When Sarah started preschool this fall, I really had no idea what to expect. She already knew her ABCs and could count to 20. She knew colors and shapes and could recognize letters and numbers. What would preschool teach her? Would it be a review of these skills, or would she learn more?
Well, we are at the end of the first quarter of her school year, and I am more than pleased to say that she has DEFINITELY learned more. Lots, lots more. And she's had fun doing it, too!
Also, Grace Childcare has been fantastic about posting photos on Facebook and Instagram, so I have photo-documentation of all the fun she's having at school. Lucky me!
Here is Sarah reading books with her new friend, Faelyn.
Sarah says Rory is her best friend at school, "except when she won't play with me." This photo was taken during the first week of school when the kids were learning about their classroom rules: 1) Take care of yourself, 2) Take care of your friends, and 3) Take care of our things.
Sarah's class is called "the froggie class," so after learning the classroom rules, the kids learned all about frogs. I think what Sarah really took away from this week is that all kids at school can be categorized as either Stars (the 2-3 year old class), Frogs (the 3-4 year old class) or Monkeys (the 4-5 year old class). She's forever telling me things like, "That's Wyatt. He likes Spider Man, but he's a Monkey." or "I like Myra, but she's a Star."
Next, a big block of first quarter was spent on a three-week super hero theme. Rather than focus on fighting bad guys, Sarah's teacher, Miss Sasha, focused on the character of true heroes. The kids talked about how all heroes have four main traits in common: bravery, obedience, safety/saving, and courage.
During the first week, they discussed Bible heroes like Joshua (who obeyed God even though it seemed crazy to walk around the city when he was brave enough to fight), Queen Esther (who saved her people), and Daniel (who had the courage to do what was right, even though it was hard). Sarah's favorite Bible hero was David, though! She is STILL talking about how he fought the "big guy" with "his little rock thrower thing."
Next, they learned about Community Heroes - police officers, fire fighters, doctors/nurses, and soldiers. They made care packages to send to soldiers overseas and had a visit from the local fire station.
Sarah came home from school that day and announced, "Mom, if there's an emergency, you must roll." I'm guessing they covered stop-drop-and-roll???
To finish out their hero unit, the kids DID get to learn about super heroes! They had lots of super hero projects during the week, including making and playing with super hero slime (which, apparently, is a thing).
They also made their own super hero capes!
The kiddos ended their hero unit with a super hero obstacle course on their playground. They had to knock down the brick wall with Captain America's shield, climb over the rubble, hop from circle to circle to avoid the hot lava, rush through the tunnel, climb the stairs, navigate the spider web, rescue the lady, and slide to freedom! Look at Super Sarah go!
To end the quarter, the whole school focused on the theme "Around the World." For a little preschool, they DO have a surprising amount of cultural diversity. The teachers cashed in on this and asked each student to bring in food to share that was representative of their culture, ethnic background, or just a food that their family has as a tradition at certain holidays. After nixing Tom's suggestion of Tuna Helper as representative of his heritage, I debated making some German or Irish food for Sarah to take. The more I thought about the culinary offerings of those two countries, though, the more I wondered what I could make that the kids would actually eat. In the end, we make Scalloped Pineapple, which is a dish that my family has made for Thanksgiving every year for as long as I can remember! It was a hit, and they even asked me to share the recipe with them. Maybe some of Sarah's preschool teachers will be eating Scalloped Pineapple 20 years from now and will think of her!
I'm so proud of what a "big girl" Sarah is. She has made new friends and adapted to a new school-day routine. She is learning and having fun each day. But most importantly, Sarah is learning that school is something to look forward and enjoy! She has especially liked the "school" parts of preschool - playing in a gym, having lunch in a cafeteria, and having her work on the bulletin board. Here is Sarah, showing off her first-ever bulletin board-worthy art work! We've put a lot of her art on our refrigerator, but it's not quite the same as having it displayed in the hallways at school.
