School Days **Updated**

We are in week #6 at a new school for Mari. I had mentioned it before and had several ask about what was involved in my decision making, etc. I wanted to give it some time to see how we adjusted to the new situation before I could sit back and look at the big picture objectively.

The school we were at was one of my top 2 picks...the one we moved to was the other. The reason I chose the first one was the fact that the other top pick did not accept children until they were 2 and Mari was only 15 months when we started. I had actually gone to visit her new school once before when she was about 20 months old and enrolled her with the thought that I would move her at age 2 - but her second birthday came at a volatile time as I was starting a new job and she was having a lot of difficulties with transitions/attachment/general-toddlerness. So we stayed where we were.

What motivated us to change? This was not a decision that I made lightly. Mari does not handle transitions well....she tends to be fabulous IN the situation but then the stress builds up and she lets it all out on me because she trusts me. This is a healthy attachment reaction but really tough on us. We had some issues at school that were not that unusual in childcare settings, especially in a facility that is larger than most. However, the biggest issue we had was that the idea of "primary caregiver" seemed to be a far-fetched notion. Anyone that has adopted knows that our children NEED to have a single person they can count on....flip-flopping teachers is very hard on them. And anyone that has children knows that throwing a new teacher in a room full of toddlers/preschoolers with no notice tends to result in chaos, both in the classroom and carries over at home. I was actually told, at one point, that teachers were moved often so they wouldn't become attached. This was the final straw for me....my child needs to attach; she needs to learn to count on people; she needs to learn to trust people. So we were done.

It was sad. Mari had a lot of great friends there. She was very attached to some of her teachers. The school also had a lot of great things like a bouncy house, a great playground, special themes, etc. But I was not sending my child to school to go to a carnival...I was sending her to learn academics and basic good behavior.

And we won't even go into the fact that I'm saving $40 per week now!!

So...the new school. It's VERY different.

First, I have to pack her lunch and snacks. This was one of my biggest fears - could I really pack 5 lunches and 15 snacks a week? And why are they having 3 snacks a day? Anyhow, it's not been a problem. The snacks are very small and quick, so I haven't had to worry too much about that and lunch is either leftovers or a butter and jelly sandwich (yes, butter..."white butter" - her absolute favorite thing in the world).

It is VERY structured. They change activities every 15 minutes. Every 15 minutes. And from the little I've seen, it is very "sit-down" type stuff. When you drop off in the mornings, the kids are all playing in stations just like at the old school but the stations are at tables and the kids are staying at the tables playing. No more screaming chaos. More on that in a minute.

It is religious. Mari has not had any religious teaching thus far. I'm not against it, I've just got some of my own issues in this area (that's another post that will NEVER get written). So it's pretty funny to hear her tell me Bible stories...."Please Mommy, don't let God scare me." "Please Mommy, don't let the lions get me. Daniel didn't like lions either." And she has learned about 20 new songs already - all Bible songs that I used to sing as a kid. Her favorite is Zachias was a wee little man.

They have homework 2 nights a week - a worksheet of either letters or numbers. I like this; it keeps me involved in what she is working on. They divide the kids by reading level and not by age. They have individualized instruction in this area. Mari has passed 2 reading levels (the vowels and a consonant set)....to pass, the kids have to know the capital and lowercase and the sound it makes. Mari knows all her capitals and all her sounds, she has a couple more lowercase to learn. Then she will move on to blends (ch, st, pr). I've been extremely impressed by her ability to pick up letter sounds in words that aren't at the beginning....in other words, she can tell you that Oliver begins with O but has an L in it and Abigail begins with A but has a B in it.

**Update** Mari passed another reading level today (5/26)! 16 out of 26 letters done. We are on fire!

She has been working very hard on writing. This has always been a weakness - motor skills with her hands. She used to get so tired using utensils and we actively worked on things like stringing beads and putting beads in small containers, etc. When she started at her new school, she could draw a circle but could not trace a straight line (forget about tracing letters). Now she is doing much better (although still needs a lot of work in this area). And her coloring is getting much better too. She is focusing on staying in the lines and filling in the area.

Notice the difference between her homework from a month ago and hers tonight (I was so proud of how hard she worked).

The biggest difference I've seen is her independence. She walks into school in the mornings, gives me a kiss, and pushes me out the door. There are still days occasionally where she wants an extra hug but it has been amazing to see her blossom in this respect. I think a lot of it is the lack of chaos upon arriving; there is something to be said for a calm environment with soft spoken but firm teachers and children that listen and respect their elders.

**Update** Here's the link to the curriculum that is used at her new school.

Now if only we could carry this over to our home life........
But that's an entirely different post!

I'm pleased to say that the change was a positive in our lives and I can breathe a sigh of relief and start worrying about other stuff now.