Preschool Fun
We are coming to the end of Keegan’s preschool year. While we are all sad to say goodbye to his friends and his school, I have to say that Keegan had a really good time this year. I have said this before, but his teacher, Ms. Jill, was great: warm, but firm, smiling but strict, and especially very warm and encouraging. He learned so much from her. The day was structured, and he had the chance to do art, projects, learning, computer and many activities. He even had his first taste of homework.
One of the things Keegan really enjoyed was bringing home “pets” from school. He would take them places, and sleep with them, and watch tv with them on the weekend.
First was his hibernating animal, a squirrel he name Squirly. Yes, once again, broken pants we can’t throw away…
Next, it was the turn of the class’s pets. Each came with a couple of books, and a special blanket. First off was Drake the dragon, who got to come to Target with us…and not too many other places, since it was so HUGE.
Keegan did manage to find some space for him in his bed, together with his other three animal friends.
Where is Keegan going to fit?
Then it was Horton’s turn (from Horton’s Hears a Who). Surprisingly enough, Horton was pretty small, so he went to a hike in Penasquitos with us and at the skate park, and of course he played with us at home too.
Then we brought home Huggly, a small green monster, that appears to be a character in a computer game he plays at school, and a series of books. I liked Huggly, since he was small and easy to bring along. Huggly accompanied Keegan at his haircut place and he followed us at the restaurants afterwards.
For each of this animal, Keegan had to write a small journal entry, explaining what fun activities he did with them. Even though, Keegan only had to write his name and come up with the content, every time was a struggle. I am not looking forward to the real homework, even though we started explaining him that homework and going to school is his job.
They are also planting and tending to a small garden just outside their room. They planted: Sunflowers, tomatoes, strawberries, beans, oranges, and cilantro. We already tasted the green beans…delicious!
Every week, they have a different theme at school. One week the theme was bugs. The did lots of activities, including handling real worms for their small compost bin to use in their garden. The also made ladybugs wings and had a big bug dance.
They built their own Magical Creature from the same components, and it was amazing to see how the same elements could be combined in so many different combinations.
working hard on his bug creation
his finished bug
the class gallery
One other week they learned all about the rain forest, and built their own version inside their classroom. My favorite is the sloth.
Huggly was there too…
Even free play is a lot of fun. I never know what I am going to find when I pick him up and in what state he will be. Some days they do mud rivers…
…some day are in full sugar rush after a sweet snack.
One other great project was the wild animals’ dioramas. The kids painted a a shoe box and chose a wild animal. Then they recreated the environment the animal lives in and placed the animal in a box. It was fun. Keegan chose a snake and created a desert scene. Ms. Jill brought in a succulent to stand in for the cactus.
During the whole school year, Ms. Jill strongly encouraged pre-writing and pre-reading skills. She asked us to read a book everyday and to record the title on a sheet to turn in at the end of each month. If you turned in your sheet, every month the kids got to choose a small prize. The goal was to read 200 books, at least, by May. If you did read at least 200 books, the kids would get a medal and then the whole class would go celebrate at Chuck E. Cheese. Of course, Keegan loves to read, (or at least to be read to) so we easily reached that number. In fact, we recorded 277 books and he was the kid who read the most. He was so proud…beaming, at least from what I could see from the video Matt shot. I had to go to work, unfortunately, so I could not be there…but I am not sorry I missed Chuck E. Cheese. We tried to capitalize on that moment, hoping he will enjoying excelling, even when it will be up to him.
Of course the medal should go to the parents who read all these books and recorded their title, right?
After the awards ceremony, all the kids all posed for a group photo with the friendship t-shirt they painted themselves: all the kids put their hand-print on each others shirt: what a nice memory!
Then, they were off to play. They had a blast.
Keegan and Brady, zoning out during the game
It is easy to understand why Keegan is so sad to leave: they definitely have a great time at school, and they learn lots too. The school we chose in desperation when he was 4 months old, turned out to be the best choice we could have ever made. I hope that, once he is over the sadness, he will keep the memories of his preschool dear to his heart. I know I will.
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