Alex was so proud!
He got both his parents!
All the fancy tea pots were out!
The kids showed parents their opening yoga routine they do every day.
Except Alex was a little shy. Check out this video - LOL:
Each child was asked to take orders for their parents. Alex took our order, then promptly went to relay them to Ms. Amber. Except ... I heard him saying: "a glass of lemonade and a doughnut." I looked over -- "Alex, is that Mommy and Daddy's order, or is that what YOU want?" hahaha ... he rolled his eyes at himself realizing that his taste buds had interfered with his duties. He brought his lemonade and doughnut to his spot, then asked us again for our orders, and the second time delivered them promptly:
On the very last day of preschool, they celebrated with a day of "camping" at Indian Point Campground.
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| Alex is closest to the camera, on the right. |
There's nothing like a day outdoors with friends.
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| Alex is on the left. |
They played in the river. (Alex has come so far since last summer, when he was so hesitant to join in the water play and had to watch the others for a long time before joining in.)
For dessert? Ice cream from the camp store.
These kids, and LouLou and Ms. Amber, are the BEST.
At the start of the preschool year, Alex didn't want to go in the woods with the class. He was afraid of the woods, and didn't want to follow what everyone else was doing, preferring to be his own guy. He has learned and grown so much this year! He still complains about "school" some days, and about "having to go in the woods," but I can see a huge difference in his confidence, self-assurance, and comfort level.
And one look at this picture and you'll know how much he has loved his preschool year, and Ms. Amber too!
Next year Ms. Amber will start her own kindergarten, and LouLou will take over as the preschool instructor. With only one teacher, one of the families that we've known for years has to find other child care because their youngest isn't preschool age yet. We gave the two youngest girls small going-away gifts and had the whole family over for dinner, play time, and sparkler fun.
I love Aubrie's serious face here!
Here's Raelie with Josh:
Ms. Hadlie, my regular daycare hugger who I will miss so much!
Alex tried his first sparkler. It was awesome.
Until it wasn't.
After the sparkler burned out, the kid didn't wait long enough before touching the hot metal parts. Burned his little finger! Still, it was quite the fun evening.
All year the preschoolers have kept a daily journal. When Alex filled up his first journal, it came home. Very entertaining reading.
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| "Victoria Octopus"?? hahaha |
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| Wolves, hmm? A lot of the journal topics were about things the kids were scared of. |
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| "This is camouflage." So smart ... and so Alex. |
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| ALL the dinosaurs. With emphasis. |
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| Another octopus! This time it has texture and dimension. |
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| Oooh tornados ... another favorite topic of conversation this year. |
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| Rain storm, space, planets ... this kid knows his stuff! |
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| We've moved on to talking about states! We definitely talk about Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Texas the most. |
Here's a video of Alex talking about his journal:
By the time the second journal came home at the end of the year, I noticed subtle differences. His pictures are so much more detailed!
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| Green goop in Duluth! And Wisconsin! Oh no! BUT ... he does know our house is on a hill. We're safe! |
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| His first map? That shows EVERYTHING. Interesting to see what places he picked. 💓 #plannergeekmom |
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| The space theme continues. But check out the level of detail on this rocket! |
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| Just. cool. |
Speaking of the white board, it's the one next to the door that announces what the kids have done that day. Great conversation starter for the ride home!
This particular day, it was newsworthy that "Alex went in the chicken yard and fed them! So brave!" You see, Alex has been very hesitant-slash-a-little-scared about the chickens all year. The fact that he made this decision on his own a week before school ended was very news worthy! Here's the video that Ms. Amber messaged me that day.
I just love when kids make decisions like this all on their own, when they are ready. They sure can surprise us!
One of the biggest changes I've noticed this year for Alex is his level of observation and descriptiveness. Now, when he notices something while driving around, his descriptions are full and vivid: including color, size, motion. He often describes birds, but also the weather, clouds, cars, sights along the road. His vocabulary has expanded, his pronunciation improved, and sometimes he will talk the entire way home from school, full of stories and details to share. At the end-of-year conferences, his teachers shared that Alex is inquisitive, always wondering; that whether it comes to stories or journaling or playtime, "there is no shortage of imagination with Alex!; that his besties are Gavin and Bradley, the two guys he shares a lot of superhero-type playtime with; and -- of course -- he always ALWAYS has a stick. Sometimes the sticks are walking sticks, sometimes swords or guns, or other tools or cars or who-knows-what-else. But he remembers the sticks and even remembers where he leaves them outside.
This year Alex nailed his ABCs and numbers 1-10. They have learned finger knitting:
Snowshoeing:
Rocks:
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| "tempera paint on birch bark" |
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| Not sure what the paper chain was for, but I love that Alex had to climb on a chair to do it :P |
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| Who doesn't love truffula trees? |
They've learned about groundhogs (or at least our cultural traditions):
And (apparently) about polls. I can almost envision the start of a graphing lesson here!
In January they studied dogsledding. Notice the homemade dogsled in daycare, and the scene on the wall of the trail the dogsled is going over. The kids played here a lot!
I loved the little touches ... fireplace, icicles hanging, "bearskin" rug.
They learned about the John Beargrease Sleddog Race. Turns out John Beargrease originally delivered mail on the north shore! So ... a chance to learn about mail, and create their own life-size mail box.
They learned about seasons. At the Winter Solstice, they even had a scavenger hunt in the woods for candy canes. Don't worry, I'm sure they were natural candy canes.
(For their weekly baking that week, they made Solstice Bread!)
Springtime brought new observations ...
The preschoolers planted a garden:
And (one of mommy's favorites) they became adept at using binoculars.
Alex (and Victoria too!) has his own pair at home and is good at using them!
(Their bird observations led them to make their own bird nests!)
They learned about helping to provide for our forest friends.
These students have explored their world and named their special places within it.
Most importantly ... they got to be kids.
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| I believe this was their spaceship! |
This is the stuff childhood is made of.
💓
