Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Thinking About School

Wow - I did not realize it had been 10 days since my last post. Summer is flying by. We have been really busy with swim team - which is almost over. Realizing how fast summer is passing has me thinking ahead to school preparation. I scored a good deal the other day at Toys R Us. We happened to be there for a birthday present, when I noticed that they were offering free lunch boxes with the purchase of a back back. For three kids that was a $30 savings! They had a good selection - we chose Hannah Montana, Batman, and Speed Racer. Check it out if you need backpacks.

Since this is C.'s first year in pre-school, I awoke this morning thinking about how to prepare the school and his teacher for his arrival. The school has dealt with numerous allergies including wheat. I will be sending in his snacks (in his new lunchbox). So, they really just need to make sure he does not eat any food that I personally did not provide, and he will be OK. Oh yeah - and we have to make sure that the play dough is made from corn starch instead of flour. At our school the mom's take turns making play dough every month.

The school is nut free, although that does not prevent a well meaning mom from inadvertently sending in a food that has a peanut contamination. I have a non allergy friend who wrote "no nuts" in her kids lunchbox to remind herself not to include any peanut product. I thought that was a great idea. I will be attending all class parties and serving dishes that are safe and hopefully tasty for all the kids.

There was an incident at the school summer camp where a boy with Celiac disease was given an animal cracker. The mom was not happy and it made him sick for a few days. I try not to worry, but it is in the back of my mind. I also need ask them to make sure that they inform me of any class birthdays and school projects that involve food.

Our school has a nice tradition of scheduling home visits between all the teachers and student about a week before school. This will give me a good opportunity to review everything with his teacher. I have also seen different allergy plan forms on line that I will fill out for them. Oh yeah - and I need to order that medical bracelet.

What do you all do to prepare the school for your allergy kids? Is there anything I need to add to my list?

2 comments:

Maria H said...

Hey just leaving you some info here about a bracelet that someone mentioned - has a flash drive in it. www.medicalinfobracelets.com

I think Medic Alert is more recognizable though, but not sure how practical they might be for my 2 1/2 yr old.

Anonymous said...

Sending them off to school.... we just jumped this hurdle about one week ago. So far everything is going great. You can read how I prepared on my most recent blog entry.

Amy