First Days of First Grade

Travis started 1st Grade on Wednesday and enjoyed his first two days at school. :) He's glad to have Ms. Carla again as his teacher and we are thrilled. T was a little nervous and excited before the first bell and quickly settled into the rhythm of school (more on that in a second).

One look around T's classroom and you can identify many, many areas his teacher created to ensure he can easily maneuver around the classroom. (Right now Travis is walking great, yet we all know that can change quickly). If T's balance issues return, the room is already set up where he can hold onto stable pieces of classroom furniture to help him walk around the room. Ms Carla created a space for T to park his powerchair or walker by the door, accessible to T and out of the "flow" of the classroom. T can easily access his tub and its contents. So many details are covered and yet the room looks like a typical 1st Grade classroom. Did I mention how amazing Ms. Carla is for Travis? :)

Travis took his powerchair on the first day of school and his walker the second day. Ms Carla reported that Travis seemed happier with his walker and did great getting around school and the playground. T's figuring out the big playground and wanting to keep up with the other kids. I haven't been there to check on him (good for us both) as he/we settle back into the school routine. It's great to see Travis' Kindergarten classmates say "Hi Travis" when they see him. T has a few of the same classmates from Kindergarten in his 1st Grade class.

Pictures from the first two days...

Barrett, Travis and Nolan for the traditional First Day of School picture.

T's picture

T waiting for the bell to ring to go into school.

Heading in for the First Day of 1st Grade

As we did for Kindergarten and when Travis got new medical equipment, I was able to go into T's classroom after the students settled into their day. We spoke about T's brace, his shoelift, his powerchair, his walker, and talked about how T likes lots of the same things they do. Ms. Carla reminded the class about expected rules for the class with any student (no jumping over someone, no pushing, careful on the playground equipment, etc). Here's the photo I snapped while waiting to go in the classroom.

T finding a book to read.

Travis said he had a great first day when it was time to pick him up. He was tired when we got home, not surprising as we've been through this with Nolan and Barrett.

The end of the First Day of 1st Grade

Travis wanted to try the walker today at school and Ms. Carla said that Travis did great and was happier having the walker. T's able to run around on the playground with his classmates and can transition from using the walker to not using the walker quickly. T's starting to express that he's a little different from his classmates (getting a few tears in my eyes typing this) and wants to do as much as his classmates as possible.

T heading in for the 2nd day of school.

Love his smile you get a glimpse of in
this view at the end of 2nd day of school.

T's class will partner with the same 4th grade teacher as last year for reading buddies, this is Barrett's teacher. :) Barrett is super excited to be a reading buddy AND as a bonus a reading buddy for Travis' class.

We're gearing up for the Utah NF Walk this weekend. Thank you for the support, thoughts, prayers, and kind words.