It was an exciting day today. The girls and I went to their new school, Blue Gum Montessori Children’s House for orientation. Lillian and Julia seemed to love it, they were excited by all the new things that is on offer. When we first got there they ran around and touched all the new things in the different areas. The school has different areas set up for learning, some areas are for sea shells, blocks, puzzles and the like. The teacher, Carmel, had hats ready to put their names on, if the girls go out they must wear their hats. Once they were named, Julia and Lillian walked over to the pegs where the other hats were and added theirs. It was very nice to be given a school hat for each girl.
Carmel showed the girls around, the toilets, the areas of the school, introduced them to the 2 goldfish. I asked if they had names and Lillian wanted to call them Goldie, however at home Julia said that their names were Gold Gold. Both girls have a folder for their artwork and a book to draw and create artwork. They were told that they could put 2 stickers on their book and folder. Both girls were very happy about this.
We were also shown the place where the girls will put their bags in the morning, and if their lunch needs to be in the fridge, must give it to staff as the fridge is in the back of the school. I got some paperwork and a book on the school, will fill out and drop off for the first day of school. Orientation lasted about half an hour and it was a very pleasant introduction to the school, it was very nice that they spent time with the girls one on one for the first day and that they let them paint some pictures and run around and get a feel for the place.
The girls were very taken with the sea shells and with the magnifying glass. They kept on going back to the shells and at one point, Julia had the magnifying glass she was holding it up to her eye. I could not help but laugh her eye looked huge and she looked so cute. She was looking at everything with the magnifying glass. She came up to Carmel and I and wanted to look at our eyes, she was amazed at how big things looked.
I think that this will be a great place for the girls to take their next steps towards school and learning. They seemed happy, excited and relaxed with the school and the teachers there. Carmel and Mary were there to greet us and to show us around. I have been told to bring the girls for a 9.30am start on their first day. Will be keen to see how they go with kids there and a whole day of learning next Monday. I am so excited for my little girls. I am also proud of how well behaved they were.
One thing that I am keen to see if pre-school helps, is independent play rather than relying on each other to play with. Currently they girls are very reliant on each other. They are very close and when one child decides not to play a game with the other, there is a melt down and the child that still wants to play the game tries to drag the other child back to play. This as you can imagine does not end well and there is a lot of tears and carry on. I have been trying to tell them when this does happen, that if you want to do the activity or task, you can do it yourself. You don’t need Julia/Lillian depending on who it was to play with you. The school fosters independence and the hope for me is that it will show the girls that they can happily work away at something if they are interested in it. Then if they want to play together, they can play together. We will see, but it will be interesting to see if the school has any influence over this issue. If you have twins or children close together, is this something that happens to you? What have you done to show your children it is o.k to do a task by themselves?
How has your child enjoyed pre-school or the start of big school (primary), did it go well? What are you giving them for lunch? I need to think about different choices that they get exposed to more foods. I suppose with 3 days at school this will be interesting regarding lunches and watching them develop. Let me know what has happened to you and your family.
