Baby Steps to School

I can’t deny that my kids LOVE being in Toys ‘R’ Us.  For some magical reason, it unleashes surprise after surprise in the form of entertaining toys and delightful collectibles, some even enthralling to adults!  For Hannah, one of the attractions in this toystore is the children’s schoolbags.  She would head for the bag section and pull out girly pink bags, bags which are too big for her, but she would be contented just pulling and dragging it along.  Recently, she found this adorable Chuggington backpack in the store, and without fail, she would ask me to help her put it on, and she would then parade around the store.

It’s just the right size for her, and she looks absolutely darling wearing it!

Granted, she’s too young to start school yet, but she probably got the idea from observing her brother carry his bag to school every day.

In any case, we decided it was time for her to experience the parent-toddler program run by the school Ethan goes to.  When Ethan was 2 years old, he attended the same program and benefited a great deal from it, so since Hannah is showing signs of readiness, we made an appointment for her to go for a trial class.

The parent-toddler program is a 1.5 hour program held once a week, and the child would be accompanied by a parent throughout the session.  This helps to further reinforce the parent-child relationship as well as promote social awareness as the child learns to mingle with kids their age.

When we arrived at the school on the day of the trial class, Hannah was all too eager to get down from the car.  She happily said, “Buh Bye!!!” to her Daddy and Ethan as she followed me to the class.  Oh by the way, Daddy and Ethan were off for their *football practice* 🙂

Hannah was quiet at first, but she was not TOO clingy.  She willingly played with all the toys in the playroom, and interacted with me, naming the animals and numbers and so on.

We then proceeded to do some arts and crafts, where she got to play with paint, sand and water.  She was provided with a mini kid apron, but she would not wear it, so I had to be careful not to get her shirt dirty.

Probably intrigued by all of the different things to do, Hannah was a little quiet but she was certainly very participative.

When it was time to go and play in the outdoor playground, we finally saw some giggles and smiles…

She loved the rocking horse, the slides, the little house…and it almost seemed like she was too reluctant to leave.

After the playground, the kids were treated to some light snacks in the pantry and then it was circle time in the hall.  Hannah was very attentive to the teacher and even when all the other kids had lost their interest and were running around, Hannah was very interested in the story the teacher was telling.

Of course she was quickly distracted when she caught sight of Ethan, who had come back from football practice, and was waiting for Hannah’s class to finish. 

After the parent-toddler class, the teacher gave Hannah two stickers.  She loves stickers and was only too eager to show them off to us.  Hannah left the class looking very happy, but not before she gave the teacher a nice hug. 🙂

Certainly looks like she’s ready for the class, huh?