It's Off to Preschool we GO! Rather, it's off to Preschool She Goes!
Muffin is so excited. I just decided to call the search off and go with the place where I most liked the people. It's a bonus that it is quite convenient and seems nice. It is not great that it costs as much for two days a week as a full week of preschool in a Montessori school at home (Calvert County, MD or Richmond,VA=USA). That part,we just have to swallow because we both need it, Muffin and I.
I made arrangements to go back and speak to the Director and take Muffin for a visit. She liked it so we are trying it. We only need to give two weeks notice should it not be working out for one reason or another. As we were headed to Good Start Learning Centre in Lane Cove, Muffin was passing me a heart of something with a blown kiss and thanking me for taking her. I am glad we went with this option. Some schools are on holiday with regular public school schedule as it is summer. Though we have it a little backwards, in Richmond we didn't even take music class during the summer. Since this is a "long day care center" meaning its hours are extended till 6 for two working parents, it is open and available through the summer holiday. They'll take her not potty trained heiney! She needs to interact with her peers.We all could benefit from some time apart..
Ok, so now the low down about the little visit.
The Man is still home for the holiday (starts back Monday, the 9th) so got to keep Huckleberry. I only needed to take Muffin. But getting us out of here to arrive by 10:30 seemed challenging. I have to factor in extra time for stuff like getting the big station wagon out of the driveway that has brick walls on either side and not at a wide distance apart. Then, avoid bus sign pole, buses and other street traffic and any foot traffic (which will be a bit more challenging once kids are back to school next door to us). We have to get there and I tell the poor thing, to please be quiet so I can concentrate on my driving. There is no parking in front of the preschool, but behind it which is also where the shops and library are, which will be nice. I can take Huckleberry to Story Time while she is in school, grocery shop, get lunch, coffee, whatev...Who am I kidding though? The little guy still needs a morning nap, so maybe I can do one of those things on each day she is in class. Or one in the morning and one in the afternoon before picking her up.
Muffin joins the smaller 2 to 3's class upstairs where she will have to stay until she is potty trained. Here's hoping going there will help with that. Little Miss insisted she'd do it when 3, but now is worried that doing her business on the potty might change her status to a big girl which would equal no more playing. Where does she get these ideas? I think she may be a bit more mature then some of these children, but downstairs there are two groups and I know my kid, she will gravitate to the older ones and I really want her to engage her peers. I also think the older kids here won't be interested in playing with her which she simply will not understand due to all of her fabulous cousins playing with her and her Australian Bossies kids (Old Aussie Bossie and New Aussie Bossie). But then, if all the little ones in this group are like the one I will tell you about below, she may be bored since she is a full on speaker, chatterbox with a great vocabulary. Afterall, how is she going to learn to speak Australian if her classmates don't talk yet?
Here it goes. The little boy who's name I would change, but it is so appropriate and funny, I can't, Mikey, immediately starts touching Muffin's face and following her around. He is adorable but I don't think he is talking yet. Hmmm...ideal boyfriend material? Nope....I am in the office down the hall, the teacher calls for the director and the director comes back to inform me that the little lover boy has been watching too much Twilight and bit my girl. Wow. She did not cry. In fact, she did not even tell me about it on her own. Her skin was not broken, but boy was she bruised. I wasn't upset. I know these things happen. Now, if it keeps happening, I will have a problem, or if she does it back to him. I just kept thinking about Mikey from the cereal commercials, "He likes her, He bites her" instead of "He likes it, he likes it."
Funny, I never really asked how they do their lessons...themes, etc. We'll see. My choice was more about comfort and, ahem, safety. Yeah. But I missed Story time. I think they read The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Of course, little Miss Muffin has read it, and already can tell you the lifecycle of a butterfly. In fact, she requested I draw her a caterpillar, cocoon and butterfly the other day with sidewalk chalk. The teacher was impressed with her knowledge of the topic it seems. I haven't really given them the full picture on how smart she is. Let them discover it and see what they think. If she potty trains, she may be ready to go downstairs in a short time.If Mikey stops biting and if she is bored with the 2's and 3's. I do think it is the right place to start as it is a bit more intimate upstairs.
Special Tidbits about her Preschool:
Anatomically correct baby dolls on site. Do I care? Nope. Her brother is a.c. and she sees his package all the time.
They have a Cook and snacks aka "tea" and lunch are provided. This shall be interesting to see what she eats. Likely to eat what the others do, I guess. "When in Rome..."
Formerly owned by some dude that owned a whole chain of ABC Learning Centres in AUS. He had homes in other lands, etc. But he wasn't minding his business and lost his fortune. AUS was up in arms because so many families relied on this care for working parents...so some nfp's bought a bunch of the centers and renamed them, GoodStart...
Muffin's reply when asked, " What did you like best about your visit to your preschool?" was " I liked playing with the little boy who bite me." Yeah. She thought he was cute, too. But she is coached to tell him," We don't bite people, we bite our food! Do not bite me."
TTFN, the little lad has woken from his nap.
No comments:
Post a Comment