max's last day of junior kindergarten.

Today was Max's last day of junior kindergarten. He made it. We made it. As I look back through the blog posts I have written about Max's first year in the public school system, I see now that while there were ups and downs, there were mostly ups. It took a lot of doing on my part, but it was all worth it.

Getting Max into an all day kindergarten program was the first hurdle. It was a big one.

We finally got him into a school where he could attend every morning.

It was hard moving him from preschool where he was well loved to the unknown of school.

Rough, rough, start.

Max's EA was the first one to fall in love with him.

For the first time ever, he sat for his school picture.

As a parent of a child with Autism, you need to go the extra mile to help your child fit in.

Making lunches takes A LOT of time.

It's no fun getting a call that you have to pick up your child and take him to the hospital.

Sometimes the paperwork will make you see red.

A big part of me thinks Max's teachers were blessed to have him in their class this year.

Guess who is the best reader in junior kindergarten?

Putting Max in junior kindergarten was the right call.

Where did my baby go?

I am really, really proud of Max and all that he accomplished this year. He has learned to tolerate a loud and busy classroom, stand in line with his classmates, eat lunch with them, play in the gym with them, and sometimes even share toys. Max can sit in the morning circle, knows everyone's names, and seems to be known by everyone at his school. He was the first child with autism to attend this school in junior kindergarten. Next year he will get to stay in the same room as it is a JK/SK split, so I am hoping we will have a smooth start. The bonus is that he will also have the same teacher and EA so I can breathe easy knowing that they have a connection and he doesn't have to start from scratch with someone knew. This summer Max will be attending the SK program in the mornings at the daycare he went to preschool at. Since he is already familiar with it, I am crossing my fingers that he transitions in smoothly. Wish us luck!!