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Questions About Starting School

dandelionmom

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dandelionmom Enthusiast
dandelionmom
Posted

Julia will start preschool in a couple of weeks. I know and like the teacher. I also know the office staff pretty well and I know that the main secretary has Celiac.

-Do you send gluten-free playdoh, glue, etc? Ordinarily the school provides shared supplies.

-What snacks do you send for your child? She doesn't like the gluten-free animal crackers or Nut-thins and the classroom doesn't have a fridge. The other kids will be eating goldfish crackers, graham crackers, etc. (all the kids eat the same snack)

-What do you do for classmate's birthdays? I was thinking of leaving a bag of snack sized M&Ms for her to have on special snack days.

-Do you bring a doctor's note or just talk to the teacher and office?

Thanks in advance for your answers! :)

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Lisa Mentor
Lisa
Posted

Somewhere, someone here has a list of information for school providers for children with Celiac.

I don't recall who, though. Try doing a search for school supplies. Perhaps that may work.

Nic Collaborator
Nic
Posted

Hi, my son is a little older, he is going into first grade. But he was diagnosed when he was in pre-school. When he started school the doctor had to fill out a physical form and he put on it that Jacob had Celiac Disease so it is on record but when he was diagnosed, it was in May of his pre-school year and we didn't bring a note, I just spoke to them. Even though your daughters classroom may not have a fridge, there might be one somewhere in the building. At my son's school, they allow us to keep a frozen brownie or cup cake in the freezer in case of an unexpected celebration. I also insist that I be given a few days notice if the teacher does know of a special food day. As far as school supplies go, I did not supply my own. The crayons he would never put in his mouth and he was never one to enjoy finger paint. Play dough wasn't even offered to him this past year.

Nicole

mama2two Enthusiast
mama2two
Posted
Julia will start preschool in a couple of weeks. I know and like the teacher. I also know the office staff pretty well and I know that the main secretary has Celiac.

-Do you send gluten-free playdoh, glue, etc? Ordinarily the school provides shared supplies.

-What snacks do you send for your child? She doesn't like the gluten-free animal crackers or Nut-thins and the classroom doesn't have a fridge. The other kids will be eating goldfish crackers, graham crackers, etc. (all the kids eat the same snack)

-What do you do for classmate's birthdays? I was thinking of leaving a bag of snack sized M&Ms for her to have on special snack days.

-Do you bring a doctor's note or just talk to the teacher and office?

Thanks in advance for your answers! :)

My daughter will be in kindergarden this year and i will be sending her lunch for the first time, last year she was in pre-k and ate what was there, it was during her first year of school that she started with symptoms, mucus in stool, bloating, frequent bowel movements, and forceful belching). she started her diet this summer and what a difference, so now I have been trying to figure out how i will handle school. we eat pamela's wheat free bread, and she loves peanut butter, but I know that many children have severe peanut allergies, so i read on here that sunflower seed butter is like peanut butter, we tried it and she loves it, so i bought lots at target, about $2 a jar. I ordered her a lunchbox, let her choose it, and ordered a sandwhich container that the lid has jel in it so you can freeze it and it will keep stuff cold. she likes hormel gluten-free ham, I also bought some little containers in the baby isle at wal-mart that are disposable but can definately be reused, so I can send fruit or cooked chicken nuggets, they won't be hot, but they will be cooked. I ordered in bulk through amazon .com they are often offering free shipping, i only ordered bulk things that we knew we liked, so she has pre-packaged cookies that i can send for a snack or with her lunch. I am considering approaching the teacher and requesting that they ask parents to send only fruit as snacks since many children don't get enough servings of fruit in a day, that way she could have the snack, we will see how it goes, I hope that something i said may be helpful to you.

sedunk Apprentice
sedunk
Posted
Julia will start preschool in a couple of weeks. I know and like the teacher. I also know the office staff pretty well and I know that the main secretary has Celiac.

-Do you send gluten-free playdoh, glue, etc? Ordinarily the school provides shared supplies.

-What snacks do you send for your child? She doesn't like the gluten-free animal crackers or Nut-thins and the classroom doesn't have a fridge. The other kids will be eating goldfish crackers, graham crackers, etc. (all the kids eat the same snack)

-What do you do for classmate's birthdays? I was thinking of leaving a bag of snack sized M&Ms for her to have on special snack days.

-Do you bring a doctor's note or just talk to the teacher and office?

Thanks in advance for your answers! :)

Greetings,

I am a sixth grade teacher. I would suggest that you read the recent post about 504 plans for your child. I feel that this will also be helpful in the future.

Good luck!

Sara

sedunk Apprentice
sedunk
Posted
Julia will start preschool in a couple of weeks. I know and like the teacher. I also know the office staff pretty well and I know that the main secretary has Celiac.

-Do you send gluten-free playdoh, glue, etc? Ordinarily the school provides shared supplies.

-What snacks do you send for your child? She doesn't like the gluten-free animal crackers or Nut-thins and the classroom doesn't have a fridge. The other kids will be eating goldfish crackers, graham crackers, etc. (all the kids eat the same snack)

-What do you do for classmate's birthdays? I was thinking of leaving a bag of snack sized M&Ms for her to have on special snack days.

-Do you bring a doctor's note or just talk to the teacher and office?

Thanks in advance for your answers! :)

Greetings,

I am a sixth grade teacher. I would suggest that you read the recent post about 504 plans for your child. I feel that this will also be helpful in the future.

Good luck!

Sara

Nic Collaborator
Nic
Posted
My daughter will be in kindergarden this year and i will be sending her lunch for the first time, last year she was in pre-k and ate what was there, it was during her first year of school that she started with symptoms, mucus in stool, bloating, frequent bowel movements, and forceful belching). she started her diet this summer and what a difference, so now I have been trying to figure out how i will handle school. we eat pamela's wheat free bread, and she loves peanut butter, but I know that many children have severe peanut allergies, so i read on here that sunflower seed butter is like peanut butter, we tried it and she loves it, so i bought lots at target, about $2 a jar. I ordered her a lunchbox, let her choose it, and ordered a sandwhich container that the lid has jel in it so you can freeze it and it will keep stuff cold. she likes hormel gluten-free ham, I also bought some little containers in the baby isle at wal-mart that are disposable but can definately be reused, so I can send fruit or cooked chicken nuggets, they won't be hot, but they will be cooked. I ordered in bulk through amazon .com they are often offering free shipping, i only ordered bulk things that we knew we liked, so she has pre-packaged cookies that i can send for a snack or with her lunch. I am considering approaching the teacher and requesting that they ask parents to send only fruit as snacks since many children don't get enough servings of fruit in a day, that way she could have the snack, we will see how it goes, I hope that something i said may be helpful to you.

Hi, where did you buy the container for the sandwiches? I am in a panick about keeping things hot or cold as I am also sending lunch with my son for the first time this year.

Nicole

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sillymomx3 Newbie
sillymomx3
Posted

My son is in 3rd grade now but was dx in kdg. I always provide a stash of gluten-free snacks or treats for him so the teacher will have something on hand. I also visit the the csaceliacs.org website and click on the kids link and print the letters for school staff. They have them for teacher, sub forms, principal, etc. I print a new set every year. As for supplies, I always ask what type of of art/crafts supplies they will be needing and make sure to provide a gluten-free equivalent. Crayola crayons are gluten-free and I always buy him extra boxes for his classes where he has to switch rooms and he has strict instructions not to share to prevent cross contamination. If he will be needing play doh I order the wheat free/gluten-free colorations doh from www.discountschoolsupply.com It will usually hold him a couple of school years and is used only for him. If he needs more of a modeling clay, crayola modeling magic is gluten-free. Hope this helped!

Christi

NewGFMom Contributor
NewGFMom
Posted

Get a couple of regular thermoses for your child. They work GREAT to keep the food hot or cold. We've been using thermoses for my son's meals for YEARS because he only likes to eat pasta. Now it's rice pasta, but his teacher says it's always quite warm when he eats it.

I spoke to the director at my son's preschool, and they will have gluten free art supplies including play dough starting in September. Here is a link for the product we'll be getting.

Open Original Shared Link

If it's a private preschool, they will likely be very accommodating, and they'll take your word for it and you won't need a doctor's note.

Good luck!

Margaret

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