Preschool year in review

This has been another great year at Foothills UMC Preschool.  Addisyn completed a year, and Piper a half-year (beginning in January at her 3rd birthday), both in the 3-day (MTW) program.  The girls enjoyed going to school together.  Although rare, they missed each other if one stayed home sick.


Addisyn was in the 4 year old class with Ms. Colombina. 

All year long, I observed Colombina give the children so much love and positive attention, that they felt completely safe there.  This year, Addisyn did homework every week, a simple one or two page worksheet, the first 26 weeks were working on a letter of the alphabet, then they did some other counting and which belongs stuff.  Addisyn started the year recognizing all her letters, but now she can write them all, and knows the alphabet.  At the end of preschool last year, Addisyn signed her name with just an "A" but now she writes her whole name by herself. She gets most of her letters correct, most of the time, although she tends to write the first capital D backward when writing "DAD" and will sometimes make the "s" in her name like a backwards 3. You can see her handiwork in the photo.

The photo is a collection of things we've saved from preschool this year.  My favorites are: the flower growing in the rain (upper right, behind her left shoulder) because of the color, details, and how it fills the page; and the family portrait (bottom right hand corner) on yellow paper because she drew all the girls with rainbow looking hair, daddy with a stubbly beard, and a face for baby too.  Her favorite things to draw are flowers, rainbows, and her in the jumpy.

Addisyn has grown tremendously socially and emotionally--she has come out of her shell, being willing to talk to people; she will say hello to cashiers and had no problem introducing herself to the swim lesson instructors on the first day. As far as "preacademics", she knows her alphabet, and she can do simple addition and subtraction--even without visual help.  She has increased persistence for tackling problems, but still gets frustrated when something she does does not turn out perfectly; she recites/repeats "everybody makes mistakes", so she is working on it.

This kid is ready and excited for Kindergarten!

Addisyn (age 4) June 2012

Piper (age 3) June 2012

Piper's first day, Jan 2012

Piper was in the 3 year old class with Ms. Stephanie.

Starting mid year, Piper immediately joined right in with the other kids in their procedures and routines. She LOVES preschool! I think she really likes doing what her sister is doing.

At home, Piper sings preschool songs, plays school with her stuffed animals, and talks about her friends. I am proud of her for listening to the teacher and following directions.  Ms. Stephanie reports that Piper gets along well with the other kids and plays cooperatively.  (She must save her strong willed personality till afternoon with mommy.)  Socially and emotionally, Piper seems right on track for her age.  On the academic front, Piper can count to 29 (she thinks she can count to 100:  "...28, 29, 100!"), recites 1-15 in Spanish, likes working on letters, enjoys puzzles, and now brags that "I know all my colors!"

Piper is a can-do kid, so proud of herself for doing things on her own.  She has great balance, strength, and coordination.  She can dress herself and buckle herself into her carseat.  On paper, she likes to scribble, draw circles and hearts, and write the letter P.  She can write the "Pip" for her name, and I help her with the "er".

The photo is a collection of things we've saved from preschool this year.  My favorites are the ones made with handprints.  We have saved a sampling that includes her very first paper scribbles from preschool, and Ms. Stephanie also collected some pictures and artwork in a binder keepsake (back of photo over Piper's right shoulder).

Piper was the youngest in her class this year and will do a whole year in a 3 year old class next year.



Overall, we had a great year.  Besides being a proud parent, I am happy that my children are proud of themselves for what they can do.  It was fun having them at the same school, and I'll look forward to that again in a couple more years.

Wearing each others clothes on picture portrait day, April 2012