camden started toddler class yesterday (which is a preschool prep course)...it's just once a week for one and a half hours but it is suppose to help them get into the routine of having a routine at school. we shall see how the next four months go...
he had a good first day...
he tried to get out of activities by giving out hugs, and then refusing to let go and sit down haha...i am not really surprised. i am pretty proud of the little man though overall and i think the class will be great for him, since most of the kids in there just seemed a little speech delayed...so cam is definitely the under dog, but i am sure he will rise to the challenge.
aside from school we are also starting a little gym class tonight...my hope is that toddler class, music class and little gym will help cam start to follow routine and directions better...he seems to engage in activities more when other kids are engaged in the same activity...so we are going with it!
on a side note...what do you do for your kid when therapy just isn't working anymore. ok, i'll be honest, camden has never really done well with "therapy"...cam does best when you follow his lead. i have always watched for camden to get an interest in something and then tried to foster it, since if you try to push an activity on him, he shuts down. he doesn't like any sort of pressure...and if he knows you want to get something out of him, he will do everything he can to make sure it doesn't happen. frustrating...to say the least. he never really has performed well for therapists...which has always worried me, especially now that preschool is just around the corner, he just doesn't have an interest in doing things that other people want him to do, unless you make him think it's his idea. stubborn...YES! in fact today his speech therapist told me that out of the thousands of kids she has worked with my guy is one of the, if not the strongest willed of them all. he pretty much completely shuts down for her, and all communication goes out the window, because he knows that's what she wants from him. and she is not the first...he has done this with all of his other therapists with one exception, his early intervention coordinator...who has been with him since he was six weeks old....and won't be around once he graduates out of early intervention in four months. i love cam, and he is doing so great in so many ways...but my biggest fear is that he will get to school and shut down and refuse to try anything...they will then think he isn't capable of doing things that he is capable of and he won't progress.
my husband thinks he is two and that i am expecting him to act like a five year old...and i know there is a lot of truth to that. would i be so worried about him if he did this and was a typically developing toddler? i don't know...what two year old performs? what two year old isn't strong willed? what two year old doesn't throw a tantrum...and in all honesty, with the exception of a hair pull and a hit thrown out on occasion during a tantrum he is really well behaved for the most part (for a two year old). i just worry, i want to help him reach his full potential and sometimes i am just not sure what road is best for him, or if there is a road paved yet at all...
so those of you with a stubborn little one...what have you done to help foster learning? what have you done to help them get engaged in activities that they need to learn but are difficult for them...? today i am in all honesty at a loss.
