Joshua's preschool open house was on Thursday, September 1, or the day after Caleb's. Mamaw was already watching John for Aunt Jen to take Daniel to preschool, so she agreed to watch Caleb at their house. I dropped off my little Bluke and took my oldest and youngest to Calvary. By the time we arrived, there was a huge line for the paperwork station. But, thankfully I had already completed all that the day before at Caleb's open house. So, we walked right by it and headed to the classroom. Joshua found his name and hung up his back pack on the appropriate hook. He also put his ziploc bag of spare clothes in the appropriate bin outside the classroom. I think we were the only ones to bring them in that first morning.
I was glad that we arrived relatively early because it gave us a nice opportunity to meet his teacher Mrs. Zimmerman and her aide Mrs. Perez. Mrs. Perez is from Spain, and it sounds like he may be learning some Spanish on Thursdays possibly. His teacher has been teaching for eight years and is extremely organized. She had a scavenger hunt for us to do, which we completed in good time. The first thing we had to get was his name badge. Then we had to go answer "the question of the day" where she will ask a question and the child will put his name by the yes or no answer. The question was "is this your first year at Calvary Preschool" and there was only one yes in the class. Joshua put his name next to the "no." By answering questions, she also knows who has attended that day.
I asked Mrs. Zimmerman if there would be a time I could meet with her to show her how Joshua's inhaler works. She suggested after the parent meeting, but I informed her that I wasn't going to stay for that meeting twice (since I sat through it the day before during Caleb's open house). She said that doing it after the first day of school would be fine. Mrs. Perez told me that her son also struggles with asthma and she is completely familiar with how to use it. I was glad. The teacher told me she'd still like me to go over it with her. I was glad about that, too. Hopefully he'll never have an incident at school, but I like to be prepared in case and I'm glad they feel the same way.
The other students continued to trickle in until the room was PACKED! There are 18 in his class this year, which is the biggest classroom size they offer. All the students will be five before December except for one, I was informed. I recognized many faces. A gal from my group at study 'n share has a daughter in his class, three little girls were in his preschool class last year, one little boy was in his class the year before that, one little boy is the neighbor of my sister who we've seen lots of times during our play dates, one mom has a son in Caleb's class so I met her the day before, and one couple came up and chatted with me a good portion of the morning and while they looked familiar (and they seemed to know all about me because they asked me where Caleb was that morning), I could not place them. They go to the main campus of our church in the mornings, so we wouldn't really run into them. I'm really clueless, but they seemed very nice. They also have children about the ages of our children (only their youngest is already crawling so I'm guessing he's got a good six-months on Ryan).
The next step on our scavenger hunt was to find Mrs. Zimmerman and get our pictures taken. First she wanted one with Joshua only and then asked that I step in the picture. Then she asked for the baby's name so she would have it for labeling the photo. Ryan did well that entire morning - and I was glad that he was interested in his pacifier that day, which kept him happy and quiet amidst a very busy room. He also enjoys being walked around, and he was happy enough in our snuggli. I was glad I chose it vs. a stroller - there was barely enough room for all the parents and children!
Next Joshua did the "craft" of the day. Mrs. Perez gave him a blank orange rectangle with his name on it (you can see the others in the photo above that have not been worked on yet. She gave him a sheet of alphabet stickers and told me that I could help him put them in order on his sheet. Joshua didn't need any help. He did it all himself and was happy to do so. He lined them up pretty well, too, which is the part that I thought he may or may not struggle with. He is growing so big! Some students needed the help, but I noticed that he worked well independently. Then his teacher asked me what home phone number I'd like him to start memorizing. I asked him to tell her our home phone number, and he did so with such clarity that she wrote it down from him. She said "I guess he won't need help with that one!" and smiled.
Next, he was to find the chalk boards and write his name on one. You can see him next to his name below.
Other things he was supposed to do was find his name where he would put his backpack and coat (which we had already done), and he was supposed to wash his hands (which was more toward the beginning of the list). His teacher noted that every day the students should go potty at home or in the bathrooms in the hallways of the preschool before coming to class. Once they come inside, they should wash their hands before starting any activities. I love this because it should cut down on the number of germs being spread by children. Joshua was able to reach the sink to turn it on and the soap dispenser and dry his own hands. Again, little things like this make me realize just how much he has grown!
The last item on our list was to explore the room for things to play and enjoy some play time. Joshua picked some animals to play with, then he moved onto the trains, etc. I'm not sure what he missed that the children would do with their teacher during the parent meeting, but I'm sure it probably wasn't much. There were other parents who had been to previous parent meetings who also left. My Bean is looking forward to school this year! I read through the paperwork his teacher gave us parents, and I love how organized she is. I have a schedule of what they'll be doing each day and at what time. She gave us field trip dates for the fall and a snack schedule already as well as special dates where they'll need to dress up, etc. It makes it so much easier to plan to have everything well in advance. She also noted that they'll be memorizing scripture and working on blended letter sounds, both of which will be good for my little man. While I'm sad to not have Joshua with me on the mornings he's at school, I know how good this time is for him and I love that he's excited to go!
That night was my first night back at Millersville. They have cut a number of classes but increased class sizes to try and make up for it, making for a very large class this semester. Students seemed to participate, and I feel more and more comfortable as I'm teaching the same class I've taught at least once a year for the past five years. Class went a little later than I was expecting due to the discussions, and Shawn had to feed Ryan before I got home. Darn having a broken pump! The boys were in bed but happy to see that I was home. I love their excitement at my returning. Now I know how Shawn feels everyday when he's greeted as he comes in the door. It's nice. :) I love my boys! And I'm thankful for the start of school and return of fall. It means more work, but it's a nice change too. This is Joshua's last year at preschool, so we're going to enjoy each moment of it!
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