I Heart Ms. A

I can not stress enough how much I love, love, love Morgan's teacher this year. Here are just a couple of reasons:

Morgan's class has lunch (more like brunch) at 10:40 am, then they get their 15 minute recess. They are literally sitting in that classroom from 11:14 until 2:30. Ms. A did not like this so she went to the principal and begged her to add an afternoon recess for the 1st graders. And she got it!

After a couple of days at school, I approached Ms. A regarding Morgan's 504 for her SPD. Ms. A had not had a chance to read it yet, but was really surprised to hear that Morgan had special needs. She told me that if I wouldn't have let her know, she would never have guessed because she's doing so well in the classroom. And Ms. A knows all about SPD because her son has the same thing. Morgan is with a teacher that totally gets it. Such a relief!

We had a follow up conversation a couple days later to see how things were progressing. We've been noticing that her SPD behavior (especially her oral need to suck on things) has been more prevalent since school started. I think the stress to sit still and listen so intensely in such a huge class has been getting to her a bit. Ms. A told us that she's really proud of how well Morgan has been able to self-regulate her needs, that even in 1st grade Morgan seems to have a handle on her issues. Then she told us that was a testimony to how well we have been parenting to her special needs, which of course made me feel even more wonderful.

Yesterday, another student noticed Morgan chewing gum in the classroom and tattled on her. Instead of just brushing it aside, Ms. A sat the child down with Morgan present and explained to the other child why Morgan got to chew gum. She's teaching the kids that everyone is different and some of them might have special needs - it's not something to be embarrassed about or hidden. You could tell it really made Morgan feel good to have this sort of conversation.

Oh yes. I heart Ms. A!