Anna Claire will be transitioning to the Kids Class for preschool in the next couple of weeks, so I thought in the interest of paper management and just looking back on the last year, why not do a blog post?
I quit saving her daily sheets that report how her day went about a year ago. It just got to be too much paper. But what I did love and keep are the Curriculum Connection sheets that we get from teachers every few weeks, updating parents on how kids are progressing with Literacy, physically, cognitively, and socially.
Looking back at these, I'm mostly proud of how she's progressed socially. When she entered the Ponies, she had a hard time expressing her feelings and would just go straight to crying if she was frustrated, angry, or had hurt feelings. She was also sort of a pushover, and would let the other kids tell her what to do.
Now, she is so much more independent, uses her words to show how she feels and how her friends make her feel. She is no pushover anymore! She is quick to stand up for herself, an important trait to have in a class full of strong-willed, assertive boys and girls (AC included!).
I mentioned frustration, and one source of frustration for her in the Ponies class has been dance class. Every Wednesday we would have the same conversation in the car on the way home: "Mommy, I don't want to do dance anymore." When asked why, it was either because no one would help her change into her dance clothes or because she missed her outside time. Well, by around February, she was changing all by herself, with confidence, and as hard as it is for me to admit it now, I am so grateful to her teachers this year for building her up to be independent instead of doing everything for her. Larry and I are so guilty of that, and I am oh so appreciative, having a baby on the way, that my four-year-old can do and wants to do for herself. How helpful will this little girl be to me in a few months??
Anna Claire also entered the Ponies class as a child who was quick to give up. She would try something one time, and if it didn't work, forget it. She'd either cry, or move on to something else. Now, leaving the Ponies, she will tell me often, "I didn't quit, Mommy. I kept trying and I did it." She has realized how proud she feels after struggling to achieve something, then mastering it. She has a new-found determination that I love. She is staying calm, and sticking with a task. So proud of her.
Anna Claire is finally bringing her reading to light in the Ponies class. For whatever reason, she has not shared this at school until recently, but now she is reading for Daisy.
Physically, Anna Claire can now put on her shoes, make up her mat for nap, zip and unzip a zipper on a coat or backpack, skip, ride a tricycle/bicycle - none of which she could do when she started in the Ponies.
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