preschool and kindergarten

After the morning I've had, the one thing that is definite is the need to be involved as a parent. Working with kids on reading, writing, I see the biggest hurdle will be making sure Matthew is ready to sit and follow directions, not just from me or the adults he's usually around. Some kids did not like how I did things slightly different from their teachers-others simply adjusted and were compliant and did what was asked. When it came to the work, there are plenty of dittos-color, cut, paste. Just crayons are used, and at that, not a huge selection of colors-maybe 5-6, if that. I should mention, each child had their own little bin, but its not like the teacher is able to keep crayons in mint condition-so for all I know, kids could have started out with a whole box, but are down to what's not broken or lost.

Lots of tracing, copy, and repeat after me. Looking at artwork on the walls, work is similar, in colors used, but you can tell a child chose which color to use first (apple prints) or placement- pumpkins squished on one end of a line vs others spread out. I think this would be done the same way at our preschool too. I did take photos of the centers-those kept them busy the whole morning in between recess and the instruction time. Free time is at the end of the day, for 15 minutes-considering kindergarten goes from 8 am-2:20 pm with a 15 min morning break and 45 min lunch/break-it really is a long day for kids not used to this type of routine. It makes it a little bit easier for me, knowing M has already adjusted to an 8-2 day at preschool. I am excited about what M will get to do, and be around other kids. There is a little bit that's worried about him making friends, but my hope is that since he's around some of the same kids he'll see next year, it'll put him more at ease. I'm going to talk with his preschool teacher, and just see if there's anything else I should be doing at home. I must admit, I'm glad I came here today-if only to have a peek into next year.