Dylan goes to school

Today, Dylan will be going to "school." This is a birth to 3 program that specializes in helping children with special needs. Our playgroup meets every Monday and is one of the highlights of our week. We meet at the Whatcom Center for Early Learning (WCEL) which you can read more about at http://www.wcel.net/.

There are normally 5 to 6 kids per play group with plenty of parents, therapists, and interns as well. In fact, the adults outnumber the kids to make sure that they get everything they need. Our playgroup is headed by Meril who is a wonderful lady. Dylan also gets to enjoy playing with a couple of his buddies C and E (for their privacy, I've only included their first initials). They also have Down syndrome. Hopefully, our good friends Amy and Max will be able to come too in the near future. Max has CHARGE syndrome and has been a little too sick to come just yet. Once he does, we can have the Fantastic Four all in one spot! (*To learn about CHARGE syndrome, please go to Amy's wonderful and inspiring blog all about Mighty Max! http://maxupdate.blogspot.com/).

Dylan's class is pretty structured beginning with an open playtime where the kids (and parents) can mingle. During this time, therapists come over to play with the kids. They specialize in Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Physical Therapy. After playtime, we sing songs (which are also signed) that the kids get to pick and then comes Dylan's favorite part.....SNACK! Last week it was avocados which was a big hit with Dylan and C.

We often have an art project following snack and then we head to the sensory table. This is a huge pool-like table that has different things in it that we actually place the kids in for a little play time. For example, it isn't unusual to have this table full of lentils or shredded paper. Therefore, it isn't unusual if you find lentil beans in my car weeks later! Changing a diaper after the sensory table is often amusing.

After the sensory table, we sing our goodbye song (and sign it) then head home for our much deserved nap. Phew.