A Couple of Mama Firsts

Wednesday was my first (and, sadly, probably last) day volunteering at Sarah's school.  She was excited to have me there, as were the other kids.  What a wonderful age 4 is!  I was impressed that she went about her business without being too distracted by my presence.  Every 10 minutes or so, she would come over to ask, "How are you doing, Mom?"  It was fun to watch her interact with the other kids and her teacher.

The class happily posed for a group shot for me, then found their spots for the morning meeting.

The kids had to go up and write the number 3 on the paper.  The first drew it backwards, and each one after that seemed to copy it.  I sat in the back silently pulling for Sarah to break the streak, and she did!  She made a beautiful, forward 3.

After morning meeting, they had to pick partners and dance to "Hello Neighbor."  Sarah chose her friend, "Adam Bell." [There are two "Adams" in the class, and Sarah often talks about playing with "Adam Bell."] She sings this song at home, and Don and I have struggled to understand the line where she shimmies. The closest we could get was "bugging on down," and she swore that was right. Turns out, it's "boogey on down." Of course -- we should have gotten that.

Next, it was time for "centers," where the kids get to choose what activities they do and circulate among stations at their discretion.  Each has a clothes pin with his/her name on it, and each station has a sign with a certain number of dots, indicating how many kids can be there at once.  The kids clip their clothes pins on the dots.  I was amazed at how orderly and well behaved the class was.  After only 26 days of class, the 18 kids had their routine down and conducted themselves with very few disagreements. 

I told Sarah that I would be leaving after "centers," so that she wouldn't be caught off-guard.  The moment her teacher announced the next activity, she found her place on the carpet and sternly told me to leave.  I stopped to chat with the teacher for a minute, and she repeated, "Go, Mom, go."  I talked her into one more shot of her and her teacher, then took my leave.

Thursday afternoon was my first parent-teacher conference.  Sarah got a glowing report, of course.  Her teacher gushed about how sweet, bright, and cooperative she is, and how she comforts the other kids when they're upset about something.  Art is her favorite "center," and she also loves to play with the blocks and trucks (you go, girl!).  She has adjusted to school beautifully, and I couldn't be prouder of her.