Hey- my mom is hosting a pretty sweet Giggle Give-Away!  Make sure you check it out!

Parent/Carer Day

Last week, I had the privilege of attending the first hour of preschool with my sweet daughter.  Ever task-oriented, I struggled giving up that hour of work as we had just gotten back in town and I was hosting or coordinating several events that week that were also quite demanding time-wise.  However, Josh insisted I go, knowing I would deeply regret it if I didn’t.  I was so glad I did go!  Rebekah was delighted I got to, and told everyone within ear shot {and a few that were not}, “This is my mom!  See, my mom is here!  This is my mommy!”  Precious.

Rebekah showed me around, introduced me to everyone I already knew , sat me down to do skewl work with her, and then we were off to crafts and snack.  It was an intense hour, let me tell you.  We were hard at work.

In the play "school"

Rebekah was the teacher, and I was her student

Their art work {Rebekah's is to the left from the middle- on purple paper with a brown trunk and lots of pink petals}

Rebekah & Mrs. Muldoon

Proudly displaying her umbrella!

You may recall that this time last year we were still contemplating our decision to even put her in.  I eventually deferred her original start date of September to January when we would get back from a 2-month holiday to the US.  Waiting a little longer allowed Rebekah to fully drop her nap, Luke to drop his morning nap (thus making drop-off and pick up, as well as my work time more do-able), and it also afforded me time to prepare myself.  Rebekah loved it!

After visiting, I feel confident Rebekah is very happy and well taken care of.  From her report card, I know her teachers know her well and enjoy her.  I now have a better feel for what they do.  This program really is play-centered and individualized.  Each child can choose what they want to do when.  There is little structure except for snack time about halfway through, story time at the end, and various excursions, such as recess, gym, or music.  As children get involved in an activity, teachers come and go in aiding them and providing extra learning opportunities.  They might ask more pointed questions, or have the the child count or describe what he or she has done.  Plus, each week there is a different theme- they might have a nursery, or a kitchen, or a restaurant, or a pet shop or as in this week, a school.  Each theme is carried out in the role-play they do, including dress-up.  For the school, there was a student and teacher desk, and a mini-classroom, complete with uniforms.  For Rebekah, this is fantastic!  I loved seeing her pretend and be creative so much that I started doing the same thing in her room at home!

All in all, I like it.  The children are just that- children.  They have the rest of their lives to memorize and have uber-scheduled classes, so I enjoyed the lack of structure.