Go Chisholms GO!: January 2015

Life is busy with James joining Alma at her Montessori school, Laura beginning to teach at the community college and Joshua's staff size continuing to grow.

Yesterday I took the kids to their joint yearly check up. All is well! Alma aced her hearing and vision tests. She was also a champ, getting the last of her booster shots (one in each leg). Phew, she is a screamer during the actual shots but luckily laid very still for the nurses. Poor kiddo. James was an excited patient and told everyone that he wasn't scared when he had shots this appointment (note: although he was brave during the visit, he didn't have any shots). Funny guy.

James
31.25 lbs
37 inches tall

Alma
38.75 lbs
42.75 inches

James loved his first week at his new school. While he was at first a little unsure of the transition, he did very well. Alma LOVES having him there and is always giving us the inside scoop. She is able to peek into his classroom throughout the day and all of the teachers in the school have been passing along updates to her. Due to the cold weather, they have even been having joint play times together and, whenever possible, they choose to sit beside each other and choose the same game to play together.

As an update, I wanted to share the letter we sent James's teachers prior to his start. And below that is James's teachers first-day-of-school email to us, which is beyond sweet.

December 29, 2014

Dear Ms. K. and Ms. A.,

We are excited for James to be joining your class. We appreciate having the chance to share about our son and look forward to hearing from you as the school year progresses.

This year, we would love to see James fall in love with the Montessori classroom, all of the potential it contains and work through the normalization process. Since his intake meeting, he has been anxious to return and explore. We have no doubt that he will be a focused and ambitious learner. We believe that not only will he love the materials and the other kids but also the structure and rules of the Montessori classroom. We hope that he will share these ideas with us so that we can continue to incorporate Montessori principles into our home life.

James loves being outside and doing activities with a lot of movement. At home, he spends a lot of time throwing balls, working in the garden with child-sized tools and going on family walks. He likes to play with trains and hear Thomas the Train books. He also loves animals, singing, making up silly stories, and imaginative play with Alma.

While more of a watcher at first, James is happy to jump fully into play once he is comfortable. Depending on the day and the activity, he can be both a quiet, independent player and a rough-and-tumble child. In general, he seems to play with one friend at a time instead of in larger group settings.

James has one older sister, Alma, who is in classroom 4. We have a dog (Simon) and a cat (Shanti) whom James views as key members of our family. His maternal grandparents live in the area and we see them quite often. “Nana” or “Grandpa” may pick James and Alma up from school occasionally.

He has been attending Cambridge Daycare on a variable schedule, up to four days a week (usually from 8am – 2pm), since October 2013. He took a little while to transition to that environment but after a month seemed to enjoy being with his classmates, especially with the boys on the playground throwing balls. We imagine he will miss his teacher and classmates but will transition well to the new environment. We are hoping that since he has been exposed to this school for most of his life, he will feel comfortable in the environment quickly.

James may whisper when expressing his needs until he is comfortable. Once comfortable, he is quite the talker and can get rather loud when excited. However, when faced with an unpleasant surprise or aggressive behavior (i.e. someone taking a toy from him), at times he loses the words and may growl. He isn’t physically aggressive but will certainly stand up for himself. That being said, he is sensitive and cries easily if his feelings are hurt or he is scared. For comfort when very upset, he sucks his fingers and holds his belly button with his other hand. He loves hugs.

James is fully potty trained and, with an introduction to the facilities, could quickly demonstrate independence in the process. When asked if he needs to go, he will answer honestly. Although, he may be shy to tell you he needs to use the toilet until he feels comfortable with you and the environment. At times, he “holds himself” but that does not necessarily mean that he needs to use the bathroom. He is still practicing dressing himself and may need some assistance if he needs to change his shirt.

James takes a nap every afternoon around 12:30 pm. (which is necessary for balance within the household). He will be staying until the 3pm dismissal. At night he sleeps from 7:30 p.m. – 6:00 a.m. He is generally a good, healthy eater; loves fruit and also sweets. He does not have any allergies or special needs.

Thank you in advance for your work with our son. We love him to bits and hope that he can thrive in the coming years in your classroom.

Sincerely,

Laura and Joshua Chisholm

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Hello Chisholms,

James had an amazing first day in classroom 3. He was a bit shy at first but seemed to feel comfortable and happy in short order. I am a big believer in outside play, but today it was just too cold. We went to classroom 1 to play with toys instead, first thing in the morning. I asked him first if he wanted to play with legos with two other boys, but he told me that he wanted to play with the kitchen. I paired him with two girls. I played with him initially, showing him how the velcro fruits and vegetables could be "cut" with the wooden knife. He really liked this and played with these almost the whole playtime. He was great during transitions, stopping at the bell ring, and proceeding with the rest of the class. He did many spooning and pouring works, carefully and pretty successfully. We usually do not introduce wet pouring to one so young on the first day, but he was so deliberate with the dry spooning and scooping, so we followed his lead. He did spill some water but enjoyed cleaning the spills when shown. Because it is a new year, I had several new works to show on the line and he stayed and watched intently as each work was shown. We had already planned to let him work one-on-one with Mrs. A when he got restless on the line, but he never did!

After lunch, we played Musical Chairs, Four Walls, and Freeze Dance, in that order. He chose to sit out of Musical Chairs, sitting next to me and watching the game. He was delighted to play Four Walls, and grasped the concept immediately. He was a good sport when he was "out", too. His favorite part of the day seemed to be Freeze Dance. He danced with gusto and seemed like he had been part of the group forever! He transitioned so well going to and coming from nap. This can be a tricky time for new- comers, but not him! In all, it was really a terrific first day. He was delightful!