Addisyn's first year of preschool recap

Addisyn posing with some of our favorite artwork collected from this year. 

Addisyn may have said "I don't want to go to preschool" nearly every Wednesday night/Thursday morning, but she really did enjoy and get a lot out of her 2 day/week preschool class with Ms. Vicci at Foothills Preschool.

They did SO MUCH artwork every day.  We collected as much as we could throughout the year, displaying our favorite and current art on the doors in the kitchen to admire daily.  Today we took a picture with a small sampling what she produced this year.  We've got everything from the very first thing she made, to water paints, puzzles, drawing, coloring pages, finger paints, hand print art, stamping, 3D collages, photos, and even my favorite picture of "daddy" that she made for mother's day.

In the spring, the preschool teachers assessed the kids' skills and held parent-teacher conferences.   Here's how Addisyn did this year, according to their three categories:

Social/Emotional Development:
Addisyn cried at drop-off in the beginning of the year, and again getting back into the swing of things after spring break.  She was shy with other kids at beginning, and still was to an extent throughout the year, but on the last day I observed her telling boys what to do!  Her best friend was Allison G, our neighbor.  Addisyn speaks clearly, enunciating well.  She is still learning to be responsible for her things, esp. by putting her stuff in her cubby.

Preacademics--incl. Language/Literacy and Math:

The 3 year olds learned to recognize their names right away.  This year Addisyn learned how to spell her name--she can recite and type her first name, and spell her middle and last name (that part was thanks Grammy Susan).  She learned to write an "A", but still doesn't write the rest of her name.  Addisyn does great naming many colors, shapes, and concepts like "above" and "between."  She rote counts into the teens, skipping 15, which is apparently a common number to skip, and counts into the 20's for me (We count for the "home bridge" daily while driving home).  Ms. Vicci says Addisyn tends to get distracted during story time; I notice the same limited attention span to activities on home crafts and activities too.  Apparently she does puzzles at preschool, but still won't do a 12-piece puzzle on her own at home.

Physical/Motor Development--incl. fine & gross motor and self-care skills:

Addisyn learned how to put on a jacket by herself and hops on one foot well.  We can work with her on throwing and catching a ball.  She got marked down on using a facial tissue (presumably because she likes to eat her boogers--ha!).  We are also working on her being responsible for her things by picking them up/putting them away.

Addisyn's skills coloring are getting much better--she now tries to color within the lines and use a variety of colors rather than the single-color line scribbling she started with.  She learned to cut with scissors--her sample in March at school was a MESS, but she can do it now; sometimes she purposely cuts sideways because she is frustrated if it isn't perfect and it looks like that's what happened in this sample.  Her work samples from March are below--a self-portrait and the lines she was supposed to cut on.  Her face drawing wasn't at "age-appropriate"--she gets the big circle, but isn't into details like eyes and mouth.  

Overall, we are so proud of Addisyn.  We are very happy with the preschool program and have noticed how much she has flourished in the last few months.  We've been mimicking and adapting craft projects at home and I can really see how her internal motivation is key.  It is also obvious that her favorite color is purple and she loves glitter!

She'll be going back in the fall for a 3-day class and Addisyn just told me, "Ms. Vicci says if you're scared, you can come to her class and read a book and have a hug and a kiss from her." Awww. 

Picasso inspired bouquet with stamped flowers and Addisyn's hand prints (May 2011)