Thinking About School...

Last week, we visited the pre-school we planned to send LJ to in the fall. We've heard such rave reviews from everyone we talk to, so we went ahead and filled out the application. Earlier in the week, we got the paperwork saying he'd been "accepted" - which means they have space for him during the time we wanted to send him...MWF 8:30 - 11:30. There are 16 kids to a class, so space is an issue. The enrollment fee is due March 6th, so we decided we'd better get over there and check it out for ourselves. Oh wow. This place is so idyllic.

When we arrived, the 4-year-old class was at some picnic tables outside - having their snack. LJ is way bigger than the kids we saw...heck, PJ is just a little smaller, but what can I say? Our kids are giants. The "campus" (it only has 3-year olds, 4-year olds, K and 1st grade) is comprised of little houses that are dotted along the acreage. The 4-year old house...on the porch there are a couple of easels with art paper and paints, a table - which that day held metallic paper and you could practice cutting with scissors, a table with hammers and wood blocks for carpentry, and a table with 2 big trays that held giant bubble wands. You walk into one room that has a board with all the kids' pictures on it, a schedule for the day, a loft with building blocks underneath and reading up top. In another room is a "work center" where you can pretend you are at work. There is a binder ring with laminated cards attached - each card has the name of one of their classmates, so you can write them a letter, if you want. There is a "home center" with a table, play kitchen, cookware, baby dolls, etc. There are a couple of art centers and music centers and reading centers as well. In another room, is another loft where you can read or play underneath, there are HUGE building blocks and hard hats and a wall with hooks for their coats and back packs - each hook has a child's picture above it - oh, and their is a cubby for each child. There is another room where they meet with the teacher's aid individually - to work on supervised crafts...they are currently making a barnyard.

Outside is HUGE play ground with all the usual playground stuff. All grass and dirt. There is a storage building that houses the bikes, trikes, and scooters (my jaw dropped)...and a big figure 8 side-walk that goes throughout the whole play area. There is a garden area (it is fenced off and requires a parent to volunteer to watch the kids for it to be open (which is supposedly not a problem once the weather is warmer) - the kids actually plant vegetables, herbs, etc. and harvest them and there are 4 festivals throughout the year that seem to be themed around the garden. There is a bridge over a pond/stream...the pond has minnows and little fish in it...and there are nets and buckets, so the kids can catch the fish (and put them back when they are finished). There are trees everywhere - so lots of shady areas.

The "schedule" does something like this:
8:30 - arrive and check-in with teacher
- journal time (they draw or write or whatever they want in their journal - which is blank sheets spiral bound. There is a date stamp they use to date their page and they can ask the teacher to write things on it if they want to dictate).
8:50 - circle time/sharing - telling each other whatever they want to share
9:10 - "center time"
9:30 - "clean up" - each child has a job to do
9:45 - music/songs/stories
10:10 - snack
10:30 - playground
10:55 - "center time"
11:20 - "clean up"
11:30 - go home

Once a week - a music teacher comes in and teaches them age-appropriate music stuff and once a week they go to chapel.

I think LJ is going to LOVE it.

Over the summer, his teacher will send him a postcard. Then she'll come to the house to meet him and tell him about school. She'll take the picture of him that will be over his coat hook. The first day of school - they have 8 kids come only. Then the other 8 come the 2nd class day and then on Friday - all 16 will be together. So, it is very transitional. I'm super-excited about it. His teacher has been teaching there for 17 years and her teacher's aid has been their for 15. I would LOVE to go to school there - LOL. Of course, I'll cry when I take his First Day of School picture.