Preschool

January 30, 2012

One of the biggest days in Emery's life!
His very first day of school!

Back in October when we were hunting for a new daycare, Patrick and I had a long talk about Emery and preschool.  We knew he was ready.  He's smart, he loves to learn, he likes to be stimulated, he's very social...all good reasons to give it a go as soon as he turned 3.  We looked at a few preschools and decided to go with one that offers full days instead of just a few hours per week.  We decided this for a few reasons.  1) It would be better for Emery to be in one place all day instead of having to adjust between preschool and daycare.  2) It would be more affordable to have him at one place instead of paying for daycare and preschool.  3) He would be in a structured learning environment the whole day while I would be at work.  Luckily, Emery's good friend Kenzie attends the preschool we decided would be best for our needs.  We really liked it when we went to visit and Emery jumped right in when he saw what would be his classroom.

We filled out the enrollment paperwork and visited a few different times and scheduled his first day for the Monday after he turned 3.  He had to be fully potty trained and 3 years old before he could begin.  For his birthday we got him a new backpack and a small pillow pet for him to take with him.  He has been talking about "when I go to school" for at least the last 3 months.  He has been so excited and eager to learn!

This week was the week!  Here he is on Monday morning, ready to go to his very first day of school!  I'm pretty sure I was more nervous than he was....in fact, I KNOW I was more nervous than he was!

His froggy backpack.

 All buckled up in the car ready to go to school! 

(It just so happened that Elle's first time riding in her big girl carseat was Monday morning, too!)

Here he is standing in front of his cubby.  He has his blanket already in his tub.
He was so excited to go and play he wouldn't even look at the camera :)

Posing with one of his best friends, Kenzie, who he gets to share a class with.  We feel so lucky they get to go to school together for a few months!  Next year she'll be moving on to the 4 year old class.  But, for now, this is a great way for Emery to transition to school!  She's such a great friend to him!

All day long I worried about him, wondering if he was happy and if he was having a good day.  I worried he would have an accident, or he would not be able to share or sit still or listen.  I worried he might not be ready or that he would miss his Mommy and Daddy.  All of that went away when Elle and I pulled up to pick him up and he was outside playing with his new friends on their playground.  He saw us but didn't even want to come to us because he was having so much fun.  That's the way I want it to be!  Here he is, below, after his first day, showing his school work to Daddy.  On the right side is his day sheet, which tells about how his day went.  His teacher said "Emery had an awesome first day!  He did a good job cutting circles.  He is learning to stay in one spot at circle time.  He was a great listener all day long. He is such a sweet boy."  After reading that I got choked up.  Emery, when you come back and read this someday when you are older, I want you to know that I am so proud of you and I can't wait to see all the things you learn.  You are going to love this exciting new adventure!  I love you!