Preschool Days: Week 1

Jake started 4 year old preschool this past week. We are sending him school on Mon, Wed and Friday mornings for 2 1/2 hours. Earlier this year (spring time) we toured 4 preschools (2 private, 2 public and 1 montessori). After our observations we selected St. Lawrence Catholic School. It's a decision based on the look and feel of the room, the vibe we got from the preschool teacher, the location, and curriculum format. All summer as we drove by the school (sometimes it's on our way running errands) I would point out Jake's new school to get him thinking about it.

Summer has ended and now we are beginning the school year. Last Wednesday we attended an orientation day where the students and parents visited the classroom, meet their teacher and get comfortable with their surroundings. Daddy took the morning off from work and joined us. We left Casey at a friends house so it was just the 3 of us together. Upon arrival the first thing we learned was that Jake is the 20th kid on the list in a classroom of 20 kids. His cubby is #20. He'll have to start getting used to being last with "W" as the first letter in his last name. I'm sure Daddy can remember what that was like. We entered the classroom to meet his teacher. Her name is Ms. Woznicki. She's kind, gentle, and has great energy. But she also has good organizational skills and a spitfire style characteristic that she'll use to keep her class in order. She'll need it this year. I believe there are at least 13-15 boys in his class to the 7-5 girls. They will be a rambunctious group.

Jake headed straight for the shelf with rescue vehicles (fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, helicopters). He asked me all summer long if could play with a fire truck while at preschool (I guess that is what he imagined what he could do there). I told him yes (thank goodness she had them in the classroom). Next we wandered over to a cash register activity, next we found a bin of wooden trains, then we played with Little People, then built a car plant with blocks, and he ended at a rice table. We did all that in 1 hr. On our way out Jake enjoyed a glass of juice and a cookies (that made him happy). I'm glad we could go in and checkout the room before his actual first day of school.



Two days later is was Friday. We were out the door by 8:50am to head off to preschool. It was a muggy day with rain on and off. Jake was all ready with his new Thomas backpack and very proud to be going to school. We stood outside the preschool door waiting for his teacher to let us in. I snapped a few photos of my little student. I was worried Casey would be upset that she wasn't going to school too, but instead she was just excited for her brother. It also helped that we had big plans together to feed the ducks and go to the library. We walked into the preschool lobby and stood in line to: sign in your child, locate child's name tag, place backpack in cubby, and say goodbye. There are 19 other families doing the same thing, it took a while. It gets crowded inside the lobby, but I'm hoping as the weeks go by we'll all figure out a good system to keep it moving. After a hug and kiss I sent him off to his room (parents are not allowed to come in during drop off to help with the separation anxiety). Casey and I watched him go in and sit down on the carpet next to his new friends. That was it. We walked away and headed out. Chris and I are pleased with the school selection we made and we are confident he'll do well there.



A photo of Ms. Woznicki taken at the orientation


On my way to the park I started to get sad and the next 13 years flashed before me of him being in school 9 months of each year. Not knowing what he does all day, who he talks to, how he feels etc... But I'm also happy for him to experience new things, make friends, work on art projects, sing songs, go on field trips etc... It's a happy and a sad feeling at the same time. I do admit that the short 2.5 hour break from him will be a good thing for both of us. The best part of the drive away from the school was that Casey wouldn't stop talking to me. She had so much to say and wanted to say it then. Usually when we drive (or at home) her big brother can take over many conversations and Casey doesn't get a chance to talk. This time alone with her will be priceless because I'll start to see a different side of Casey. I know it will be wonderful.

Casey and I had a nice time feeding ducks. We brought a few buns and some Cheerios for them. The weather was iffy so we only stayed a short time. There were plenty of ducks to feed. Casey had a blast throwing out the food to them and watching them waddle closer and closer to her. She had a special technique of planting her feet far apart and swinging her arm to the side and releasing the bread into the air, not really knowing where it was going to land. See video in this post above. Next we headed to the library (across the street from the park) to look at books, do puzzles, play with the doll house, say hello to the gerbils.

We arrived at his preschool 5 mins before his class was dismissed. Ms. Woznicki likes to come out to the lobby (while her teacher aide stays with the kids) to give the parents a recap on what they did in class. I'll look forward to this each time I pick him up. She explained that for the first day she had the kids draw self-portraits of themselves. It gave her a chance to see what level each kid is at in their drawing/writing skills and which hand they dominate or if they are a switch. Also they learned about the class rules, about the class daily routine, about using their hands as helping hands (to pick up toys, play nicely with friend, not to hurt people), The Pledge of Alligiance, they learned about Ms. Woznicki's magic wand which she uses to open and close certain play activities (I guess not everything is a free for all during playtime, she limits which activities the kids can play with and switches them around as the year goes on) and she informed us that all the kids stayed happy during their first day (a challenge considering some of them may have never been away from mommy or daddy up until now). They let the kids were out one by one. Jake came out and gave me a big hug. He looked very tired and I can tell he was busy. I also got to see his self-portrait. I was impressed with his drawing and it looked like he put a lot of effort into it. She'll have the kids draw self-portraits again at the end of the school year and we can compare the differences and see their skills increase.


During the car ride home:

Me: What was your favorite thing about preschool?
Jake: Mommy I couldn't play with the trucks?
Me: Why not?
Jake: They were not open?
Me: Did Ms. Woznicki use her special wand and close up the trucks?
Jake: Yes
Me: Did you play with something else?
Jake: Mommy I just wanted to play with the fire truck!!!
Me: Was the computer station open?
Jake: Yes, but I didn't not get to use it?

This went on and on for the next 2 hrs. He was so very bummed and really was looking forward those activities. He was in a bad mood and he said he did not want to go back. I asked him if he made a friend and he responded "no". I tried to get him to call his Daddy to tell him how his day went but he didn't want to talk on the phone. I then had to work some magic to get him excited again and hopefully this week he'll want to return. We also talked about the amazing job he did on his drawing.

Later in the evening after a nap and the chance to digest his first day I got some more info from him. He did have a good time and they read a fun book about 4 music instruments (a trumpet, a keyboard, drums and guitar). The book made fun sounds for each instruments. He loves music and playing instruments so I'm glad that this book was read. He also taught me a new phrase. When they sit down for circle time on the carpet they need to cross their legs and it's called: Criss Cross Applesauce. He showed us how to do it and what to say. He was excited to teach that to us. I look forward to hearing about all the things he learns in school.

Overall I guess it was an expected first day at school. There are lot of fun things planned for him and it can only get better. I think it's going to take me a few weeks to get used to our new schedule. I still cannot believe I'll be taking him to school 3 days a week until June. That just seems forever to me. What am I going to do when he starts full time school? Or when both are in full time school? Jump for joy? Cry like a baby? Maybe a little of both.