Well, it's official! Ruby is registered and will start preschool next September! So excited to have found this school. We went there this morning and spent a good hour. First in the office for a few minutes, then in the classroom, then we looked in on a yoga class going on in the other building. They are really nice there. Ruby was so at home in the classroom with the kids and teacher that I probably could have slipped out of the room and she wouldn't have even noticed! At least not for awhile! So glad to see that comfort level both with the school and with me. She knows Mommy always comes back. I was feeling rather tired/run down the other night and went up to bed early. She stayed with Daddy for another hour, did her night time routine with him, and slept in the room with him like an angel. She asked for me a couple times, but was okay when he told her I was sleeping. Yay! Another big step. May be awhile yet till she is sleeping on her own, but we are making progress. One baby step at a time! I am also giving her only water in her bottle (vs formula) at nap time. She quickly bores with it and doesn't want it. As soon as I am sure she is all healthy, I will do the same with her night time bottle. For now, I want her to get the extra nutrients, but I feel we will be able to ween off the bottle soon. Potty training comes next. Waiting till Spring for that one.
So back to the preschool... I clocked it and it's exactly 7 minutes from my door to theirs. Yea! Oh, and I found out I read the times wrong. It's not a 7am start -THANK GOD! They have extended hours that START at 7, but Ruby's class doesn't start until 9 so I can get there at 8:45. MUCH better! I love how close the place is. If I am running late in the morning and we forget something or don't have time to make her lunch/snack, I can always run it back there later! My every wish has come true with this school! I had a nice chat with the ever-friendly director there on Friday. I wanted to do 3 half days but they (like most Montessori schools) do 5. Five was just too much, but they say 3 days isn't enough to benefit from the Montessori program. So they said they would let us do 4. A fine compromise! I asked her what days and she said whichever I want. Great! Mon is gym day, Tues is French, Friday is music. She said they hoped to add some art programs to Wed & Thursdays classes. This is all perfect because I wasn't thrilled about her learning French at 3 when she already has English and Thai to focus on. So I can just skip Tuesdays and keep her home that day unless we need a make-up! It works out really well.
The only thing to fully decide on is which class to put her in. They have 2 Montessori rooms. I really loved the one teacher when I met her. So warm and fuzzy and even her room exudes a gentle comfortableness. Still I wanted to have that diversity and a girl or 2 her age. Turns out there are several new students joining that class. There are 3 or 4 girls Ruby's age and they said the class is about half children of color. When I went to visit today a few of the children were out so I didn't get to see the full class. The kids that were there were nice, but I have to say I still liked the kids in the other class better. Were they brighter? Was it because they were older? Or was it that they were so polite and all came over to say hi to Ruby? Or that there is a girl adopted from Guatamala in that other room? Even the teacher that I wasn't sure about waved and was nice. Shoot! Did I make the wrong choice? I already signed up for the other one. Maybe the other teacher was just having a bad day the first time we met? The one I originally liked was very sweet today but now I am wondering if she is too nice and if the other class seemed to be a tad more structured. Oh, how to decide?
I am second-guessing myself now and I'm not sure if I chose the right one, but at least I have some time. Going to see if they will let us visit each class room again and bring Jeff along as my excuse saying he wanted to see both. Hope she doesn't think I am a big pain for asking to do this! It's just that it's such a big decision! The way Montessori works is you remain with the same class and teacher for a least a few years, so I want to make sure it's the right fit. But I have to say that, in general, I am VERY happy with the place and I'm sure she'll do fine in either class room. She was so happy with the kid-sized REAL sink and cleaning area. Went to work right away cleaning the counters and sink. So cute! It's a GREAT school... friendly, diverse, cool programs like yoga, music, international awareness, a nice staff, and minutes from home. I couldn't ask for more! Except for a trial run.. and they are giving me that, too! They offer a summer camp that is usually 3 full days, but they are letting us do 1 half day a week to get her used to going. Is that great or what? I am so thrilled how this has worked out!
4 comments:
that's awesome that you found a school that you and the kiddo like, it's important. When did you clock the commute? Did you go during morning commute hours or later? It may not make much of a difference, but if you didn't go during the time you would take her might I suggest you clock that trip? It might be a little different, say if you are really going to cut it close to 9 am. I know that the way to M's preschool there are two different ways, one way goes by three schools! It's way backed up to take that route, the other way goes by only one school and that makes the commute in the morning shorter by 10 minutes!
Preschool oh my how time is flying. We enrolled Lyla for the Fall to start too. I am so excited to hear all the great stories about Ruby's experiences. Awesome glad you found the one.
Yoga at school. How fun! Sounds like a great fit for you and Ruby. (And thank goodness school doesn't start at 7 AM!!)
I am so happy for you that it worked out just perfect! I know you were a bit worried about it... And either class I am sure Ruby will thrive!
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