Since my oldest son is four & has been diagnosed with Celiac disease & colitis, (& possible Crohn’s) I’ve struggled with what to do when it comes to sending Aiden to kindergarden. I had definitely came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t send him to preschool. I don’t really believe in most of the aspects of preschool anyhow, so the decision wasn’t too hard. So, it brings us to kindergarden & what to do. With him being five as he enters a new environment on his own with 99% of the classroom children having no issues with gluten, that had me really nervous. How do I entrust in HIM to take care of himself? How do I entrust in HIM to make sure he doesn’t get playdough in his mouth, or to make sure he washes his hands after playing with stickers or paint or glue? How do I deal with snack time & kids & crumbs? The answer became really simple as time went on… we can’t. He’s too young to care for himself in that way. He’s too immature to remember the little things he has to avoid & do in the middle of his excitement while playing in the school yard or learning a new word or meeting a new friend. I can’t expect one teacher of 20 students to make sure that MY son’s health is her main priority. While I’m sure all his/her students are a priority, HE is not her MAIN priority. He is MY priority. So, Ryan & I have come to the conclusion that Aiden is going to be homeschooled. I’m starting to see the trend in homeschooling for kids who have food allergies or Celiac disease. I don’t have plans to homeschool him past Elementary school & I have so much faith that he will be great & ready to care for himself by the time he reaches junior high. He is already so aware of “gluten” and asks me at least a few times a day if the food items he sees on TV are gluten free or not. He’ll even go so far as asking Ryan or myself to “google” it on the computer. He’s so techy.

So, we feel so great about our decision. I’ve looked into homeschooling groups & am in the process of gathering as much information as I can right now. I’m so fortunate to be able to stay home & provide this service to Aiden. It just makes me feel so much better knowing his health & life will be in my hands for the new few years to come.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, June 12th, 2008 at 10:40 pm and is filed under Family. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.