Little Man is not the only one with a big change of pace this week. My darling girl has started Junior Montessori! (I'd really better stop calling her my baby soon...)
We didn't tell her much about Montessori before she started, as she doesn't have the same sense of waiting and the passage of time as her older brother. They started settling her and her classmates into their new room last week, and then Monday morning was the main event.
When you're not-yet-three, you tend to take simple things like room changes within the creche in your stride. Certainly Little Lady does. So what real changes would she experience this week? Well I'm glad you asked.
1) the bringing of a lunchbox (for snacktime) to creche
2) the removal of her daily nap (it was about time anyway)
3) the introduction of more structured, learning play for a couple of hours each day
These three changes were accepted with varying degrees of success.
First, the lunchbox. Having been caught on the hop the Friday before Little Man started Junior Montessori last year, I was determined that it wouldn't happen again. I've had a blue pirate-emblazoned lunch bag sitting in the press for weeks! Before we got the kids up on Monday, I went downstairs and filled it, then presented it to the little madam for her inspection.
Mere words could not begin to express her delight at possessing this lunch bag. Positively squealing with pleasure, she immediately sat in the middle of the kitchen floor to open the bag and explore the treasures within. Little Man sat down beside her and praised and clapped along as she pulled one magical gift after another from the bag.
"Look!! A water. MY WATER! And raisins! It's raisins IN MY LUNCH! Mammy, Daddy look - it's a YOGURT!".
Christmas morning itself couldn't have brought more joy - things seemed to be going swimmingly.
If you look back at items two and three on our list, you may notice that they don't seem to sit together very well. More work, less rest time. Any chance that could cause a problem? Nah. We'd been reducing her naps anyway, and she doesn't nap at weekends, so I wasn't all that worried about this. On a related note, I am a blithering idiot.
On Monday evening, Little Lady was very, very tired coming home from creche. On Tuesday morning she was just narky. As well as being tired she was ravenous. Seriously ravenous. When I opened my own lunch bag to give her a snack in the car, she ate three cashews without even tasting them. How do I know she didn't taste them? Because she tasted the fourth. And panicked. There may still be cashew nut fragments in the back of my hair, I don't really want to know.
And then Tuesday evening... I knew things were bad as soon as I got her into the car. I only barely got her into the house, hoisting her under one arm like a bag of potatoes. She was so far gone that she didn't even want cuddles or songs (not even Moon River!). I approached her in much the same way that I would an injured lion; speaking soft, soothing words and offering gifts of food. At least lion tamers are armed with a chair.
With all my limbs intact (just) I negotiated a ceasefire based on mutual love and understanding, and a fully-peeled stemless apple. Two bites in she smiled at me. Another two and she sat in my lap. Just one more and she was cuddled up humming sleepy noises. After some healing cuddle time and lots more food she told us excitedly about her day. Any day that involves a pirate lunch, "minding" the babies in the garden, and drawing pictures is ok by Little Lady. She and Junior Montessori are going to get along just fine.
Wednesday 5 September 2012
Tuesday 4 September 2012
Back to school - Little Man
So, this Summer has been a fairly tough one on Little Man.
While he continued to go to creche in the same place that he attended Junior Montessori last year, some of his friends were off for the Summer. And he missed them terribly. Even worse, "school" itself had changed on him, bringing exciting things like going to an Upstairs room in which we Wear Our Shoes All Day, but also bringing the crushing disappointment of Being On Summer Holidays.
Yes, you read that right. My poor boy came to me in tears, more than once, to tell me that they "don't even do work in the upstairs room!". We were at great pains to explain what Summer holidays were, and that he had lots of Montessori work to look forward to in a few short weeks. In the meantime, we got him puzzle books and spent the Summer doing spot the difference, join the dots, number recognition and even the beginnings of phonics at home in the evenings.
Little Man is one of those kids who loves to work hard, he knows he's smart and really enjoys showing off what he's learned. He's very competitive, and while that brings a work ethic that will stand him in good stead, I know there are hard times coming down the line when he first learns that actually he can't possibly be the best at everything. Still, for the moment we had our bouncy, happy boy back. He skipped through the Summer holidays, pointing out letters and numbers on every sign we passed, drawing triangles and aliens with 10 eyes and four arms. Happiness reigned.
Yesterday, finally, was the first day back at Montessori. We'd been counting down the remaining sleeps for about a week. With great ceremony we woke Little Man for his first day back. Photos were taken of he and Little Lady with their lunch bags, and off we went to embrace a brand-new day of learning.
When I collected them, I learned that this week is a "settling in week". Which makes sense. Of course it does. Some of the kids have never been to the creche before, some are skipping Junior Montessori and going straight to Senior Montessori from the creche's Toddler Room. Any Mammy worth her salt would have realised that these kids need to be acclimatised before they start any lessons. This Mammy did not. So, I collected my broken-hearted Little Man and his gorgeous sister, and we spent the evening cutting out triangles with brand-new safety scissors.
Tonight, perhaps we'll start Latin... amo, amas, amat, amamus...
While he continued to go to creche in the same place that he attended Junior Montessori last year, some of his friends were off for the Summer. And he missed them terribly. Even worse, "school" itself had changed on him, bringing exciting things like going to an Upstairs room in which we Wear Our Shoes All Day, but also bringing the crushing disappointment of Being On Summer Holidays.
Yes, you read that right. My poor boy came to me in tears, more than once, to tell me that they "don't even do work in the upstairs room!". We were at great pains to explain what Summer holidays were, and that he had lots of Montessori work to look forward to in a few short weeks. In the meantime, we got him puzzle books and spent the Summer doing spot the difference, join the dots, number recognition and even the beginnings of phonics at home in the evenings.
Little Man is one of those kids who loves to work hard, he knows he's smart and really enjoys showing off what he's learned. He's very competitive, and while that brings a work ethic that will stand him in good stead, I know there are hard times coming down the line when he first learns that actually he can't possibly be the best at everything. Still, for the moment we had our bouncy, happy boy back. He skipped through the Summer holidays, pointing out letters and numbers on every sign we passed, drawing triangles and aliens with 10 eyes and four arms. Happiness reigned.
Yesterday, finally, was the first day back at Montessori. We'd been counting down the remaining sleeps for about a week. With great ceremony we woke Little Man for his first day back. Photos were taken of he and Little Lady with their lunch bags, and off we went to embrace a brand-new day of learning.
When I collected them, I learned that this week is a "settling in week". Which makes sense. Of course it does. Some of the kids have never been to the creche before, some are skipping Junior Montessori and going straight to Senior Montessori from the creche's Toddler Room. Any Mammy worth her salt would have realised that these kids need to be acclimatised before they start any lessons. This Mammy did not. So, I collected my broken-hearted Little Man and his gorgeous sister, and we spent the evening cutting out triangles with brand-new safety scissors.
Tonight, perhaps we'll start Latin... amo, amas, amat, amamus...
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