report card

Initial reports from Ben's new school are that he's transitioning well and having a great start.  While I was a little surprised by that news based on his newfound love for yelling and saying. "no," at home, I'm hopeful that we're getting the brunt of this behavior at home.  The move seemed so flawless for him and he speaks so highly of the new house, we maybe didn't give enough credit to all the emotions that go along with it.  There is also a kiddo in his class with some special needs that seem to cause pretty strong emotional outbursts and I wonder if tester Ben is trying to figure out whether this behavior is appropriate.  At his new school he attends just 3 hours in the afternoon M-Th.  This was the only option available at a school where he also gets continued speech and OT services.  It's 8 hours less per week than he was up to at our old school, which is a bummer for both of us, and especially Ben who always wants to be around other kids. 
His new special ed team saw some big issues with his last IEP and changed his services appropriately.  It was such a breath of fresh air to have this team know Ben for 5 minutes and conclude his IEP was not at all reflective of him as a person or a learner.  
We will seek out other kid-filled options in the new hood to fill those extra hours.  I was worried about the afternoon schedule, but Ben likes it, we can have lazy mornings, and it offers us a nice break from each other at the time we need it most.  The time between after school and dinner flies by and the mornings have been pretty easy to fill with fun outings on lots of days.
I will also note that on initial observations, this school seems to be a much better match academically for Ben and his similar aged peers.  His class has lots of 5 year-olds who delayed kindergarten and the expectations seem more age appropriate.  This new district is the highest rated in the state overall so it's puzzling how the academics might be less rigorous than in the huge Denver district, but it's a welcome change I'll be happy to embrace.