What to do about PE, art, library, etc?

editing to withdrawl personal 504 info...since we have a new poster!
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig and EE)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)
[This message has been edited by chanda4 (edited May 19, 2007).]

Hi,
I am lucky enough to teach music at my PA DD school. As a music teacher I can tell you that you must ask what the policy is at your school re: hand washing before all specials. If they don't have one they need to make one. In music children play small percussion instruments, use crayons& pencils and hold hands for some games and dances. I keep a stash of safe crayons pencils etc for my allergic students in my classroom.You could ask for this or have your child carry their own pencil case with necessary supplies for each special.
It is a must that they wash their hands before class.
That being said most classroom teachers are in a rush to get the kids to specials and quite often forget to have them wash. I have it posted on my door that the music room is a tree nut& peanut free room and this serves as a reminder. I ask the kids before we start if they indeed washed up.
Get to know the specialists and ask them to follow up on the hand washing. Ask the computer teacher to give your child a clean keyboard if your child is really contact sensitive. Send an extra water bottle on gym day for your child to take PE class and remind the teacher that your child cannot drink from bubbler due to possible cross contact. Specialists see lots of kids so make sure they all know your child and all about the allergies.
Hope this helps!

I can see where that might be a concern. I will be asking if they can have ALL students wash their hands prior to entering ANY specials room. Then also offer to help clean all clssroom supplies prior to school starting....so if they do both, everything should remain clean(if cleaned prior and hand washing implemented) right???
Or have my sons class wash their hands prior to returning to the classroom?
Will have to think about that one and see.
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Chanda(mother of 4)
Sidney-8 (beef and chocolate, grasses, molds, weeds, guinea pig & asthma)
Jake-6 (peanut, all tree nuts, eggs, trees, grasses, weeds, molds, cats, dogs, guinea pig & eczema & asthma)
Carson-3 1/2 (milk, soy, egg, beef and pork, cats, dog, guinea pig and EE)
Savannah-1 (milk and egg)

DS has had dedicated instruments before--at his old school, not at his current one. We've not had a problem at either school.
They aren't using any instruments at his current school that involve the mouth, and they did at his old school, so that was a concern. There he received his own brand new instruments. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Epi travels with DH everywhere he goes.

This is what we did in Kindergarten, but Ryan's 4th grade 504 is different according to his current age.
Gym--All bats, balls, etc., are wiped down prior to use in Ryan's class. The gym floor is washed the night before.
Art--I come in and check all art supplies, calling manufacturers as necessary. Periodic checking throughout the year as needed. I supply freezer paper to cover his work surface in Art class for the entire year. ETA--he would get new packs of everything--modeling clay, crayons, scissors, etc., that had never been used before.
Library--The librarian would ask Ryan about his interests. She would select 10 books, wipe down the covers, and he would pick 3 books from that "clean" group. He was fine with this for Kindergarten.
Things have relaxed a bit because his maturity level, age, and responsibility level have risen. But this was how things were for his Kindergarten year.
Computer lab wasn't an issue until last year. He had his own headphones, mouse, and keyboard. Now (if you can believe it) he prefers to use non-latex gloves in the computer lab. I don't think it really makes him stand out that much because so many of his friends know he's PA. We asked him this past week in his 504 meeting what he wanted to do, and he replied, "Wear the gloves."
[This message has been edited by ryan's mom (edited May 18, 2007).]

I can see where that might be a concern. I will be asking if they can have ALL students wash their hands prior to entering ANY specials room. Then also offer to help clean all clssroom supplies prior to school starting....so if they do both, everything should remain clean(if cleaned prior and hand washing implemented) right???
Or have my sons class wash their hands prior to returning to the classroom?
Will have to think about that one and see.
To Chanda4:
Maybe you could call Target, grocery stores, etc. to make everyone wash their hands prior to using the carts. Doesn't seem that farfetched as you seem to have NO PROBLEM wanting EVERYONE accomodate YOUR child. I have a LTA child as well, but give me a break!!! I would never behave how you do and it is no wonder people in your community feel like they do.

[b][i]I can see where that might be a concern. I will be asking if they can have ALL students wash their hands prior to entering ANY specials room. Then also offer to help clean all clssroom supplies prior to school starting....so if they do both, everything should remain clean(if cleaned prior and hand washing implemented) right???
Or have my sons class wash their hands prior to returning to the classroom?
Will have to think about that one and see.[/i]
To Chanda4:
Maybe you could call Target, grocery stores, etc. to make everyone wash their hands prior to using the carts. Doesn't seem that farfetched as you seem to have NO PROBLEM wanting EVERYONE accomodate YOUR child. I have a LTA child as well, but give me a break!!! I would never behave how you do and it is no wonder people in your community feel like they do.[/b]
Welcome LTAMom. I see that you just joined this month and this is your first post, though clearly you must have been lurking for awhile. It would be great if you could introduce yourself a bit and tell us a little about how you came to PA originally. And you know, it is always nice to have new and differing viewpoints here, and since you seem to have such a strong feeling about Chanda's post, I'd be curious as to how you would address the original question:
[b]We just took a tour of our school ds will be attending in the fall. How do you all handle PE, art music PE and library? Do you have accomadations for those areas and what are they?
I really just don't know about contact reactions in these areas. Have your children had any reactions in these settings> [/b]
edited for spelling
[This message has been edited by gvmom (edited May 18, 2007).]

LTA Mom -- nice post! Sounds like you are visiting us from Chanda's communtiy.
Handwashing, btw, is a good idea in all places to reduce germ transmission as well. It benefits all children. You can see the teacher above has very positive input about handwashing.
In my school system, people are glad that children are washing hands more and have thanked the nurse for instituting this practice.

Oh yeah, I forgot about the wipes. Whenever the class comes back from any special, recess, whatever, everyone uses the wipes at the door when they enter the room. The classroom goes through a LOT of wipes during the year. That provision is up to and including this year (K-4th).
His first grade teacher said her absentee rate went down from 240 to 160 when Ryan was in her class.