Last Day of Preschool: Red Rose, Here We Come
Today is Lucas’s last day of preschool, ever. I’m going at noon to his school to join the children for homemade blackberry cake and ice cream (blackberries picked by the children).
Miss Jennifer has been a wonderful teacher, and her garden and yard and all the outside time she’s provided over the last year have been absolutely the perfect thing for Lucas. He has toughened up, become more independent, learned to appreciate nature, and gotten in touch with the seasons in a very real sense. He has bonded with all the elements and is physically stronger and bolder than he was before. Although being around a larger group of children, and being around older children hasn’t always been great for Lucas’s behavior, he has learned important lessons about friendship, courage, loyalty, being kind, taking care of others, and even about hurt feelings and how to cope with them. I know this is all just the tip of the iceberg, but it’s been a good year for him and I’m grateful that we landed in the Hidden Treasure garden after all the preschool drama of last fall.
I’m trying to think of a good gift to give Miss Jennifer to thank her for all she’s done. One that costs about $5 would be great, but I can’t think of anything. Maybe I’ll go to the nursery on the way there. I have about 7 Daisy Dollars to spend…
I’m excited that Lucas is starting at the Red Rose Kindergarten on September 6, and also a little nervous. I hope he isn’t the youngest (and smallest) child there. I’m happy to have reached Sacramento Waldorf School because its stability is extremely reassuring to me. I know that nothing major will change for probably two years, which is a good long time to grow and learn and make lasting friendships without a lot of stress. Several of Lucas’s friends will be in the Kindergarten for two years with him, and will likely be in his grades classes for the next eight years after that.
Last Friday we all went to a work day at the Red Rose Kindergarten. We scrubbed chairs, play stands and shelves with water and Murphy’s oil soap. We cleaned crayons (yes, you read that right—we cleaned the fancy German crayons so that their colors would be pure when used). Lucas swept and raked. Other families were there, as well as the teachers. It was a wonderful way to get the children to begin to claim their classroom and play-yard as their own, and to start to feel comfortable there. The parents got to know each other a little more. The kids had a snack together when the work was done.
Tonight is a parent meeting with Red Rose teachers. I suppose we’ll be educated in what is expected of us.
