Preschool What?

We put Blake in Preschool. A preschool 3 year old program to be more exact. He is going two days a week on Tuesday and Thursday. He started the last week of August. It is more than just Mother's Day Out now; it's the real deal preschool. On the first day Andrew and I both took him to school. (He actually rode with his Daddy and I drove by myself.) He did so good going the first day.

Quick family picture before he went into his class.

Acting goofy by his stuff.

I thought I was going to be nervous and possibly even cry when we dropped him off but I didn't. I was proud of myself ha! I think it helped Blake and I both that Andrew was able to come with us. When I picked him up he was happy to see me and a little weepy. I think the weepy was just him being flooded with emotion.

The decision to put him in preschool came about kind of quickly. I was frustrated with the MDO program that he was in because they were switching him into a different class and he had just gotten settled into the class he was in. He had been in the class for only the summer months. Someone suggested this preschool to us so I called to see if they had a spot open and also to check it out. I went to check it out and enrolled him the same day. He was placed in the last open spot for 3 year olds on Tuesday/Thursday. I couldn't help but feel like this was perfect for us. They also informed me that day that he was going to be in a class with 11 boys (including him) and 3 girls. (It is my teacher dream to have that many boys in a class!) I was excited about it for Blake as well because I feel like he needs to be around more boys his age. 

I'm very excited about the opportunities they provide at this preschool. In no particular order they have science, spanish, music, chapel and class time. Every other week they have science, a science teacher actually comes in to do science lessons with them. This week they played with sand, water and oil. They talked about how oil and water don't mix. She even showed them that the sand wouldn't absorb the water with oil on it first. Fun stuff! They have spanish class and music once a week. Blake is loving the spanish class. He recognizes colors in spanish but doesn't yet feel confident saying them. That after only  two weeks of class. He still isn't sure about music class. He cried hard the first time because it was loud and he hates loud noises. I sent ear plugs this week and he still wasn't having it. His teacher said he is very interested in the instruments and constantly asking questions about them but isn't having all the noise. Can you blame him though 14 kids plus a teacher playing on a guiro. That makes my ears hurt just thinking about it! We have a game plan for next week to make it better and a follow up for the next week if the new plan doesn't work. He also goes to chapel once a week where they are learning a verse to recite. He doesn't talk much about that part of school yet. Then they have the normal class time. They have great centers for the kids to play and learn in. They do group time multiple times a day. The kids eat lunch in the classroom and also take a nap each afternoon. Seriously they squeeze all that into a 5 hour day! What I LOVE even more is that the tv is never on, I actually don't even know if they have one in the classroom.

I always have my overprotective former teacher defense come out when I take Blake to school or even MDO. I was feeling uneasy last week as the first week of school was going on. I was (still am) missing having him at home everyday. I was letting myself get overwhelmed by all the people saying "you'll never get this time back" "he's so young" "can't you just teach him that at home" etc. etc. etc. Ugh I know that people weren't meaning to get to me about it but it was starting to eat me up and even question our quick decision to move him there. I finally realized that I couldn't let them get to me. We did what we feel is best for our boy. No he won't be 3 forever, yes he will go to school for the rest of his life but just like I'll ever get this time back, neither will he. Why not provide as many opportunities as possible for him to increase his knowledge of the world. He needs to grow as his own person with out me just as much as he needs to grow with me. I know that this is the right place for him and the right thing for our family. That above all else is what matters. 

After being in school for 5 days (two and a half weeks) I am the most happy to see that he is learning to stand his ground and stick up for himself. He is learning to let his feelings out instead of bottling them up. (Guilty on the bottling feelings here and so his is daddy.) He is actually being more physical toward other children which isn't so good when he makes the motions to slam his 2 year old buddy on the ground but is good for his personal growth. Don't get me wrong I'm not putting him in preschool to learn to beat up on kids but the fact that he is learning to stand his ground is making this momma very happy. Plus he hasn't actually gotten in trouble for being overly physical at school, he is just saving that for his non school friends when they play at home. This is just part of being a boy and being surrounded by so many of them at school is bringing it out in him. I actually love it. He has also learned a few new tricks for identifying letters (even though he knows all his letters) and tricks for putting together puzzles. His large motor skills are getting better too; he is climbing on toys at the park with more confidence! Maybe instead of saying that the most obvious thing he has learned is to stand up for himself I should be saying his confidence is growing. I know just by that statement alone that he is where he should be. It takes some serious love and support to help a child's confidence grow. I know that he feels comfortable, safe and loved there.

Next week he goes into week number three at school and I am excited to see what he learns and to watch him continue to grow!