We opted to do things differently this time and chose to home school Bob, but he is now 7 and we've come to realise that he needs to spend more time with others, despite him having good social and communication skills. He is a little clingy towards me and with me having to spend so much time away, he has been having anxiety issues that my husband has found difficult to deal with on his own. So my hand has been forced and I've had to go through the process of selecting a school for him to attend.
I had already visited several schools and done my research carefully over the past 3 years, knowing this day would come and we have of course used some of the holiday facilities in the past, but I'd never left him on his own. So last week, I made the decision to book him into a school near where we are relocating to at the end of the month for his pre school assessment.
I must confess I hadn't done much preparation in regards to discussing this with Bob, I really didn't want to put my anxieties and worries onto him. So the night before we packed his day bag, with a drink and snacks and a familiar toy and made sure we had an early night.
In the car on the way there in the morning I told Bob about where we were going and what was going to happen, how they were going to assess him and that I would be back after lunch time to collect him. I filled in all the paper work on arrival and then Bob was led off into the school, without glancing back once. I then asked what I was to do and they said I could go home and return at 1pm.
I didn't want to go home, what if there was a problem? It was a 30 minute drive each way, so having not done this for a good few years, I turned to Social Media for advice and was told to go find a coffee shop near by, buy a magazine and keep an eye on the phone, this is after all a very stressful situation for any parent and was a natural response to be worried and concerned.
I couldn't wait for 4 hours, so I arrived back an hour early and was told Bob had been fine, he'd passed the assessment with flying colours and had been accepted into their day care facility and I was welcome to go and see him at play and view the facilities.
Bob was extremely happy to see me and show me around and introduce me to his new friends. He seems happy there and the staff were welcoming and friendly and I'll be more than happy for Bob to attend regular sessions from now on. Bob was shattered when we got home so it was Macdonald's for tea all round and another early night as we had Halloween to prepare for the following day.
Oh just one thing........Did I mention Bob is a dog?
