I knew this day would come and here it is… I went in to register my daughter for pre-k through our local school outside the gate of our military housing. While I was filling out papers they asked if they could have her take a placement test, I didn’t care. So i still though that she was going to pre-school. I got a letter in the mail saying my little girl is going to be in Kindergarten! She is only 4, I am excited for her, scared for her and just so over whelmed! I have never been to school and she has never really socialized, so I am so new to this. I called to endocrine office to see if they had any lilly logs and of course they don’t and i can’t find them any where (yay for us), I have no clue who is going to supervise the kids at meals and snack cause their class is all day 10-4 and the nurse wants me to have a kit that stay with her at all times and dosent travel… so this means two meters and two logs??
Has anyone ever gone through all this? What did you do for lunches? Did the blood sugars stay level? Did you have any lows? Did your kid eat other food other than their own?
My son is older (wil be going into the 8th grade this coming school year) but we had a kit that stayed at school with a meter, finger poke, test strips, glucagon, snacks and juice for lows…My son would leave the class right before lunch 10 minutes early each day to go test. If I packed him a lunch, I would write the carbs on the bottom of his bag. If he wanted to eat hot lunch, we would decide prior to school that morning what he was getting and make sure we knew the carb count.
He had some days that he would be running low and the school would call me and let me know and even though they knew what Jerod needed to do would verify it with me each time. Then I would get a call back 15 minutes later when he retested to let me know what it went up to.
Again my son is older so no he would not eat someone elses food. He was old enough to realize the importance of this. I understand your concern with a child only 4 years old.
My daughter was diagnosed in Kindergarten. She had a kit for school that stayed with her all the time as well as additional supplies kept in the nurses office. She had an assistant that stayed with her at all times (mostly just became an extra set of hands for the teacher) who oversaw her snack and lunch. We sent food from home with the carb counts. They call me at snack time and lunch with her blood sugar reading and what insulin the pump determined she needs which I had to approve. She would buy hot lunch once a week usually pizza or hot dog because that was easier for me to figure out carbs.
First, yes she needs a meter to stay with her and you are responsible to keep ALL the supplies stocked. lancets, test strips, low treaters, glucagon and insulin. She needs a doctor’s form filled out. Children’s has a form they can just print out with all the information the nurse needs. At Allie’s school, the nurse informed all of her teachers of her condition (classroom teacher, PE, Library, music). The teacher should be in the lunch room with her and should know about her condition. caution Allie’s school doesn’t give a lot of time for lunch so I have a plan in place where if she doesn’t finish her lunch she is to go to the nurse’s office and finish…no excuses from the school. What type of insulin is she on? Allie’s school made her go to the nurse to eat her snacks…now at first I was concerned about her missing class time, but it proved to be a God-send because Allie had someone monitor how much she ate.
I have some logs that Children’s hospital gave us. I scanned them in for us to continue to use. If you would like me to email it to you I will. just give me your email address. I have two different types of logs… one for the NPH and Regular insulin and another for Basal/Bolus…but Allie’s nurse was very compliant with me and just emailed me her numbers every day.
Allie is 7 and knows not to eat anything but what is in her lunch box but your daughter’s teacher should be in the lunch room and hopefully will monitor whether or not they share food. If not the teacher, the aide. The good thing about Charles County schools is they have full-time teacher’s aids for Kindergarten. She will probably be her best friend and “buddy” for all her care and trips to the nurse’s office.
I hope I helped. If you have any more questions please do not hesitate to contact me!! I did not need a 504 plan but every school is different, every teacher is different and every child is different. Talk to the teacher and nurse and get a feel for how they will handle it. Allie’s teacher last year was terrific, very helpful and so willing to take on the task of helping with Allie. I am going into the new school year, 504 in hand because if the accomodations are not made, that is when the 504 and IEP comes into play.
My daughter has been a diabetic for almost three years, im used to home life… when we go to my friends house and her kids free graze all day long and snacks are laying everywhere she doesn’t touch them. But at school… who knows! she might think school is a different rules. I told my husband since she loves chef salad i can make that for her and get disposable bowls and cutlery and write on them and get sticky notes and since she eats so fast no biggy on huge lunch. but give her lots of free foods and proteins and lower crabs. but make it yummy. but them i just don’t know what to do.
I can understand your position; my daughter was diagnosed in may of her Kindergarten year.
For us we have always packed a lunch. We found out quickly cafeteria food is not accurate. And we never let her eat other children’s food. In fact that is a school rule which I think is due to all of the allergies the kids have now.
Since she always takes her lunch we keep a small note pad in the lunch box that the nurse will fill out and it comes home with her each day. That way we can transfer her numbers to our log book at home and its all in the same place. You will also need a Glucagon kept at the school and plenty of 7 to 15 gram snacks and juices.
As for lows, she has always ran a little high in the mornings and a little low in the afternoons. She is able to catch her lows so she will just walk down to the nurse to check blood sugar and get a snack. Of course a classmate will assist her to the nurse’s office.
I cannot think of the offical name at the moment but you will need a document that describes her diabetes and what to do in different situations. At least we did.
GOOD LUCK! She will do great and to have a nurse at School is a big plus!
there is a teacher and t/a and they eat in room. I called the department of the navy case worker we have to ask the navy if they can send of 6 log books. They said the she has to have a IEP and if this principal fights me 504 too!
I would love to have the logs you used, Julee. My son is going to pre-k this year as well and the nurse would like us to keep logs going back and forth. Would you please send them to me? My email address is jessicagoering@yahoo.com. THANKS!!!
The principal shouldn’t fight you. The County has so many children with diabetes and they know they have to comply. I would still walk in with your 504 ready, but hopefully you won’t need it. Have everything outlined as to what you want done. The nurse at Allie’s school is so educated and so nice, she pretty much took over her care while she was at school and I didn’t have to do much of anything except keep the supplies stocked. She was the person who made decisions on what Allie could and couldn’t do as far as recess, if she was too low, what kind of snacks, if they had one and what to do if she was high. She and I decided it would also be a good idea to have some free foods kept in the nurse’s office in case the class was having a snack she couldn’t have. The nurse had a refrigerator so I kept cheese sticks there. Hopefully, you will have a great nurse as well. Do you know the nurse’s name?
I agree to everyone’s posts but as a mom you also have a right to hold her back a year 4 is young for full day kindergartin, if she hasn’t been in preschool yet she may feel overwhelmed all around, 1/2 day preschool would be a better way to ease the seperation for everyone. but if the school has a nurse you can rely on you should be all set if everyone is on bord, the school nurses my son has had have been very helpful and knowledgeable. good luck! amy
I don’t remember her name but boy was she pre-pared. The vice principal was very nice and the principal was… um strict and sharp. I am just worried. Right now I am looking for a site i lost when my computer crashed, it had these labels for meals the was for carb counting. I am going to go shopping for things tomorrow, and I am going to load the house with things and on the 17th get a prescription for the meters and all the new things we need… and then the new sugar kits and oye I am so stressed! Pissed stressed and worried.
She is full of energy and she love children and she is so smart… I just don’t want her stuck at home with me all the time. I can’t afford day care and I don’t have a car to take her to play groups. The school is right here and I think it would benefit her so much. They don’t offer half day so I am going to take what they do. She does very well when she is away from me and with our friends and with my family so I think a class full of children and a teach is okay.
lily coporation makes getting their logs so damn hard! we buy their insulin and they still make getting their logs a pain in the butt!!! “military instilations wont let their sales reps in to give them their logs… BULL WE HAVE THEIR LOGS HOW???”
My daughter was diagnosed 2 years ago and is about to start 1st grade. The pre-school she was in knew her so it was much easier but last year when she transitioned to Kindergarten boy was I scared. The best thing is to keep the communication open and make sure that the teacher, nurse and principal all know that they can call you at any time with any questions.
The first few weeks were hell and I thought that my head was going to explode when the nurse corrected a low with 58 CARBS!!! But we worked it out and the rest of the year went rather smoothly. My daughter is so aware of what is going on with her and she always knew to tell an adult if there was something wrong. I understand your feeings entirely. I really thought that I was about to have a heart attack. But I didn’t and everything went OK. You can handle this.
How does your daughter feel about going to school all day long? Is she excited? She is going to love it and after a while you will get used to the routine and you will be able to enjoy it too!
Well, I got a log book, and a few smaller ones the came with the new meters, I got one for school, home and a back up, and lilly kit for the house and made a huge kit for the school (all sorts of acting stuff to fit in it)… and I got the acceptance letter for the pre-k program. and now I feel like im missing stuff. My husbands mother is coming into town and she is doing the rest of the shopping and helping me prepare stuff wise (not diabetes wise), the doctor is getting some form i need via net and mailing it to me she said i needed for the school, i feel clueless. What form do I need for a diabetic child in maryland, that a doctor gets via net?
