I really am in love with our daughter’s preschool… and it’s sweet to see her feel the same way too…
The sweet school is with New College.. on the campus… has student teachers… professor’s children go there… it’s adorable…
We have to drive to it, as it’s a bit far but it’s so worth every bit! We roll the windows down and the school girl lets the wind blow all through her hair… then we reach the city and marina and she and I yell out the windows…. “good morning city!” “good morning marina!” “good morning birds, dolphins, and sea otters!” Then she yells… ahhh I love school!!!
This school really is a gem… so many of the concepts are exactly how we try to live… The children are so independent… They set the table… clean up after themselves… help younger children.. They are together with different ages… When Isabelle started to go there the older kids would comfort her if she felt sad, and now she does the same to the new children. It’s a beautiful thing
One thing that sold me when we discovered it… was their outside time…. ahhhh the best in town! They play outside so so much! They go on a walk everyday to pretty places such as the bay, the library, even the Ringling Art Museum! They also have a large organic garden which they pick from and eat the goodies! There is a gardener from the college which teaches the children all about gardening. The kids get their hands nice and dirty and get to learn a beautiful respect for the Earth. They learn where their food comes from… the other day we picked fresh peas and ate them on they way home! I think this is such an important age to have a start in life as a pure individual.
The school is Montessori style teaching which is fantastic! Isabelle is not interested one bit in her ABCs and that’s ok. We don’t want to push her to learn we want her to come running to learn…
now, if I can brag just for a bit about my little girl… I really don’t mean to but I feel so proud and excited. We have traveled quite a bit with our kids and with their Pappa being from Sweden they are getting a sense for just how large the world is… so many different cultures and customs… it’s great! We’ve always been very open minded and informative… we talk about world events with our girls… we talk with them just as they are little people… children are sponges and they get it! sooooo onto the proud mamma moment….
The other day was Girls Night at the school (next week is Guys Night)… they do these fun nights or weekends so that the parents can meet one another and the kids can see each other outside of class… So the point was for the kids to tell their Mammas about what they learn in school… “Their Works” so I ask her, “what works would you like to show me?” she pulls out a rug… unrolls it… places a fun magnet maze out and shows me how to work it. this was quite fun… then she says, “Mamma, come with me… I have to show you my favorite!” I’m like ok… so then we have to put away the rug and the magnet board of course… perfectly.
Then she puts out a rug tells me to sit and watch her… She gets out this big wooden puzzle of ASIA… there are no words for countries, just small and large little puzzle pieces every which way… She proudly hands me a piece and says, “here Mamma, this is Kazakhstan!” WHAT… are you kidding me!!! seriously! She was handing me little pieces of pure pride… Thailand, Vietnam, Saudi Arabia, Japan, Mongolia, India, Tibet, Philippines … I can go on and on! It brought tears to my eyes… goosebumps! I asked her where Sitha was from (which is her teacher’s wife) she reaches down and hands me Cambodia! I squeezed her and said, do you like geography!? yes, it’s very fun Mamma! Next we’re going to get Africa and I can learn that!
I started to get that gulp in my throat… I started to wonder where in this world she would go one day…?
Since then we have been talking a lot about the world. Her Aunt (Pappa’s sister) lives in China… we talk about what it’s like in China… she asks to go there! It’s fantastic… such wonder and excitement in learning!
Yesterday she got into the car and said it was sad that Miss. Corrie (a teacher) was having her last day… She then said that she was going to South Korea for a year… WOW!
So basically I love how my little big girl is loving to learn things… Not forcefully but wanting! So ABCs can wait… they’ll always be there!
This amazing school is needing some new children for the Fall!!! please please please contact them ASAP to enroll your child!!! http://www.newcollegekids.org
and here are some pics of Firefighter day at school…
