Awesome Preschool Option

Some of you are probably starting to think about preschool for the fall, so I thought I'd share this terrific option.

As some of you may know, my son Jacob attends an autism specific preschool at Petroglyph Elementary. There are six kids in his class, and he is the only one with a chromosomal disorder-- the others all fit somewhere on the autism spectrum. There are also six peer models-- typically developing children to demonstrate age-appropriate play and communication skills. Benjamin was one of these peer models last year, and had an AWESOME experience. I really felt like it helped prepare him for elementary school.

First of all, the preschool is at Petroglyph Elementary (right behind the post office on Paradise), so they have access to all elementary school benefits-- they have their own playground, they sometimes eat in the cafeteria, have sand tables, ball pits, a jumpoline, etc., etc. Last year the cost was only $100 per month (I don't know if that will change or not), but they had class every day M-F from 10:20-1:10. Each month there was a different field trip. The head teacher, Peggy, is AMAZING. She also has two assistants that are always in the class, and the speech, occupational, and physical therapists pop in and out.

As a peer model, Benjamin was assessed when he started so that they could find out where he stood academically and work to challenge him. At the end of the year we got a portfolio that showed us his assessments throught the year so we could see his progress.

I talked with Laurie M. about it, and she is going to be doing it this fall. There are 2 more peer model spots open for this next year. If those spots were taken by people in the ward, you could car pool! (Jacob will still be in the class next fall, too, but he will be riding the bus.)

Sorry for the lengthy post, but if you have a child between 3-5 years old and you are interested, give me a call or shoot me an email!