This Thursday was our last day at what we’ll now call “the old school“. It was a bittersweet parting; D was held dear and supported very well this last season by 2 excellent teachers, Miss Erin and Miss Marina. On the other hand, it’s time to move on! Gardner, here we come (starting Wednesday).
This week, I got handed a giant stack of artwork, and the contents of a folder I didn’t know existed–a chronicle of milestones the teachers have been compiling these last 2 years. Although I knew they followed a curriculum, I didn’t know they were actually recording his performance in great detail! It’s a giant file, but here are some of the standouts.
(there’s several sheets for each month, broken down by subject area: Cognitive Skills/Math, Computer Lab, Creative Art, Language Arts, Music & Movement, Science & Nature Study, Self-Help/Life Skills. Each of these corresponds to a section in his “daily” paperwork that went home with him each day).
Besides these milestones, each month, Miss Erin higlighted something about D for the file. Here is a small sample:
I was really impressed at the time Miss Erin was taking to do this. Some of the others are very cute but I didn’t want to post them because the pictures show other children in a more obvious way and I want to protect their privacy. When you Grandmas are in town next I can haul out the folder, if you’re interested.
Here is an older entry, from Miss Cheryl’s room (D was almost 2 when the goldenrod colored note was written):
And one more winner, from the excellent Miss Bobbi (D 13 months old):
(the binders referred are these large 3 ring binders the teachers and assistants are always carrying around with them, which now I understand contain all those milestone paper matrices! I always wondered why they were so large, thinking they only contained the daily reports!)
Besides keeping the milestones, teachers also kept key pieces of art in his folder, which were examples of certain milestones having been met or attempted.
(on the back, Miss Erin wrote: “I enjoyed a new tactile experience when I stuck tissue paper to contact paper.”)
(“I used art as self expression when I used a spray bottle to apply paint to paper”)
In many ways the time has sped by, but I can also remember long days of worrying about his lack of sleep at school, racing to pick him up in time to nurse him, and managing to just get him there (we had several months of not wanting to attend at all). I am looking forward to a fresh start at Gardner’s 3-day program, which I know will enrich him in ways we can’t begin to predict (picture: a bright well-stocked art room, a music room with a piano keyboard for each child, a garden and wetlands to explore, places to roam), but also reduce the stress of shuffling through a M- F life.
