Preschool so far

Dude, preschool is AWESOME!

I send Spike off during his crabbiest part of the day to a teacher that has four times more experience with 3 year olds than I do, and he comes home with his back pack filled with projects.  He learns that when you mix red and blue finger paint, you get purple.  He practices writing the letters in his name.  He sings the "Bubble Gum" song.  He figures out how to split up the dinosaurs to avoid conflict with his friends.  It's fantastic.

One dimension of preschool that has struck me hard is that we are a part of a larger community through his school.  There is no other easy way that I know of to come in contact with such an amazingly diverse group of families than through a public school.  I seriously have to hold myself back from engaging all the other parents in deep conversations as we wait three minutes on the front lawn for our kids to be dismissed.  Don't freak them out with your zeal for public school, Kate. 

Isaac is the only white boy in his class who doesn't have an accent.  There are a number of Hispanic kids, several African American, a couple Middle Eastern, and a handful of Caucasian first generation immigrant kids.

Ajla, Isaac's wife, apparently talks about him all the time outside of school, and you can tell she's always really excited to see us when she gets there.  Her mom said she calls Isaac, "That little boy."  He, on the other hand, is enamored with Carter, whom he calls "Carter Barter."  Carter is from a sweet family whose older kids also attend the school. I just heard him talk for the first time today, and it's the fourth week of school. 

The other thing that's completely fabulous about preschool, apart from this great group of families and the break I get from the stinker during the "witching hour," is that I feel like Ms. Katy's got my back.  All the things I've been trying to teach Isaac at home, she is reinforcing at school.  You can't push your friends down when they have something you want, or just because it's fun, for that matter.  Your lines don't have to be perfectly straight when you try to write the letter I; if you're doing your best, that's awesome!  It's just a huge weight lifted off my shoulders that I am not solely responsible for Isaac's education anymore.  Someone else is teaching him what it means to cooperate, to create something special, or to enjoy learning, too.

We went to an open house the second week of school.  I saw pictures of Isaac "getting married" to Ajla, lining up the plastic bugs with Ms. Renee, and building a city of blocks with a whole group of boys.  He had a watercolor painting and a family picture on the wall, and a whole page about himself in a class book.  I was brimming with pride and got all teary as I hugged him after we left. 

Yay for school!