A Preschool Visit

As I have been at playgroups, mom's club events, etc there has been talk about preschools. Alexandra is the youngest of the kids in her playgroup - most are soon going to be 3 or are already 3. Most of the kids go to preschool 3 days a week so I decided that it would be good for Alex to go go to preschool in the fall. Before moving down here she has not had a lot of social interaction with kids (besides her cousin). Joining the mom's club and getting her around other kids has been great.

Well today we visited a preschool in the area that my neighbor visited already with her soon to be 3 year old. She had wonderful things to say about the school so I checked out their website. It's small, not too far away, and one of the cheaper ones around the area which is nice. There are 2 teachers and they offer a 2 or 3 day program for 3 year olds and 3 and 4 day programs for 4 year olds. As we went into to visit we were greeted by the owner/director, who has owned the preschool for about 12 years. She is so nice and welcoming and I liked her from the start. As soon as Alex said hello she was off to play with the other kids. I guess that is a good thing that she could just leave my side and be comfortable. As the director and I took a little walk around she explained to me about their program and Alex continued to play with the other kids. At the beginning of the 3 hour day the kids play for a half hour, then they split into groups for Art and Reading Readiness. She showed me some cute thematic projects that they were working on and then showed me the 3 year old readiness room. In the 3 year old class they begin introducing letters but Alex should already have a one up because she can recognize most (if not all) of them by sight. She surprised me by even being able to tell me some letter sounds. I think Alex will do just fine there and I am looking forward to it not only because she will get that social interaction and more exposure to letters, numbers, etc but also that I will have some 1-1 time with her brother.

With her being born in July she is in the group where you have to decide - do you send them when they are really young or wait and have them be the oldest. Well I opted to send her early because I thought she could handle it. Being a teacher I just naturally go over letters, numbers, and other concepts with her that I would if I were a classroom teacher. I don't force it on her but as we play we talk about shapes, colors, numbers, words, vocabulary, etc. I guess it's just in my nature to do those things with Alex.

So starting in September not only will I be reporting new and exciting things that are happening at home with the new baby, but also Alex's new adventures in preschool.