International day - Greenland

Colin and Nathan in the Greenland National Costume:


The Greenland National Costume:


Every year, the school has International Day to celebrate the United Nations birthday which is right about the time of Halloween. This is nice, since Montessori doesn't typically celebrate Halloween, and International Day gives the children a chance to dress up.

The children are asked to come to school dressed as someone from a different culture or nationality. A couple weeks ago, Colin was playing with his electronic, talking globe and was so excited when he found Greenland. I volunteered to look up some information for him on Greenland and discovered that they have a "National Costume" that they wear for important events and holidays including the first day of school. I also thought the boys costumes would be pretty easy to do (black sweats, white hoodie, and black and white boots). So Bingo! After putting black and white duct tape on the boys green rainboots, I had their International Day outfits!

Some cool info on Greenland:
*Native Greenlandic words that are also found in many languages: igloo, kayak
*There are no roads connecting the towns in Greenland. They use ships or helicopters or airplanes to get between towns.
*It is the largest island in the world.

Love note

Nathan received a letter today in the mail addressed to "Master Nathan". Inside it said, "Dear Nathan, I like you all the time. I'm glad we are in the same class. Love, Meg".

What a stud!! Less than two weeks at school and Nathan is getting a love note, well, like note already!

Nathan's first day of school

Everyone was so excited for Nathan's first day of school! We all walked that day and went to the N. Highland entrance of the school, instead of the playground entrance that Maureen's class uses. Nathan was going up the stairs with Colin before we knew it. Bob and I followed them up to the class room and saw Nathan head into Anne's class while Colin continued through the kitchen area to Maureen's class. Then I saw Nathan show his bag to his teacher and tell her it was clothes for his cubby. What an incredibly smooth transition!

Two days later I did receive a phone call from Nathan's teacher. She said that Nathan was doing very well but wanted to let me know about that morning. Apparently, a little while after the start of the day, Nathan looked up and asked where Colin was. Then got really upset. We figure that Nathan missed his big brother so now they make sure that Colin says good-bye to Nathan and tells him that he will see him on the playground. What sweet boys I have!

Homework

Colin has become fascinated with homework. One night when I was trying to get them to go to bed and Colin came downstairs and said his teacher wanted him to do some work to take to school in the morning. I was sceptical because I was one of those kids that stayed up too late and sometimes ... gasp! ... skipped school to finish homework that I put off to the last minute. I did not want him to become one of those kids. But he is only four and I so I let him work for 5 minutes on practicing his cursive writing. The next morning he took his work to school for his teacher to see. Funny thing is, we had a meeting at the school the next night and the teacher thought the work that Colin gave her was a note that he wrote to her, and not a homework assignment.

I think I've figured out Colin's fascination with homework. His nanny, Danni has started back at school and talks about her homework. So I think he is just trying to be like Danni.

The funniest part about all this is that Montessori schools do not even advocate homework at all! Even in the higher grades.

Harrison's new school

When I picked up Colin from his first day of school, I had to break some pretty bad news to him. Colin's best friend, Harrison was going to a different school and would not be in Colin's class anymore. Colin was devastated. Luckily we had a playdate planned that afternoon at the park, so Colin could see Harrison. Colin has requested that there be more playdates with Harrison than we've had in the past.

Aiden, Harrison and Colin at the playground. They had nicknames that day, Aiden was "Number Two", Harrison was "Number Three", and Colin was "Number One".

First day back to school

Last week Colin started back to school. On the first day, the whole family walked to school which made Colin very happy. At the door, Colin gave Nathan a big hug and kiss, it was sooo sweet. Too bad I didn't have the camera ready to capture the moment. I did manage to get a great action shot of Colin running on the path on the way to school.

Last year, Colin reverted back to his first year and went through a separation anxiety thing. So far this year, this has not happened ... yet. I hope last year was the end of it.

Here is a picture of one of Colin's classmates, Nicolas on his way to school the first day. He was traveling in style! Although his mom was very tired.

Nathan & preschool

Last Tuesday, Nathan had his follow-up interview at Colin's school to see if he was ready to start. At Montessori schools (which is where Colin goes), the start is based on readiness and not necessarily age. Potty training (or "independent in the toilet" as the school likes to word it) is only part of the readiness evaluation.

Nathan is fully potty trained ... I mean, "independent in the toilet", so we were hopeful that he would get the green light to start soon. Both Colin and Nathan are really looking forward to Nathan going to Colin's school. I'm looking forward to quiet mornings! They will be in different classes, but they can play together on the playground.

So I got the call today from Nathan's teacher, and she asked if we would like him to start September 29!

"love you" notes

I think it was last week or so when I got home from work and Colin had made something and put it in a sealed envelope. He told me it was a "love you" note to Grace, his old friend from Roswell. What a sweet kid.

Then he was talking about making a "love you" note for his teacher, Mrs. Maureen. Which is quite a coincidence because this week is "Teacher Appreciation Week", and we were suppose to bring a flower and home-made cards for the kids teachers. It was recommended to have the children write (or dictate) a note to the teacher that went something like "I love Mrs. Maureen because ...". I imagine that some of the kids at school were working on their cards and were talking about it at school.

So anyway, I eventually got to work with Colin on his cards, I always procastinate these things. Not that I don't want to do it, I just procastinate, it's my nature. Mrs. Maureen's card said something like this, "I love you because you remind me of the building." Only a 4-year old could come up with something like that! I had to prompt Colin a little more, so Hyeseung's card said, "I love you because you are nice."

Once the cards were done, it was off to the store to buy the flowers. On the way to the store, I asked Colin what colors did his teachers like. He didn't know and wanted me to call them on my phone. Well, being it was suppose to be a surprise, I didn't think that would be a good idea. So I suggested that sometimes people wore the color that they liked a lot. According to Colin, Maureen wears a lot of different colors, so we figured that we were safe with whatever color he picked. He picked a pink rose. For Hyeseung, she wears a lot of white, so a white tulip for her.

On Tuesday the children brought their flowers to school to be assembled into an arrangement for each teacher. Then the cards were bound together and presented to each teacher. What a great idea for celebrating Teacher's Appreciation Week.

Running through the gate

I've mentioned before some of the issues that we have had with dropping Colin off at school. The best way of avoiding any scene at drop-off and the dreaded "But, I don't want to go to school" mantra is to get Colin running across the parking lot.

The other day, Bob was taking Colin to school. It started at home and was a little bit ugly. Bob basically dragged Colin to car and Colin cryed all the way to school. Once they got there, Bob said that if Colin ran fast enough, he wouldn't get wet (it was drizzling). So off like a rocket, Colin took off ... right through the gate and didn't look back.

Rocket ships & space suits

Yesterday I picked up Colin from school and he was talking a mile a minute about his activities on the playground. He said that they were playing in the rocket ship that went "5,4,3,2,1,blastoff!" And the rocket ship went up into the sky and he saw me from up in the sky, did I see him? Uh, no I wasn't looking, sorry! Then Colin said that the rocket ship went up to Mars two times. Wow, all during recess, that's a fast rocket ship. Colin's space suit was his coat and he had to wear his hood because it protected him. When we got to lunch (Harrison's birthday party which started at Savage Pizza then on to the Little Jumping Bean), Colin put his coat on backwards and put his hood over his face. He wanted Harrison to see him, I said that everyone was going to notice him! I guess wearing his coat backwards was a more protective space suit!

And there was so much more that Colin was talking about, he just went on and on and on about the rocket ship and space suit. I wish I had a better memory to record it all. I just kept laughing and laughing. It was so cute!

International day

Colin borrowed a friend's china boy outfit for Montessori's International Day Celebration. He made a really cute china boy!

School starts

School started this week for Colin. It's his second year so I thought that it would be really easy. I didn't anticipate any crying or separation anxiety in the mornings like we went through when he started last year. However, Bob was really apprehensive and nervous about the start of school.

Last year was really difficult. It seemed like we went through 4-6 weeks of crying in the morning. Well, Bob mostly went through it. He took Colin to school most of the time, especially during the transitional time. We thought it would be easier for him than me, because Colin spends more time with me and is clinger to me.

We came to this conclusion because Bob took Colin to school the first couple days of school last year, and it went pretty smooth. And then it was my turn, it was so bad with Colin crying and clinging to me. Colin was so upset, the teachers had to pry him off of me, then I got upset. The mornings went down hill from there. We were so nervous when Bob had to go in early and it was my turn to take Colin to school -- even when it seemed like Colin was over the morning crying.

So Bob took Colin to school last Wednesday, the first day back. Bob said that there wasn't any crying but Colin looked kinda sad when Bob left. Friday I took Colin to school and I got the same impression, but I just told him that Harrison was waiting in the classroom for him and that seemed to help.

I think its funny. Colin was excited about starting school and seeing his friends, but Bob was the one all nervous about it.

Colin's teacher Ms. Jeanie

Jeanie greeting Colin at the gate on his first day of school.

At Colin's school, there are two teachers, Mrs. Maureen and Ms. Jeanie. A couple of weeks ago, the parents got an email saying that Ms. Jeanie would not be returning to teach in the fall, that she was going to become a full-time student. I personally was devastated, she is so good with the kids, and Colin has indicated in the past a preferrence for her.

So I was taking Colin to school the other day, and just before going in, he tells me that Jeanie is leaving the school next year. "Yeah, I know", I tell Colin. Jeanie greets us at the gate just like normal, but Colin is scowling. Uh oh.

Bob went to pick-up Colin from school that day and said that Colin got into trouble with Jeanie for not listening to her. Well, I have a theory, I told him. I think that Colin is mad at Jeanie for leaving.

Colin does the same thing when Bob goes out of town. Colin gets really mad at Bob. In Bob's case, Colin won't talk on the phone to him and gives him the silent treatment when he returns.

There's a week left of school. I hope Colin forgives Jeanie so he can enjoy this last week with her as his favorite teacher.

Multi-age classrooms

I just wanted to plug the multi-age classroom experience here. Maybe I'm biased, but Colin goes to a Montessori school where he has kids from 3-6 in the classroom.

With it getting warmer outside, we have been taking more walks and going to various playgrounds. On one walk, we ended up in another preschool playground. There were a couple of other older kids there, and I was appalled by how the kids were talking to Colin, like how he didn't talk very good for being three.

Anyway, on another walk, we went to Springvale Park playground (Colin's favorite!), and one of the older girls from his school was there. She was playing with a couple younger boys, younger than Colin. So Colin just joined in with their game. She was so good with them.

Could be just a coincidence, but I really feel that when kids are exposed to multi-age classrooms, they have more of an appreciation for what other kids, regardless of their age can contribute. So there is my plug.