Preschool Observations

My little boy heads to preschool every Monday through Friday. This isn't exactly my preferred schedule for him, but this is how it is at his school and so far it is working out fine. Meanwhile, when I'm not at work, I hang around outside his classroom until the door shuts, at which point I can peer through the observation window. Or I swing by mid-morning to get an idea of what his day is like. Or I show up early at pickup to see how he's doing in circle time at the end of his morning. Many days I'm doing all three! The first day he seemed like he was nervous, but enjoying himself. I saw him working on a project and carefully finishing it to join the group for circle time. I've watched him follow his teacher around for lessons and gaze intently at her as she explains things, reads poetry or sings a song. I watch him sit calmly and politely at circle time, listening to songs or stories or other children sharing. And I also see him wandering around a lot. Not really aimlessly, but, well...kind of. He appears to be really taking in his surroundings. Watching other children, watching his teacher, examining the different materials and areas around the room. But, he is hesitant to initiate his own project. He just observes. And sings (a lot!). And fidgets a bit too. He's always been shy and a bit slow to warm up to new situations, so I'm not too worried. Preschool is a big change. And he seems happy to head there (although I have been asked "when are we going to stop going?"). He's never cried or protested as I drop him off at school. He seems to love his teacher. Actually in his words - "I kind of like her too." She is the calmest woman and so caring. I've watched his smile grow big and his eyes light up when she talks to him. But he still seems nervous about the whole experience. On the positive side, he does ask to stay longer to have lunch and play with the extended day children. We haven't done that yet, though. One step at a time! We'll see how it he continues to adjust...

On a completely different note, we have started decorating for the season. I love this time of year. We've hung up decorations and pumpkin lights and placed our first pumpkin out on the porch. He insists on eating off of his pumpkin plate now at dinner. His preschool is heading to the pumpkin patch later this month. We'll probably be heading there at least one other time as a family, too. I love trying to create new traditions with him.