The hilarity of preschool

Okay, so this first part is not really funny. Bear with me and we'll get to the good stuff.

Rich and I attended curriculum night at the girls' preschool a few weeks ago. Curriculum night consists of the teachers explaining to the parents what is being taught and how. Rich and I once again danced the triplet shuffle as we attempted to cover all three classrooms in the allotted time. I started off in Anna's room, Rich started in Em's and then we both ended in Allie's classroom.

Anyway, I was quite pleased to hear and see that there is an actual curriculum. Preschool isn't just about play time. Without going overboard, they are teaching things like letter recognition, what a word is, what a sentence is, days of the week and months of the year. There is also fun time for songs and imagination. I can assure you that my children have no issues with these last two. The other night, they were preparing for their trip to China.

Alright, onto some funny stuff. While we were in the classrooms, we noticed that each student had a construction paper face and chest with their name on it hanging on the wall. The students had crafted the faces to look like themselves. On the chest of each was a blurb. In Allie's classroom, "I like playing" was written on each and then there was a line filled in by the teacher (obviously) after the kids responded with what they liked playing.

Allie: I like playing on the slide.

Anna: I like playing with my sisters.

Emily: I like playing outside with my sisters.

I just loved the one in Allie's room that said, "I like playing watching Sponge Bob!" I know I am judging but I would have loved to have known if that kid's parents were there. I was also a bit thankful that my kids had mainstream responses. Would that embarrass you if that was your kid's response?

Randomly, the girls will blurt out something that happened at school. For example, one morning Emily said, "A little girl in my class has Hello Kitty underwear."

Allie is the most talkative with respect to school events. Now, before I begin, I should tell you that Allie is adamant about not going to the bathroom if she feels that she doesn't have to go. So if we are leaving the house and I ask her to go the bathroom before we leave, she'll scrunch up her nose and growl, "No. I don't have to go."

Here's how she describes what happens at school. (Mind you, I hear this at least once a week.) "I told my teacher that I didn't have to go potty. I sat down and we counted but no pee pees came out. Then I washed my hands and went back to my class and had my snack. And then I went downstairs and put my bag in the line and went outside to play."

I think Allie is somewhat friendly with a little girl, M. When I asked her if M was nice, Allie replied, "Yes. She doesn't bite." I then went through the list of other students in her class and asked if she liked them. She responded with, "No, cuz he's a boy," for all the boys. For all the girls she said, "Yes," until we neared the end of the list. When I asked her why she didn't like K, she said, "Cuz she has a runny nose."

In the spring, I could not get Anna to say anything about school. She is slowly coming out of her shell, which is a bit of a relief. I still don't know if she's talking at school or not though. A few weeks ago, she told us that there was another Anna in her class. At curriculum night, I had scanned the names of the kids because we did not yet have a class list. I remembered seeing a Hannah but not another Anna.

Everytime Anna would mention the other Anna, I would say, "No, honey. Her name is HAN-A. It's a little different than your name." And then we received her class list and there is another Anna in her class. Oooops.

Emily has a friend, M. Whenever we mention M, Emily's eyes light up, which is really just the cutest thing. It can be difficult at times keeping up with three different classes and teachers but in a way, I'm glad that the girls are in separate rooms.

There was a note in Em's backpack last week stating that Em was learning the routine of preschool and that she enjoys many activities including circle song and story time but she isn't using her words. What? My chatterbox? Not talking? You have to understand that it can take forever to get through a book because Em asks so many questions. I had a talk with her and told her to just pretend like she is at home while she is at school. The next day I asked her if she had talked at school. She told me that she had told her teacher that she had to go potty. I was proud of her.

And last but not least, the girls have been bringing home painting projects without any paint on their clothes. I have lightened up a bit on what they can wear to school now. Still no Gymboree stuff though. (Last school year, anytime Anna painted she came home with paint on her clothes.)

Okay, so I guess I threw some general preschool update stuff in here as well. I can't wait for parent/teacher conferences!