Char is having a "shadow day" at a Montessori school today. They have preschool and elementary and it is our top Montessori pick for next year. The elementary teacher is amazing. Char is doing as the kindergarteners do at the school, which is to spend the day split between primary and elementary. DH left her happily painting at an easel with another K student. Hopefully the elementary teacher will see her enough to get a feel for what she might be like in her classroom and if it is a good fit.
In good news, it only took DH 33 min to get home. I was afraid it might make my commute horrific as I have to go from the south side of town to the west and home on the east at rush hour. This gives me a little hope at least.
Post by funchicken on Jan 26, 2015 16:08:18 GMT -5
I hope she has a good day!
DD1 has her first play date with one of the girls from her class this week. They're going to ride the bus to the friend's house after school. It's also DD's first real drop off play date because of DD's severe peanut allergy. So that's what I'm feeling nervous about
She did have a great day! The teachers said they didn't see any extreme behaviors at all and the things we had talked to them about seemed very typical. I am so glad to hear that! If she goes there next year she will probably transition for the first year, spending a fair amount of time in the primary class as well as the elementary class. Their K kids get this year for that transition so she'll probably need more help in that area, especially considering her particular needs.
The drive home (which was early since I didn't have her do aftercare) took 34 min! I expected MUCH worse. Of course it took 45 min to get there from work...sigh. I may need to find a better route.
Oh, it's not a real thing, just words I used. Montessori is very different from regular education. It is child led, and children progress at their own pace. The teacher's job is to present lessons on new work as the child is ready for them. The children choose their work during work cycles, especially in primary/preschool. In elementary, they move away from concrete work with materials and toward abstract work, longer projects, etc. Obviously more and more focus and concentration are needed as they progress and especially in elementary work. At this school, since they have both primary and elementary, they transition their kindergarteners between the classrooms so they have time to work with both teachers, and can come back to work they are familiar with in the primary room but have exposure to the elementary environment too. So Char would basically be transitioning the way K kids do even though she will be in elementary, since she missed out on that this year. That is fine by me. I suspect they will want her in whichever environment she is better able to focus and least likely to be disruptive.
The "good day" also reinforces for me that her issues are in part a stamina issue and in part a relationship issue. When she meets new people, she wants to behave and be impressive. It is after she makes a bad impression that she stops wanting to behave and stops wanting to impress and it all goes to hell. That makes it a little scary that if she goes to this school, she'll be there for 3-6 years, but I also think she's older now and her first impression will last longer, plus they will help work with her to see that it's ok to make mistakes.
She had a good night too. Honestly I expected her to fall apart if she kept it together that well on a stressful new day, but she was helpful and loving. She read really well and a lot; the usual chapter in Henry and Mudge, plus a Safari book below her level (just to keep going without pushing it), and we traded pages in Howard B Wigglebottom Learns to Listen. And she sought out words in our Ramona book, and never got frustrated Plus she read at school as part of their farm game which has a lot of reading apparently. Dinner wasn't her preference but no complaints. Even played in her room by herself a while.
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