Hello, my son Diego is about to be 3 years old on Halloween and he was diagnose with type 1 diabetes on July 2009. My son is at a home daycare while I'm working and the lady who take care the daycare has done a very good job dealing with my son needs. But is time to find a preschool for my son because he is at the age that need to be in a place where he is learning abc, numbers, etc.
I'm having a hard time to find the right preschool for my son because the places I had liked they don't want to accept my son for liability reasons. Being part of the JDRF I would like to know if any parent can give me a suggestions of a good preschool that knows how to deal with kids with type 1 diabetes. Any ideas or suggestions please?????
I also would like to make friends with other parents. I'm originally from Panama City, Panama and it's very hard for me to deal with everything being in a country without my family here.
We fortunately had no trouble finding a pre-school for our son. We did keep in at home daycare until just this year and are only doing 1 year of pre-K before Kindergarten (that is not soley due to his diabetes, but more my philosophy that it is OK (better) to be in a loving, home like setting for a longer time because it lets them develop more emotionally and psychologically before being pushed into the structure of school at too young an age.) He will start learning abc, numbers if you are talking about them in the car, at home, etc. I truly see no harm in waiting until 4 to put them in pre-school. But if you want to do pre-school now, you might consider 1 that he is only there for 3 hours every day or every other day.
Our pre-school is associated with a church who also runs a K-8 grade school. I think they were more open to taking my son because they would need to take an older child if they were diagnosed while attending their school and would be more likely to have experience with a diabetic child given the larger age range. They had experience with an older child but not with one in preschool, but were willing to work with us. They have been fabulous. I put together a binder of general diabetes information and simplified it as much as I could so it is easy for them to look up. I can email it to you if you wanted to have one to show them so that it is not that scary. I think it helps that my son is on a pump because I did not train them to do shots.
I would also contact the San Diego chapter of JDRF with help and talk with your child's diabetes clinic. They might be able to find a social worker that can help you find a pre-school.
I'm the diabetic and my son is not, but I understand your issues with child care.
When my son was 3 we also thought it was time to find a new daycare with a more structured learning program. But we LOVED the home daycare he'd been in most of his life and decided we could teach letters, numbers, colors and shapes oursleves. Those basic skills aren't rocket science and about anyone can teach them to a child.
My son started Pre-K this year and is just as competent as other kids who attended expensive preschools that had structured lessons.
My son (knock on wood!!) isn't T1, but I've worked with various preschools for my job. My advice is to call private ones rather than the big "chains" b/c they should have more leeway about who they decide to take. The "chains" seem to have to follow certain guidelines... I would ask to speak to the director, or even meet with her. I'd come in prepared to explain how well he did in daycare, how you would provide training, how you'd be available by cell phone is they ever had any questions, etc. I would hope that if you speak to a few directors, you'll find one who thinks it's doable and who sees it as an opportunity to provide an education for a child while demonstrating to other students and the school community that they are an inclusive supportive environment for ALL children!!
I don't know if you'd feel comfortable with this, but maybe you could present it as a 3 month trial to see how it goes?