Hailey had a very exciting August. Not only did she celebrate her 4th Birthday, have a Birthday party with her friends and family, but she got accepted into Pre K at Lettie Marshall Dent! We found out on August 4th and had exactly 20 days to get her all ready. She got two new pairs of school shoes, one pair of white DCs and stars, and one pair of black DCs and stars. She got new school clothes. She got school supplies. And she got her official school haircut, so that she would look all fresh and ready for the new year. I filled out tons of forms for the school, got her doctor to fill out her physical forms and shot records, and we waited patiently to see if she would attend class in the AM or PM.
I found out on Monday, August 22nd that she was in the AM class (what a relief) and then on Tuesday August 23rd we went to the open house and found out who her teacher was and dropped off her school supply. School started on August 23rd, but since it was the first day, Pre K students got to come in with their parents for orientation. This was exciting for me. The children were called and taken to their classrooms while the parents started the busy work of filling out more forms and watching a PowerPoint on the ABCs of PreK. Ekkkk there is alot to know!
Some of the cool things from that was:
1. She has a day of PE
2. She has a day of Art
3. They try to take the kids to the playground for at least 10 minutes a day.
4. They have a day where they go to the library and check books out.
5. They have show and tell every Friday
6. They have Blue Dolphin reader books that they bring home to read which are rotated throughout the class.
7. If she fills out 10 forms for the Blue Dolphin a month, then she will get an award
8. They have award ceremonies.
9. They have special parties.
10. They take turns bringing the class pet home (stuffed animal) and have to do a report about the weekend they spent with it.
11. They have folders that go back and forth every day that she brings home to me.
12. In this folder is a report card for each day to let me know how she was.
13. On half days she brings her lunch and stays until 1:45
14. She will have 2 field trips this year, one to the Charlotte Hall Library and one to Elms Beach.
Can you tell I am very excited for her?!? I remember how exciting these things were for me when I was little so it makes me even more excited for her! I know she will love it. And I love the idea of being able to be a part of it!
Okay, back to the first day of school...... so while we did the orientation, the kids went back to the classrooms for an hour. Hailey told me that she didn't talk to anyone or make any friend (actually what she said was "its only the first day, what do you expect", what a little brat! haha), but they did read a book called the Helping Hand and they played a game of freeze dance, which she LOVES!
The second day of school was the big day. This was the day that she got to ride the bus and got to school by herself. I wasn't to nervous for her (thank you new anxiety medicine!), but I could tell she was unsure. The bus came at 8:16 and she got on. She sat in the second row with a little boy that got on the same stop and was in Kindergarten. She came home at 12:05 and had lots to tell me! I was disappointed that the folder didn't have anything for me to read or do, but I did get to see that she got a green square for the day! Way to go! She told me that she got the talking stick and that she was able to get it by using patience. She also taught me about "criss cross apple sauce", which when I was growing up was called sitting Indian Style. She did not get to go on the playground because it looked like it was going to rain. She told me that one little boy cried because they couldn't go out, and again she did not talk to anyone or make new friends. She also wouldn't tell me what she said when it was her turn with the talking stick. Oh well! She will tell me when she is ready I guess.
The third day of school was completely different. This time she did not wait for Kenny to walk her to the bus, she took off running with the other kids. She sat in the second seat again this time all by herself. She waved to us as the bus was pulling away. She is so tiny on that big old bus, especially with her big book bag! It's so cute! The third day was Friday so it was show and tell. She had to bring something that started with her first name. We picked out her new Princess Zhu Zhu hamster since hamster starts with H. She said they had to leave them in their book bags until it was time. She also told me that this was the day she had to remember where her cubby and hook was all by themselves. When it was time for show and tell they sat in a circle and had to keep their item behind their back. She cracked Kenny and I up, when she said she was making her hamster make noises while it was behind her back. What a mess, she must get that badness from her father! She said she showed the hamster, but didn't talk. She said that the following week they would be learning how to use scissors! Very exciting! This day they got to go on the playground. She said she stood by herself and watched everyone play because there was just too many kids. This kind of upset me because I thought of poor little Hailey standing there all by herself watching, but then I reminded myself that this must be a lot to take in and that she would get used to it soon. So I dismissed the idea of writing her teacher an email. Haha!
Hailey is very proud of herself for going to school. She told me all about learning the days of the week song (which she messes up, but hey! she still knows the days of the week even if they aren't in order!). I catch her humming or singing it a lot lately.
I am so proud of her. I can not express how happy I am that she got into school. She really needed this. Hailey is extremely smart, but lacks the basic knowledge like counting and her alphabet. She can tell you about hurricanes and mammals, but she can't count past 10. So this will be good for her! Also she isn't used to being around a lot of kids, so this gives her time to adjust in small doses instead of just being thrown into a full day of Kindergarten next year. I can't wait to hear about her day when she gets home and see how she progresses through the year!
This week there hasn't been any school so far, due to the damage of the hurricane. I did just get an email though saying that it will be open at normal time tomorrow! So stay tuned to hear more about Hailey's school day adventures!
And what would this post be without some pictures!
Meet the teacher day! She refused to look at me!
First day of school with Mommy and Daddy!
Second day of school! First picture was waiting for the bus and the second was getting off the bus!
Third day of school!
