Should Mom Trust Her Eyes Or Her Heart?

Today, I went to Ballerina's school to see how her kindergarten trial was going.  We had agreed after our last IEP Meeting that she would go to a typical kindergarten class and we would see how well she handled the structure and the demands of being in that setting.

Her teacher had told me in an email that she didn't want me to be a part of the transition, so I planned to arrive at the school at about 9:05.  Well, traffic was less than I had anticipated, and I got there early.  So, the teacher told me to walk behind them when they went into kindergarten and not make a big deal of my visit.  I sat and waited for the teacher to walk by with Ballerina and her classmate (who is doing this same trial) and walked behind them all to the kindergarten classroom and took a seat where one was made available to me.  Ballerina didn't seem to notice my entering behind her and I didn't make a fuss.  She found a square on the carpet to sit on and was prepared to listen to the kindergarten teacher.

I watched her for a while and informed her CAPP teacher that I had forewarned Ballerina of my visit.  So, it was not surprise to Ballerina when she looked at her regular teacher and saw me sitting next to her.  I smiled and waved and she did the quickest of double-takes and then returned her attention to the kindergarten teacher.  I sat there for about an hour (the full time she was in this classroom.  I watched her take a turn at the Calendar.  She didn't get to do what she wanted to.  She tried to do things her way, but the teacher guided her to do it correctly.  Then she returned to her square.  Then they went over the daily schedule.  She read it, along with the rest of the class (gosh, is she a good reader).  Then they were all given the opportunity to choose words and read them to the class.  Her turn came eventually, she picked the words "clean up", read them to the class, and picked the next name and sat down, back in that same square.

Then they did some writing.  Ballerina came to the table to get the whiteboard and pen, and again, returned to her square.  They were writing "-en" words today and she wrote the ones that she was asked to write.  Then she returned the whiteboard with the pen and eraser and went to the other carpet to listen to a story.  She stayed until her regular teacher needed to go, said goodbye to her friends and walked quietly back down the hall to her regular classroom.  She immediately went to the cupboard to collect her favorite puzzle and sat at the table and was solving a 100 piece Disney Princess puzzle while her teacher and I walked down the hall to discuss what I had seen.

I just couldn't believe it.  I asked her if this was a typical demonstration of her behavior in kindergarten.  After all, I figured, this had to be a fluke.  I hadn't been watching MY DAUGHTER.  Just someone who happened to share her name.  But her teacher said that she did exceptionally well today, but this really was indicative of her behavior in kindergarten.  The only real difference was her ability to accept, while helping with the calendar, that the day she wanted to choose wasn't correct (normally, she puts up a bit of a fight, apparently).

I am forced to rethink my position about her placement next year.  Going into today, I was sure of the correct kindergarten placement for her.  Now, I'm not so sure.  Could they have been right and she IS ready to begin working in a typical kindergarten classroom in September?

Time will tell......the meeting is less than a month away.......