preschool

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Now that mommy, daddy, and big brothers all go to school... Spencer goes to school too. He loves it! There is a gate on the far side of the school. It is our tradition to kiss him through the gate at our house if one of us is going somewhere without him. Now we walk around his school to kiss him at their gate each morning. Sometimes his friends line up to give me a high five through the gate too.
They say the pledge every morning and sing "America". He gets the song stuck in his head and sings a cute version of it over and over the rest of the day at home. He points out every flag that he sees when riding in the car and screams with excitement, "FLAG!", over and over until everyone in the car looks at and comments on the flag.
Notice how he is holding his hands and the quirky look on his face while he is sitting in the sand box. He loves to play outside with his friends but he is sensitive to texture. It used to be that he would not touch or sit on the sand at the beach. Interesting child.
His teacher has been there for 25 years! She is a little, little lady from Sri Lanka. I think Spencer will be taller than her by the time he graduates! She is wonderful. She is a kind, gentle, peaceful woman. This reflects in her classroom. The children are all very kind to each other too, more so than anywhere else that I have ever been with a group of kids. They hug each other, help each other, and teach each other.
It is a Montessori school. The children in his class are ages three to six. (Spencer is just as tall as the six year olds. How did that happen?!) The older children teach the younger children. I have heard the children ask Spencer if they can help him with a puzzle or read a book to him while they gently stroke his face or head. The idea is that we master material when we teach it. It is an open classroom... the children pick their "work" each day. The idea there is that we are more receptive to what we choose to learn... what we want to learn about. It really works. I am amazed at how busy and happy all the children are all the time. His teacher goes around the room to each child and encourages them but the children provide their own direction.
The boy in the green shirt sitting next to Spencer is his best friend, Jackson. Spencer is the first to leave each day and Jackson tells him, "I sure am going to miss you." Spencer tells me, "Jackson loves me." They are so cute together. Jackson is a sweetheart.
They have show and tell every week. This week they are supposed to bring something creative that represents a shape... like a bicycle wheel. His first week at school, they each brought a potato. Spencer thought it was silly and fun to stick a potato in his back pack that morning. They got to peel their own potatoes, their teacher boiled them, and the children mashed them... and ate them too of course! So cute.
They had a tea party on the Friday before Mother's Day. The children gave their mommies gifts that they made and served us punch and tea with their own little pitchers and cups. It was so sweet!
What a big boy!