The Next BIG Step

On Friday, Amelia had a her open house at the preschool she will be attending this year. She is very excited and ready to go and has been asking for weeks now when school starts. Well, only a few more days and then she will start on Tuesday. 

Originally I had signed her up for 3 days a week (from 9am till noon) in a regular preschool class with other 4 year old children. But when I took her to the pediatrician a couple of weeks ago, she recommended to us to put her in Kindergarten (Vorschule in Germany) instead of preschool based on what she knows (mainly reading skills and counting) and how well she communicates. She is worried that my girl will be bored next year in Kindergarten. We did spoke to a principal at the elementary school and I consulted other parents, but because she just turned 4 (and other kids in Kindergarten are between 5 and 6 years old), she is just so young for Kindergarten. Therefore, I talked to her preschool and after an assessment last week, the teacher, director and I decided to put her in the transitional kindergarten class. 

The transitional kindergarten class is designed for children who need a little more time to adjust to the demands of a long school day and schedule, as well as those who just missed the age cutoff for kindergarten and can benefit from a more challenging academic environment (Amelia is almost a year younger than the other kids). Amelia will attend this class 5 days a week from 9am till 1pm. Her class size is much smaller than that of a regular preschool class, which allows for individual attention and instructions. Learning is hands-on and play-based with an emphasis on pre-writing, counting (some addition and subtraction), reading lessons and activities are designed to hold the interest of youngsters. They also learn social aspects and skills needed for school such as cutting with scissors properly. 

The Open House started out with a welcome from the preschool director at the church sanctuary (most preschools are part of a church; thus, often include chapel time etc) and an introduction of all the teachers before everyone headed to their designated classrooms. Amelia's class is called "Busy Bees" and it consists of 5 girls and one teacher. 

Ms. Susan is very nice and loves to do science experiments (i.e. the kids will do lots of fun things involving slime, play-doh, and other things I don't like to do often at home) and Amelia as well as I like her already.

While the parents and teacher talked and the preschoolers played, Elliot decided to have a snack like a big kid. I think he assumes that this is his class too. He loves the toys (they have Thomas the train) too. The girls seem to get along well already. 

Anyways, I think this transitional kindergarten class will be great for Amelia and it won't overwhelm nor bore her. So I'm happy that we found a good match for her. She can't wait to start school in 3 days and I'm sure she will love every day she goes there.