Cubbies and bags for Gabi's class
Preschool Orientation
Last week, the school had a party for all the "PreK3" kids to meet each other and their teachers as well as see the school playground and classrooms. Gabi found a bag with her name on it and wanted to bring it home. The only way the teacher was able to convince her to leave it there was by promising her that she could bring it home after the first day of school.
Samantha and Gabi spent some time standing at the look-out
(Samantha, the director's daughter, is in Ms. Mandy's class.)
Venturing down the slide
Pretend play at the counter
Bella exploring Gabi's school playground
Ernie and Gabi checking out their classroom
Gabi selected puzzle pieces to spell her name - correctly. Ernie then used some to "spell" his name with random letters. Hey, they are 3... at least he knows that letters are used to make names! And our Gabi girl is advanced in academic skills, but Ernie was much more adventurous on the playground. I watched Gabi just follow Ernie around while he ran and played, which reminded me of how Gabi trailed after the energetic Martin back in Atlanta (except that Martin used to pause occasionally to make sure Gabi was still there).
Ms. Mandy's classroom has a little potty with "magic soap"
We had Annabelle's birthday party the day before school started, which wore both girls out and made a somewhat-early bedtime very easy. Lolo stayed after the party to help until the girls were down.
Lolo reading Gabi's bedtime story the night before school starts
First Day of School
Gabi ready for her first day at the Anthony School
Gabi's a little shy at first, but Ms. Laura is wonderful with the kids
Apparently Gabi warmed up as soon as I walked out of the room. Her first activity of the day was gym, and Gabi later reported, "I walked around the red track. Some kids marched or ran, but I just walked." The second day, Gabi's big report was "I RAN, Mommy! I ran around the red track, and Mr. Tim helped me." After a few more days of school (and a conference with the teacher), I have pieced together that they are supposed to run/march on the red painted border of the gym floor while music plays and walk when the music stops. Gabi refused to run the first day, but the gym teacher (Mr. Tim) is very good at encouraging the kids to participate, and the second day he took Gabi's hand and called "Come on!"
Gabi's other story from gym is, "The tiger was going to eat the name." The school mascot is a panther, and, as you might guess, there is a panther and then the word PANTHERS painted on the gym floor.
Ms. Laura's 3-yr-old class
(Gabi, Ava, Grant, Issac, Abrielle, and Ernie)
Ms. Laura takes pictures throughout the day to share with us parents, and she will make a photobook for the kids at the end of the year. How perfect is that for my child's teacher! After being the unofficial photographer of the playgroup in Atlanta (and making playgroup photobooks for everyone), I am addicted to pictures.
Gabi making dot art
Gabi told me that she went to the cafeteria and made a picture. I asked if she drew in the cafeteria, and she said, no, she drew her picture in the classroom, but in the cafeteria she did "dot-dot-dot" (demonstrating by pressing her hand onto the floor with each verbal "dot"). She does a wonderful job of conveying her thoughts, although (from the above picture) I think perhaps they were in the art room rather than the cafeteria. (Note: Later, Ms. Laura explained that they walk through the cafeteria to get to the art room.)
The next day, she told me that she drew Annabelle and there were numbers on the paper. When Gabi pulled the paper out of her bag, I saw that she had written numbers herself. She read them to me (backwards) -- "7 7 1 8 7, and then that's an E" (from her tone of voice, I could tell she got to the "end" and realized that E was a letter instead of a number). Gabi says that both people are Annabelle, to which Lola responded, "Oh, they match." But Gabi said, "No, they don't match, because one is decorated" [she pointed to the outline of the top head] "and the other is not. This one doesn't have hair." Gabi added, "The circle is a loaf of bread with raisins on it" [pointing to the bottom left corner] "and that is my handprint" [top left]. Bella got ahold of this paper and put one corner in her mouth, so I decided to get a photo-copy before it was destroyed.
Gabi's drawings of Annabelle
Gabi in the classroom
After the first day, Gabi told me that they went on a walk inside circles, which Ms. Laura explained was a tour of the school. They have large chains (like mini-hula-hoops connected together) to keep the little ones in line without losing anyone. It's really fun to hear Gabi's story about what she did at school, although sometimes it is also nice to get a bit of extra info from the teacher's perspective.
Ava, Gabi, and Issac at recess
Bringing home her bag
Second Day of School
Outside the front doors on day 2
Gabi is very excited about learning Spanish in school as well. Last night she told us "green means verde" and sang a "verde song." Tonight she told us the words for red and black, although she did need a bit of a reminder. She then asked about more words in Spanish, so Daddy taught her rosa and azul (because her pajamas are pink and green, and Daddy's are blue) and I taught her Buenos Noches (because it was bedtime).
Gabi as Belle and Ava as a butterfly
During dress-up time, Gabi was the first one wear the Belle dress. Grey wanted to be Belle but agreed to wait her turn. Then Gabi said, "Okay, you can be Belle. I'll be the Beast." The teacher put in a Beauty and the Beast CD and played the theme song, and Beast Gabi spontaneously danced with Belle/Grey. Isn't that the cutest story about sharing!
Gabi (as the Beast) dancing with Grey (as Belle)
Grey only attends on T/Th, so this day was Grey's first day of school. (Hence the lack of Grey in the class picture from Monday.) All-in-all, the Anthony School seems like a fantastic environment for our Gabriella. Getting to school by 8 AM is tough, as preschoolers feel no sense of urgency, but it hasn't been as bad as I expected thanks to a baby who likes to wake me up at 6:30.
