Hellobee

If you read my first post on this topic, then you know that my first baby will start kindergarten in the fall. While she might be ready, I am still really struggling with the idea of her being somewhere other then with me all day five days a week. Lil’ Tea Cup’s main care has been at home with me or with my parents, so the idea of people outside of family caring for her is quite foreign to us. We have never even had a babysitter, so there are big changes coming for our family!

Wanting to prepare her for the transition of other people caring for her, when she turned three last summer we enrolled her in dance classes where parents do not attend. Then most recently she began attending a preschool program one morning a week.

I admit I barely slept the night before she started, but she really took the whole experience in stride. She even marched down our stairs that morning announcing that it was time for her to go to “school!” We are a few weeks in now and she  seems to enjoy going each time (I am still nervous). The experience has been a great one, and thankfully she is practicing the skills that I wanted for her before she starts attending kindergarten.

Here is what I am hoping Lil’ Tea Cup will gain from preschool:

Understand the Teacher/Students Relationship

My daughter, not unlike myself, is extremely strong willed. Although we work on it daily, she still commonly questions when I ask her to do something or give her a direction to follow. As a teacher, I know that while children are encouraged to speak up and think with their own minds, they are also sometimes expected to follow directions without question. Things like “time to line up,” “time to clean up,” and “time to get ready to go” are all things that come to mind that a student needs to learn to simply follow. This is also important for her safety in her future school experience: leaving the classroom when there is a dangerous situation, going outside immediately for a fire alarm, assuming a safe position in the case of weather concerns are all situations that listening to an authority figure is extremely important. The big picture behind this if that that she is learning to respect a figure of authority when appropriate and take their lead. I think learning to do this in a more relaxed setting will be easier on her in the long run and will hopefully prepare her for the more structured school days ahead.

Learn to Share and Play with Similar Aged Peers

This one is fairly common sense. We all want our children to have this skill and in addition be able to form relationships with their peers. I think preschool will help her to practice these skills in a safe and nurturing environment with other children that are her age without parent input. As much as I try not to, I find it very difficult not to always”help” when I am with her and often our play dates and and other social situations are with children that are not her age. For example, at home she is expected to share with her brother, but because he is only just one –  it is not exactly a reciprocal situation.

Learn Self Care

Learning to use the zipper on her coat without help, change her boots for her shoes and keep track of her belongings are just a few of the skills that we work on at home, and I hope will continue to develop at preschool when she is on her own. I have already noticed a change in her ability to get dressed to go outside by herself since she has started attending. These skills will be so helpful when it comes to kindergarten with a much higher ratio of children to teacher. Also included in this area is what I will call the last stage of potty training. The “no reminders” time when they need to not only know when to go, but they need to know to ask to use the washroom. As a former kindergarten teacher, I can tell you that this is an area that many new kindergarten students struggle with at the beginning of the year. But  practice makes perfect right!?

The “School Stuff”

I, of course, hope Lil’ Tea Cup will practice her already developing knowledge and learn some new skills. Practicing her letters and numbers, name recognition, learning to trace, cut and paste are just are few of things that are included in the preschool curriculum. It may be the teacher in me, but I love watching these things develop and see the excitement when something is mastered.

Did your little one attend preschool? What did you feel they gained from the experience?