Home Preschool - Days 4 & 5

We are really enjoying the parent-child home preschool program our town offers. The teacher comes twice a week (Tuesdays and Thursdays) for 45 minute sessions. On Tuesdays she typically brings a book, and then on Thursdays she typically brings an activity that corresponds to the book. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, Ben and I make it a point to read Leo the book before bed for reinforcement.

We are already learning things about Leo we didn't know before. For some reason Leo has come to associate his teacher with fun activities, so on the days when she brings only a book, he was getting disappointed (and on some occasions even vocalizing his disappointment which is unacceptable to us....yelling "I don't want to read. I want to PLAY.") Despite his being disciplined for this behavior, it was reoccurring, so the teacher decided that she would give us the books to read to him ourselves (he does amazingly well when WE are the ones reading to him), and she would do the corresponding activities with him TWICE a week since he seems to learn better that way.

This really impressed me...instead of insisting the child conform to the program, the teacher is willing to adapt the program to meet the needs and strengths of the child. Once we started doing the activities twice a week and reading the books to him ourselves, not only did he learn better, he actually felt proud of himself.

This morning before the teacher came over I said "Leo, you're going to be a good boy for the teacher today, right?" He said, "Yes, mama. Dada will be SO HAPPY if he comes home and hears I was a good boy and didn't cry." It was precious. And he did really well today.

Today the teacher brought over some Play-Doh and some cookie cutters. She was planning to make animals with him out of the Play-Doh, but Leo decided that he'd rather have her help him make a church. He had very specific instructions:

1. The church must have a cross on the top
2. The church must have a sign that reads "St. Leo's Church"
3. The church must serve donuts after Mass
4. The church must have friends in it
5. The church must have a priest in it (see stick figure below)

The teacher was wonderful at adhering to Leo's demands, and a lot of fun was had by all.

On Tuesday the teacher brought over a REALLY fun game by Discovery Toys called Busy Pets. Ben and I have been playing it with Leo daily, and he can name all of the animals, put them into groups, and count them. He is currently learning how to identify them by color, a tedious process which has left Ben and I having to exercise much patience. Last night Leo kept insisting that one of the colors was purple even though we told him again and again that NONE of the animals were purple. This went on for about 15 minutes until Ben and I looked at each other and burst out laughing...hey, maybe red is the new purple? :-)