Breeley and Zack have both moved up in their world; they transitioned to new classes at daycare. Breeley moved into the "Threes" the Monday after she turned three (it was just coincidence that it was right at her birthday; it doesn't always happen that soon because of space or development). Zack moved into the "Toddlers" on June 13 at 15.5-months-old.
Just like it must be when kids move up a grade in school, moving to a new class at daycare is exciting and reminds you that your little boy/girl is growing up! It's fun to see all the new things they are doing, and benefit from some of the new behaviors they learn. I know the "group conformity" mentality causes them to learn and do things they wouldn't necessarily do at home.
Zack transitioned to a floor mat for naptime at the end of March. It's crazy for me to think that a 13-month-old would stay on a floor mat. It's one of those things where you say, "okay, riiiight, you try that" but they said he only tried to get up once, then he laid right down and slept two hours the very first day! I still credit the floor-mat naps for the fact that Breeley
still stays in her bed until we get her. She's been in a regular bed since she was 20-months-old, but she's been napping on a floor mat at daycare even longer, and the rule is that they have to stay on them until the teachers get them off. She has never, not once, gotten out of bed on her own, which means we've never done the nightly return-the-kid-to-bed battle.
Being in the Toddler class means Zack is now sitting at a table for lunch and snacks (it's tiny and so cute!), eating off a plate, drinking out of a little plastic Dixie cup, getting to play outside on the playground shared with the two-year-olds, and getting to have special days like Water Day. They also pretty much get rid of pacis in this class. Breeley didn't sleep with hers at naptime after one week in this class! (I should clarify that was at daycare only; she still had it at home, but it shows a decrease in dependency.) Zack has already gone at least one day that I know of because I found it buried in his bag at the end of the day. Here is a breakdown of Zack's first day in the Toddler class, 6/13/11:
Today I was mostly: happy [other options are sad, a little fussy, and tired]
Today I enjoyed the following activities: coloring, painting, dress up play, played outside, art (colored and painted different types of fish), and devotion (God's world is beautiful, Genesis 1) [other options are building with blocks and playing with cars]
Today we sang the following songs/fingerplays: Wheels on the Bus, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABCs, This is the day the Lord made, and Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star.
Today we read the following books: Colors, Numbers, I'm Just a Fish!
Food: AM snack - Goldfish and raisins; Lunch - school lunch (not sure what it was); PM snack - crackers and juice
Slept 2 hours; changed 3 wet diapers and one BM
So far, Zack has loved his new class and seemed to have very little trouble with the transition. He was only in there for a few hours a couple days the previous week before they moved him permanently. I think it helped that he knew one of the teachers because she pushed his Bye Bye Buggy and gave him crackers at the end of the day. Plus, it's so much more fun and grown-up in there compared to being with babies who are still crawling. The transition from Mobile Infants to Toddlers was the easiest for Breeley of all the moves to a new class.
Leaving for school on Breeley's first day of Threes class, 4/25/11:
Breeley has had a little trouble at drop-off in her new class, but otherwise seems to be doing well. She hugs my legs most mornings and we have to distract her or get her interested in something before I can leave. She does fine if they are out on the playground or at the bathroom. There are 19 kids in her new class, so she has the most trouble when all the kids are doing free play and the classroom is loud and chaotic. It makes me think she's a little introverted and has trouble with all the commotion/stimuli, so it's easier to ease into it with a smaller group. I try to be patient and stay as long as she needs because I hate to leave with her crying, especially because I know she really does like it there and is fine after I leave.
Breeley's new class is on the total opposite side of the building with all the other big kids. Being in the Threes class means eating lunch in the cafeteria, playing on the big playground with swings, hanging out with the older kids (including "after schoolers" at the end of the day!), going to the big bathroom with stalls, getting to be the line leader, and advancing even more with the preschool curriculum.
The first week she brought home worksheets where she was tracing and drawing Os (that just happened to be the letter they were on when she started), tracing and cutting different size circles, tracing wavy lines, circling the smallest baby animal in a row, and coloring the shapes that were the same as Mr. Square. It's been more of the same since then, although they follow a preschool schedule so they aren't doing as much in summer. I like that they send home all the worksheets from the days she's not there so I can do them with her at home and she doesn't miss anything. I usually go over the other ones too because she seems to like it and she gets extra practice.
We don't get a daily written report anymore, but we have a monthly schedule that includes things like "race around the playground," "nature walk," "tell stories," and a week-long "Sports Camp." Her normal report when I ask what she did that day is, "I play, color, play outside. I no hit or push or pinch anybody." (In the 2-year-old room, she always provided a report of who got in time-out, and we had lots of discussions about good behavior, so I guess it was ground into her head!) She also always tells me who was her best friend each day. Sometimes I get a list, followed by "eeeeverybody's my best friend." She'll also say, "[Best friend for the day] told me I was her/his best friend."
I thought it was funny when I found out Breeley's class does show-and-tell. I'm very interested in what the telling is all about. It's on Fridays so she's only been there for it once, and she picked a truck book to take and we put it in her cubby. Apparently when they sent the kids to get their items, Breeley just brought back her little backpack and all it had was sunscreen, so she showed her class her sunscreen! Again, I'm very interested in the telling part! I thought show-and-tell was funny for 3-year-olds, but I laughed out loud when I found out Zack class also does a "show-and-share"! He hasn't been there for it yet, but if he is, we'll definitely be taking a ball or balloon since those are his favorite things in the universe!
This is a long post, but that's what I get when I neglect to write individual posts at the time they actually switched to new classes, rather than several months later. Now they are both well-established in them and are doing very well!
