First Day of School

Today was Amelia's first day of school! I was so proud of her as I dropped her off. She went straight to the Little People toys she noticed at the Open House and didn't even notice when I left.

She is the youngest one in the class which may become a problem since her social skills are the most undeveloped. Her teacher said she did really well with the academics - letters, shapes and sorting - but not very good at circle time and standing in a line. I wasn't surprised, especially because that is the primary reason I wanted to enroll her.

It's a small class, and the other little girl who has a September birthday wasn't there today. I hope Amelia can catch on quickly to the social skills since I got the sense from the teacher that she wasn't sure how it would work out. She did go onto say that this was typical 3 year-old behavior but, "We'll see how it goes." The teacher also allowed that she didn't want the experience of going to preschool to be a negative one for her - always being singled out and hearing her name. I can understand that and I agree with her. However, I don't think it's fair to punish Amelia for being 3 years old in a 3 year-old class that happens to be populated with 3-1/2 and 4 year-olds. In the meantime, I am going to work on being firmer about Amelia following instructions rather than just letting her do whatever she pleases. (Example, let's go upstairs Amelia ... and she dawdles so I usually go up ahead of her.)

[picture dated 9/2/08]