Moving up to Sunbeams!!

First off I want to establish a little context for anyone who is unfamiliar the LDS church (or ‘Mormon’ church). Nursey is a class for kids 18 months to 3 years old and at the beginning of the year when they are going to turn 4 they ‘graduate’ from Nursey and move into the Sunbeam class. One hour is spent with just the Sunbeams (the other kids in their age group), and the next hour is spent in what is called Primary, where all of the children ages 3 – 12 are together.

 

His smile kills me! So excited for the day!

Sunday was Jed's first week as a Sunbeam! This day has come too soon! It was only 4 months ago when we finally found a totally positive Nursey situation for Jed. It has been a rough go for Jed and church; I have had so many worries that maybe he isn’t ready. He would LOVE to stay in Nursey for another year, and to be honest he is more at the functional level (his speech, occupational skills, understanding, etc.) as the kids still in Nursey . . . but I moved him up anyways.

Why? If I am being completely honest I know he isn’t 100% ready, but he wasn’t 100% ready for Preschool and we pushed him into that. Did he struggle? Yes. Is he happy now that he is going to school? Yes - he loves it and asks to go to school even on the weekends! So when it comes to the past 4 months of Nursey Jed has had a ton a fun; the setting is very structured and inviting to all. He is LOVED there. He would run right in with a huge smile and I can tell he just loves his teachers. When I see Jed’s friends they are all younger than him. Waiting another year would not be a bad option and I know of some people choose to go that way. So why move him up?

Well like most things I don’t know for sure if this is the best opinion but Jed needs to be pushed to his limits and he needs to be around his true peers. Yes I still fear that he will be picked on and will not make any friends – but I also worry about him not progressing. If we put Jed with the kids in his age group at least he has examples of where we want him to be! Also, I want Jed to provide other kids with a positive experience so in the future they aren’t afraid to befriend someone with Down Syndrome; or to an adult who might be feeling overwhelmed teaching a child with Down Syndrome. They know Jed and they have seen first-hand that he has a lot of love – so much so that sometimes it is hard for him to contain it. (Jed: “when someone is sad and needs a high five how can you sit still?”) I don’t want people to think Jed is not capable; I am just nervous about him moving up. Worst case scenario if it truly doesn’t work out, we can try Nursey again.

Since Jed has been in Nursey we have lived in 3 different wards (locations where we attend church, based on our address). When he first started Nursey he was taking steps but not walking. He was happy to play with the toys but he was so scared of the older children; mostly because they didn’t notice he was there and would trip over him. Then we moved when Jed turned 2 and he did a lot better, but the class size was approximately 20 kids and he would just stand in the corner scared and very intimidated, watching the other kids run around. We also had a phase where he was picked on by another kid; he would come home with scratches all over his arms or face and it just broke my heart, so I didn’t make him go. We moved again shortly after his 3^rd birthday and the size of the Nursey class in that ward s was about 8 kids and they had at least 2 leaders in the room at all times so everyone was very well supervised . . .and Jed loved it!

SO BIG!

Now – Jed’s Sunbeams class has 5 - 6 kids and they have 3 leaders in the class. (Three! So Awesome!) I have talked with the woman in charge of all the children’s programs at our church multiple times and with any suggestion or worry I have regarding Jed she has listened and will brainstorm with me about solutions. It was very refreshing and comforting when I brought up having a personal aid for Jed (we have never had an aid for him at church before) and she said "Absolutely! That won’t be a problem." I felt so many of my worries go away! As a Sunbeam there are periods of time where he needs to sit reverently and quietly, and there are times when he will need assistance with that.

I went to his class with him on Sunday just to see what things he’ll be doing in Sunbeams that I can work on with him at home. I made sure as we were walking to his class that I changed his routine. We don’t walk the same way that we did when he was going to nursey. I even took him outside to put a bag in the car so he noticed we weren’t doing the same thing. This helped a ton when we walked into his new class he noticed the difference in the routine so he was excepting

the change. It was so comforting that all of his teachers were excited for him to be in their class. They had a lesson, sang songs, played games, had a snack, and even had a little stuffed-animal sloth to show the kids how to sit. It was a great first experience and I am very happy we chose to keep him with his peers.

When it was time for Primary (all of the children ages 3 – 12 combined). Jed was a little wiggly; the Sunbeams sit in the front row and all the open space in front of him was very tempting! I could just see on his face he kept pointing "Mom to you see all that room? I can go dance in all that space!" He tried to run to it a couple of times but wasn’t successful (myself or another leader stopped him) so he got a little frustrated but once singing time started he was very excited to tell me the colors of the papers the kids where holding. (Except the blue paper was apparently purple; I tried to tell him it wasn’t but he just got upset and said "No purple!" It was a dark blue . . .) They did actions with each song they sang and Jed caught right on! He was doing them almost perfectly - I was so impressed! He was singing along to the words he knew and if he didn’t know the words he would just babble. It was especially cute when they would hold a note longer and he would get louder and try to hold it longer. His cuteness was just melting my heart.

In order for Jed’s Sunbeams experience to continue being successful there are a few thing I think we will need to do:

·        He will need to sit next to the leader who is teaching the lesson so he will engage/listen to what is being taught and not get out of his seat.

·        He will need some help with not spilling his water (he is going through a phase right now where he thinks it is so funny to pour his water out).

·        When he is coloring he can only having one crayon at a time or else he starts rolling them off the table, and does not color with them.

·        He may need to sit on a teachers lap during the Primary portion so that he won’t run away.

And that is it! He honestly did so well - I am very proud of him! He is showing me again just how capable he truly is!