Catching Up - Kaden Starts Preschool

This fall, Kaden started preschool! I didn't think kids went to preschool until they are much older. But it turns out that many churches here in Sumter have great, Biblically based programs that run Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-12 am for Kids as young as 2! We immediately jumped on this opportunity, partially because we wanted to give Kaden an opportunity to get out and have fun after a summer of being cooped up, and partially to give mommy a much needed break!

First day of school!

We are very impressed with the way the school is run. Each month they have a theme Bible verse, which inspires their daily focus and activities. In September, the theme verse was Psalm 139:14: "I am wonderfully made." So they talked a lot about how God made them and discovered different ways that they are growing and learning. In October the theme verse was John 1:3: "God made all things!" They went outside a lot and discovered God's beautiful creation in the midst of autumn. In the image below, you can see how they give us a break-down of daily classroom activities. With short attention spans, they need to have a lot for the 2 year olds to do! I love that they include "home living" as one of their centers. They play house, learning to wash dishes, cook, fold wash cloths, and care for babies! In addition to the fun in the classroom, they go outside for P.E. every day and learn age appropriate fine motor skills like running, skipping, kicking and throwing a ball, etc. By far, Kaden's favorite part of the day is music time. He comes home singing the songs they learn every day!

We love Kaden's teachers, Mrs. Bridgette and Mrs. Nicki. They really care about the children and are great at communicating what's going on with us parents. Unfortunately, Kaden has proved a difficult child. As you can see from the class picture, their class is almost entirely made up of boys (bless them!) and as a result they get a little rough with each other and have a hard time sharing. Kaden has been particularly aggressive and we've had to have several talks with him and his teachers about biting and hitting. When you have kids, you never expect yours to be the one who acts out and becomes the class bully! Thankfully, his teachers are very patient and know that this is normal for their age. We're still working on it but hopefully he'll learn better ways to express his emotions and deal with the competitive nature of his classmates soon.

The preschool has also offered lots of extra programs and activities to help the children learn. Earlier this fall, they got a visit from the Sumter County Fire Department and Police Department. They held a fire drill and learned about fire safety, and they got to go outside and meet the police officers and see the inside of a cop car! These photos were snapped by another parent or volunteer. Clearly Kaden wasn't too sure about all this...

 They've also had some fun holiday celebrations and opportunities for parents to come to school and participate in activities. The day before Halloween they had a costume parade and invited us to decorate Halloween cookies with our kids.

Kaden dressed up like daddy

My little chef loved icing the cookies

 At the beginning of November, they started a unit on Thanksgiving and invited all the dads to school for a special appreciation breakfast and activity. Here is the adorable football-themed artwork they made together!

The week before Thanksgiving break, we got to join the kiddos for a Thanksgiving pot luck meal. This coincided with Grandma Nancy's visit so she was very excited to get in on the action. We didn't know that Kaden was in the process of coming down with a pretty severe virus that morning so he was a little out of sorts and did not really want to pose for pictures. (It didn't help that he wapped himself in the eye with his placemat before lunch.) But we still enjoyed being there with him and getting to meet some of the parents of his friends.

Eye still watering from his injury. More focused on food than posing for pictures.

 I also loved all the Thanksgiving and harvest themed artwork he brought home that month. It made it very easy to decorate the house and make things feel festive!

Over all, I think this has been a really great learning experience for Kaden. He's gaining social skills and running out some pent up energy, while being exposed to new things and being challenged academically. We never push or expect him to excel (after all, he's only two.) But we are so proud of how quickly he's picked up his numbers, colors, shapes and letters. His teachers are also teaching him a little bit of basic Spanish, which is amazing! He is such a little sponge and very eager to learn and explore! I know he will go on to do great things!

All dressed up for school picture day! So handsome.