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What is wilson silverleaf? We're organitarians; it's best for our bodies and the planet. We cloth diapered Nina for the same reason. We drive a hybrid car & wish we could afford solar panels on our house. I'm a strong advocate for homebirth, full-time mom, & also a movie junkie. We don't have a tv though; we watch dvds on our computer. We love contradancing. I garden & knit; Larry's a puzzle lover & plays fantasy football.

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

first day of (pre) school

There's a preschool a few blocks from our house; that fact registered little on my radar until Franki & Larry made us an offer we couldn't refuse regarding it--so I enrolled Nina and today was her first day. We had talked about it a lot, at first she was really excited (e-kited in her language) about it at first because "there will be lots of mamas to take care of me." Then she found out I wasn't going to be staying there with her and cooled to it; it took me a while to realize that she thought she would be alone, which I corrected and ever since, every time we drive by she sings out the name of the school. I'm not sure I'm ready for her to go to school for several reasons, but we decided to give it a try. It's an Integral School, I'm not too sure what that means, but it seems like a great place and it's SOOO close to our house, I can walk there in about 5 minutes.

We walked in, and immediately after these pics were taken, Nina found a puzzle and got busy on it, at which point we left and hoped for the best. I wish there had been more guidance for us as to when to leave, or what to do, but there wasn't, so... When I picked her up later she had "had an accident" which happened because she didn't want he teachers to take her to the bathroom, but I think as she gets to know them she will feel more comfortable. Also she said some kids hit her, which is very upsetting to me; she says she doesn't want to go back but I think that's more about the bathroom than the hitting. We'll see how it goes on Thursday, cross your fingers that it's more successful.

6 comments:

Shama-Lama Mama said...

Yay! What a big step in a little girl's life! When Noah started preschool, they said it was best for the parents to take a look around, stay about 10 minutes, and then head out. Otherwise, the kids think you are going to stay.

Noah also had about three accidents before he got comfortable with a new bathroom.

And about the hitting... thats just kids. They are learning how to get what they want, and to share. When you have a house with siblings, at that age, you get hitting everytime there is frustration. Its probably shocking to her.

It will get better. She will grow to love it!

What are you gonna do with all that free time??? Whoo-hooo!!

emma said...

Can you hang around for the first few mornings to make sure she's doing ok?

Special hugs from me. We miss her over here in the cold and dark.

Or maybe you could just ask every week until she says yes, she'd like to try out preschool again? There are so many years of potential formal education available (I made it last till I was almost 26, after all!), I'd always wait for the child to be interested - but you know me - I'm a bit aggressive in my pro-HE views :-)

We were at Horseworld last week, and the "nature walk" was incredibly muddy. I thought of you :-)

Elaine said...

I hope Thursday goes better for her! And yeah, with sibs, hitting is a way of life. It's still not acceptable, but she'd be more used to it. Sigh. Hope the other kids learn to keep their hands to themselves!

veganmomma said...

I usually stay with Athena anywhere from 5-20 minutes, and always tell her to show me one more thing before I leave. Then I have to say goodbye to her twice. Once on the playground and once through the gate where she kisses and hugs again. I'm sure you and Nina will come up with your own ritual, this just "happened" for us. After 5 months of school, she now says after just a couple minutes, "I'm ready to say goodbye now!" as in, leave now Mom!
This hitting part sucks, but hopefully the teachers dealt with it. Kids are weirdly suspicious of new comers too, she could of just been getting initiated (I'm kidding, kind of). Soooo, I'm just saying, stay as long or as little as you like each day, and keep us posted.

enviromama said...

Wow, what a big day for both of you! I hope tomorrow goes better for her.

Espi, Lisa and Isabella said...

I searched through alot of preschools and the Integral School was my favorite! She is so lucky to go there. Thanks for the update I've been missing ya!