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.,
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
-------------------------------------
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!
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