Three Dancing Magpies: Last Day of Sam & Ellie's first year of school

Saturday, June 19, 2010

Last Day of Sam & Ellie's first year of school

Okay so they will be actually going to "school" more this summer then they went all year . . . but it is in the form of summer camp and they do have 2 weeks off! But for the record books, Sam and Ellie finished their first year of school. They attended the YMCA of Saratoga Springs every Friday am from 9:45 to 11:45.

The year got off to a rocky start with Sam crying every time I tried to leave him. Ellie was fine the first few classes, but as she watched Sam get attention each week . . . she decided to cry and hold my other leg. We worked through it and as time went by, they got better and better letting go of me. So glad we signed up. The teachers are great and it got them used to the idea, that when Mom leaves she always comes back.

I remember Max at 2 year old pre-school actually threw up after I left the first few times and he continued to cry and cry. I was called out of the MOPS meetings quite a few times after one of his incidents and was known as the mom who's kids throws up . . . not a great way to meet new friends! Anyway a wonderful teacher stuck with Max and after the first few weeks he was fine and really never looked back when being left by me for the rest of pre-school and when he started kindergarten. That is my hope for this experience with Sam and Ellie . . . time will tell! Because they are going to quite a few "camps" read "summer pre-school" I am hoping the fall will be an easy transition since they will never really got out of the "going to school habit".

Max and I started to sing the Mommy always comes back song (same song I sang to him 5 years ago) to them each Friday am. I thought it would put Sam at ease, but most days it just got him more nervous. When I was heading to the door, he would tell Miss Claire . . . my mommy's coming back, she always comes back, she never would forget me . . .

So highlights of the year for them both - painting, painting and more painting. Both kids love to paint and school gave them their start. They attended a yoga class, had fun with music, went on walks in the fall, a halloween parade through the Y, fun in the gym when it was too cold to play outside, lots of fun on the playground, all kinds of stories and dancing, teddy bear picnics . . . it was a great class and they had a great time.

Also it was their first time with friends other than each other. They did for the most part stick together most Fridays. Or they would play with others and then always check back in with each other.

The best part of the experience by far was Miss Lisa and Miss Claire. They were great first teachers and so sweet and loving to the kids. When Sam had trouble leaving me, they always had a painting project at the ready to distract him . . . he cast me aside for painting every time.