Year #2 of Pre-school

The lovely Mrs. Anderson with the Bug (what is with this strange smile?)

Jade wanted her fair share of Mrs. Anderson attention :)

The much loved and talked about Mr W

"He is my friend!"

The blushing Mrs Kennedy, thank you for the picture and two great years!  (Again with the weird smile?)

What do you say about people who change your kid forever?  Thank you!!  It seems like such a tiny thing to say to people who have made such a difference in Slater's life.  Two years ago he arrived in the pre-school class putting two (some times) three word sentences together, not really using verbs or pro-nouns, and having behavior issues that we all knew stemmed from a frustration at being unable to communicate.  Every month in the last two years we have seen improvements in language and behavior, but the last four months have turned him into a child that is close to communicating like any other 4 and a half year old.

He loves these people!  Mr W takes his hat, his back pack, or his coat and puts them on proclaiming, "Slater look at my new hat!"  Slater laughs and starts leaping in the air, "NO Mr W, that's my hat!!"  While it seems like a simple interaction, it makes tears come to my eyes.  He understands the joke, can laugh in the comfort of supportive and loving people, AND he can lay claim to his hat in a full sentence that everyone can understand.  Thank you Mr W for your sense of humor, seemingly never-ending-patience, and for being such a wonderful role model for our son.

Mrs Kennedy - the practical, supportive, and kind "mom" at pre-school.  She often had a "Slater story" to share with me at the end of the day.  "Hey mom, Slater needs a pair of pants that won't fall off during gym class."  Or "Slater said the funniest thing today" - again I have tears in my eyes.  He SAID the funniest thing today, he told a story, he sang a song, he learned how to communicate with the world while she was holding his hand.  Thank you for being there to hold his hand on the way to gym, music, the library, the nurse and a million other places that you have taken him to in the last two years. 

Mr W and Mrs Kennedy have been a constant the last two years while Slater's classroom has seen three different teachers.  Luckily for Slater he had one great teacher for the entire 2011-2012 school year.  Mrs Anderson used music, reading and consistency to provide an environment where Slater was excited to go every! (and I mean every!) day.  She expected him to be polite, delivered bad news about dirty words on the bus, good news about his ability to write his name, and was apparently good at keeping a straight face when his lack of manners made others giggle. 

Thank you to three amazing people who put their hearts into their jobs every day and make a difference in young children's lives.  We are so glad to have meet you, worked with you, and learned from you!!