Preschool Meet And Greet

Last night we had my family watch Grace and Georgia so Robbie and I could spend some one on one time with Gwen and take her to meet her preschool teacher(s). She is so stinkin excited!! When we got there she was a bit shy at first but she went to color and from there she was fine. She did playdough next, and then roamed around the room looking at all the toys they had: many different sets of blocks; legos; cars/trucks and a car mat (one of those little mats with roads and buildings on the mat and the kids drive the cars over them) for the floor; baby dolls/dress up; a kitchen area with tons of toy dishes, food and a toy kitchen; a mini table in the kitchen area to eat pretend meals; puppets puppets and more puppets; a reading area with a reading mat on the floor to sit on, a rocking chair for the teacher and so many books; water work areas; art areas; places to review days of the week, time, colors, shapes, etc.; and a cubby that while shared with another child (Gwen only goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays so we're thinking that the person she shares with goes on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays since there were still empty cubbies open) with her name spelled out on a purple puzzle piece as a name tag. She just loved all of it and went from one toy to the next, just exploring. She has one main teacher named Christina and then there are 3 other "teachers" that are there to help teach and watch the kids. They all seemed really nice and I got a bit of a laugh when I realized that I had actually gone to high school with her main teacher Christina (and I recognized her). She was a year or two ahead of me but I still knew her. It made me feel a lot better to meet everyone and get an idea of who they were and how things were laid out.

Gwen was the tiniest one there. There were other tiny kids but she was the smallest by far. It made my heart ache to see how much she differed from the other kids because I have never really noticed it before but I am sure that it will not keep her from doing anything with the rest of her classmates. Her preschool program is through the town's Parks and Recreation system and is located in a park with a fenced in public pool right next door. So during the summer they get water time (there is something like the splash park in rexburg there) and at all times during the year there is a huge park right out back. We took Gwen out to look at everything in the park and let her play for a bit so she wouldn't throw a fit when leaving the preschool room. She keeps asking when we are going back to preschool and is disappointed that she doesn't go back until the 3rd. We are going to try to sit down and have a talk with her about right and wrong; listening to her teacher; temper tantrums; and the oh so important stranger/special places on our body talk before she starts preschool. The class is small and with all those teachers I don't think it'll be an issue keeping an eye on all of them but since she'll be gone all day long 2 days a week I think that it's important to talk about things with her. I am also going to have Robbie give her a blessing the night before her first day just like my dad did with all of us on the night before our first day of school each year. I think it will help her and hopefully help me be at peace when she is gone (am I being a bit paranoid...worrying too much?).

So I will post photos on her first day of school, but she is oh so excited!! We have the backpack (which I guess she really doesn't need, but might to tote things back and forth since she's only there two days a week), the lunchbox, the sleeping bag (for naps) and change of clothes. She's all ready to go!!