank you all so much. Like I said, I do have some time but I like to know what I'm talking about before the time actually comes. It does sound like I might have a bit of a choice about whether he goes full or part-time. I learn so much from all of you here....THANKS EVERYONE!!!

Angela.... I live in Phillipston, A small town in Northern Worcester County. My husband has relatives in Tewksbury and I have a listing there as well (I'm a Realtor). Tewksbury is about 45 minutes from me... not too far. Maybe we could get together sometime. Seeing as your son is older than Andrew, I would love to pick your brain a bit... if you don't mind. It would be nice to have someone to bounce things off of once in awhile. Let me know!!!
-Trisha

[ALLISA]

Hi Trisha !

Public school takes over the DAY the child turns 3 LOL !! EI has had enough at that point ! About 4-6 months BEFORE her thrid birthday, the director of the preschool came a couple of times to observe and "evaluate" her to decide which placement would be best.....I recall having her "initial IEP" meeting in December & she began In February of the followign year.

Our town (north andover) has a HUGE public preschool....half typical half special needs. Number of days and length of days varies depending upon your child's needs and how much YOU ask for.

I think I'm lucky in this town that I do get 4 full days and 1 half day for preschool .....when she first started she just did 4 half days.....but I think if I had pushed she would have gotten full days.

She is in a self-contained room right now and SUPPOSED to be intergrating out....BUT she really isn't quite ready for it yet. There are a few of her classmates who are integrating very succeddfully, so I know the SYSTEM works, just not ready for us, yet !

Each town is different.....I think our preschool is so good at meeting the kdis needs because they have opened it up to the "typical" kids who PAY for preschool.....so from that "extra" income.....they are able to do a lot.

There was a woman I met at a support group ( and yes I do go to a nice one in Andover)....we have a little Yahoo website Group set up....I can send you the link if you like)....any way.....this woman HATED her public prschool.....they had NOTHING to offer and she had to push & fight to get her daughter placed outside of the district......so a lot depends upon your district.

I know our Superintnedtn is hoping to eventually "draw in" other special needs students ( at a tuition) whose needs are not being met by their own towns.

As far as therpaies....she gets them all at shcool.....pt, ot, st.....all in her IEP.

I would recommend touring your towns preschool before your child turns 3....get to know the director, etc.....see what your options are. And keep asking all the time....if you start out 1/2 days.....but feel full days would be more benficial.....keep bringing it up.....they may or may not even have the option.....but you can get creative.....try to do all therapies inthe AFTERNOON so you are not missing "class time". ESY (extended school year) is something else that may or may not be availalbe....but defitniely ASK !!!

[andrewsmom]

Thanks Allisa!! Yes, I'd love for you to send me the link.

It sounds like you have a great school for your daughter. My daughter goes to kindergarten at the same school Andrew will be going to but there are no other kids with DS there. There are a couple of kids with special needs that are in her classroom and they seem comfortable and happy there.
Like I said, I have awhile but just wanted to get a "heads up". Thanks so much!!
-Trisha