Preschool placement

[Nureh]

Hi. My child is transitioning from EI to preschool and wakes up very early around 5am everyday and has very rigid routines and difficulty transitioning. Has never separated from parents and has extreme anxiety. Since the school year has started and most of the morning sessions for preschool have filled up my child will have to attend the afternoon session which will start after 12 pm. By that time my child would be exhausted and would need to nap. I am wondering if there is anything on the IEP that can help me get a morning placement? Thankyou! 

[JSD24]

I think you need an IEP meeting.  He's not the 1st 3 year old who needs to nap.  I'd ask them what happens when a child gets to school in the afternoon & is ready for a nap - how do they get IEP services?  What are you going to do when the clocks 'fall back' next month?  He'll be getting up at 4.  Maybe he can get a nap in before he needs to head to school in the afternoon if he says with getting up at the same time.

I have a suggestion that might not be easy to do.  When you change the location - like when you go on vacation - that can disrupt the habit a child has.  Can you go away for a few days to see if you can reset the routine?  The suggesting for adjusting a child to the time change is to move the routine in the desired direction by 20 minutes a day (I generally do every other day).  See if you can shift the routine.

[Lisa Lightner]

My 17 year old still naps at school. For him to just "be" takes a ton of energy and depending on the day, he's often wiped out by early afternoon.

But as Judi said, many 3 year olds need naps. Ask for a meeting and have several options and solutions available for the team to discuss--as far as what you think he needs to be successful.

[EmilyM]

I don't know about morning placement (I can see legit if it's full, it's full) but there ought to be ways to include the nap need.

I've seen many an afternoon preschool that still does naps.

[Nureh]

The school is only going to be for 2 hours and 45 minutes. Napping would mean missing out on classroom activities. 

[EmilyM]

I'm assuming this is a public preschool. Are there other alternate locations you might be able to use to get in for the am?

[JSD24]

Is it possible to switch up his routine?  It might take a few weeks to get where his nap isn't overlapping with school.  They cannot offer a seat in a classroom that doesn't exist.

[Nureh]

On 10/2/2023 at 4:48 PM, EmilyM said:

I'm assuming this is a public preschool. Are there other alternate locations you might be able to use to get in for the am?

No, this is the only preschool they have in the district and we can only send them there. 

[JSD24]

If this is your only option for school & time, there isn't much you can do other than trying to change your child's schedule so their nap doesn't overlap the 2.75 hours that school is scheduled for.  I know with work and other children, etc, this might not be possible.

When we change the clocks in a few weeks, what will you do so your son adjusts to getting up an hour earlier?  Will this makes things better or worse with his nap & school overlapping?