All Things Hilton: Good-bye to this Preschool Year :/

Jackson had an AWESOME year with the amazing Mrs. Long and her fabulous assistants!

Mrs. Long is the youngest..so full of energy, enthusiasm, reassurance, and a sincere love for teaching--always thinking and learning! She was so thorough in everything she shared about our little guy and made me feel like Jackson was the only child she was teaching when she clearly gave that much to all of her preschoolers! We are very thankful for this lady! Mrs. Zietler is the brunette..she is a mommy and loved to share stories about Jackson in the classroom. She made me laugh often, especially when she would refer to Jackson as "rockin' it in the class" to indicate how well he did that day. Mrs. Satriano just joined the group a few months ago when all of the classes got an additional assistant. She has a sweet disposition, and Jackson quickly began talking about her at home. He reminded her of her own sons! :)

When I think back to this time last year, I almost can't believe his progress! He is writing now and can identify some blended phonemes, number quantities, all of his letters and their sounds, counts, says the pledge of allegiance, can tell you basic info. about himself, etc.! There are so many highlights from this year! In the area of speech and language, I constantly see him able to do things that were once so very hard for him! I have to smile when I hear him SINGING at the top of his lungs and to remember those days on the floor when we were trying to get him to prolong a sound or say it in unison. Those things come so naturally for him now, but they didn't always. Last night, I asked him where his soap was in the bathtub, he said "I don't know where soap is!" Unbelievable! When I see him in therapy, especially OT, when they are addressing his praxis through block designs, I see his "wheels turning" and correcting himself, and I'm just so proud of that perseverance!

Jackson loved his time in preschool! I cant even name everything he enjoyed, but I will try to remember as much as possible to share with him one day! He got to play so many cool group games (loved Hot Potato, musical chairs, and Growly Bear), made things like real applesauce, saw the firetruck & fireman, sang & played handbells, was calendar helper and ASKED his friends about their birthday, learned about the weather and the life cycle of a butterfly, played in fun centers like cars, trains, and dress up, used the Smartboard, and so, so much more!