A Little Ella Update: 5 years old already!

One month ago, Ella turned five.

I remember, so vividly, when she was a baby wondering if we would ever make it this far…and if we did, what a five year old Ella would be like. I remember being somewhat in denial and dreaming that Ella would beat all odds and just be a typical little girl. We would be best friends and she would bring joy to many people.

Friends, it wasn’t denial. It’s the real deal. Ella is all of the above. She brings so much joy to my life and to so many others. She is a typical little girl and we are the best of friends. Much of this post will be devoted to recording the empirical data I have collected about Ella in the last few months, so as to methodically plan out the season ahead, but I wanted to begin by saying that for all Ella can and can’t do, I couldn’t be prouder of my little girl, nor love her more. She. Is. Amazing. She is a blessing. She is Ella.

It can’t help but be noted that I have often caught myself trying to remember what Jakob was like going into kindergarten. The beauty of this however, is that I can’t compare. Really. I can’t. Jakob had already had a year of Reception in England therefore was freakishly advanced for a 5 year old. The kid could already read, knew how electricity worked and was learning Spanish.

I take Ella exactly for who she is and what I observe. I am sure that when others observe her, they get tripped up over the fact that she does not verbally express herself like a typical five year old, but beyond this, I believe she is right on track.

I have taken some time to note Ella’s accomplishments this past semester.

It is not meant to make anyone feel badly.

Each child has strengths and weaknesses and progresses at their own pace.

I merely record it here, because a.) this space is indeed the best written record I have of Ella’s progress b.) I used to have an outreach worker who would do this for me but now do not. And c.) to share my experience with others who might be in similar situations. “Here’s where we are, and how we are planning to move ahead.” Because quite frankly, kindergarten is a REALLY BIG DEAL. It’s a new chapter and can be nerve wracking for any parent – not just a parent of a child with special needs.

So, without further ado,

Ella has had a great semester. She is learning to annunciate her consonant sounds both at the beginning of words and at the end. She is also learning how to construct a proper sentence. For example “I want more juice please” or “My tummy hurts”

We have also been working on a program called POPAT. This is a literacy program, which is designed to help children learn the phonetics of reading from a visual method. We wanted to start early, so that when she begins to explore phonetics in school, she will be ahead of the game and therefore, not fall too far behind when she gets stuck on a concept. To begin, each sound has a picture and the first step is to learn all the sound pictures. Ella has done this and can point to the picture when the sound is made.

Ella can also count to ten not just independently but also in reference to something. For example, “how many dogs?” Then she can count them.

She knows her colours with 90% accuracy. She knows her colour signs with 100% accuracy.

She can identify all letters of the alphabet and make corresponding sounds with about 75% accuracy.

Ella can draw large representations of the letters E, L, A and O.

Ella can dress herself, if her clothes are laid in the right direction for her (and sometimes, even if they are not). This does not include buttons or snaps. She can put her shoes and coat on by herself.

As we look forward to kindergarten in September, our goals for summer revolve around being kindergarten ready – specifically, skills that will allow her to be independent. Ella is headed into a rare and unique situation in that we are sending her to a one-track French immersion school (this means everyone speaks French. There are no English classes). This has many implications but one of the biggest is that she will definitely have the greatest needs out of anyone in the school because let’s face it, parents of children with special needs DO NOT send their kids to French immersion…haha, except us and one other brave family we know. I’d be lying if it doesn’t add a little extra tension knowing that she is a bit of a guinea pig and most people expect her to fail. But that being said, it motivates us even more to set Ella up for success. So here are some of the kindergarten-ready goals we have set for the summer months:

Ella will be able to put her glasses on by herself
Ella will be comfortable with school routines. For example, lunch time routine.
Ella will be able to identify numbers (1,2,3, et.)
Ella will be able to write her name independently.
Ella will be able to understand the first/then concept with letter sounds. For example, Dog starts with duh.
And finally, we will work on patterns a,b,b,a,b,b, etc.

We have also come up with some strategies, which we will be trying to put into place before September to set Ella up for success and I just wanted to share a few. Many of you have been helping me with ideas and for that, I am grateful.

– We will be outfitting Ella in leggings…every day. Ella cannot do buttons and we don’t expect her to learn before she goes to school. So in order to help her be independent and confident we think elastic waistbands are the way to go.

– We have Ella’s new lunch box and water bottle all ready to go and will begin practicing lunchtime with her. So while she will be eating at home, she will have the opportunity to learn how to open her lunch box, open the containers, pouches, bags, water bottle, etc. independently and then (fingers crossed) we will teach her to wipe her face after the meal because let’s face it….she can be a little messy (no pun intended).

– I am already brainstorming for Ella’s communication journal and giving great thought to a.) how much attention I want to bring to the fact that Ella is “different” and b.) what exactly I will say. Many kids are pretty shy going into kindergarten – I recognize this. Ella can give all the applicable information: her name and how old she is but I feel like there are certain idiosyncrasies about Ella that might need to be explained to her aid or teacher. For example, if Ella is in a new place with lots of people and feels overwhelmed she will either want to go to the bathroom every 2 minutes or duck and cover (cover her ears and crawl into a ball on someone’s lap or in a corner). I am also honest with myself about the fact that Ella is not going to be able to give me details about her day that I want to know. I have heard a communication journal is the best way to keep communication lines open.

Some other great tips from some great moms I know are:

Rain pants for those kids that just can’t stay out of the puddles
Writing a story for the teacher to read when it’s her turn for “Show and Tell”
Noise cancelling headphones (I don’t know if we are going to do this for a couple of reasons but I think they are really great for some kids)
A book with pictures and names of people (and dog) Ella lives with.
A comfort toy for when they just need a little extra emotional care.
Donating toys to the classroom that your child is interested in playing with.

(If you have ideas, please comment below – I know a lot of parents who would be grateful.)

We are both extremely excited about the opportunity for Ella to have the same education as her brother, and extremely nervous. That being said, we couldn’t be happier with the school’s response to Ella’s enrollment and we know that socially, despite her lack of verbal expression, she will thrive. So even if the academic side is a bust, there will be little lost on the confidence side. We are so proud of you Ella Bella and are blessed to be your parents. And thank you, for journeying with us.