Turtle Heads to PreK

Last Wednesday, September 1, was Truitt's 1st day at PreK at his new school. He missed his old school and old friends very much. He also misses his teacher, Ms Abril, who was very sweet and loving. Still, change was inevitable. Mommy and Daddy are very happy with the new school he is attending, School of the Woods. It's the oldest Montessori school in Houston and the only one in the city that goes all the way through high school. We certainly aren't committing to high school at this point, but it's nice to know we have the option here.

Tru had to have certain gear for school including a (new) backpack, change of clothes and toothbrush. Here is his stuff, all laid out for the 1st day of school. He was eagerly awaiting his opportunity to use his new backpack with his name and a DINOSAUR on it.

He also needs to have a nap mat cover. I ordered this one from a seller on Etsy, BabyBibBoot, and am really pleased with the quality. I definitely recommend her if you need one of these for your kiddo. The pillow is built in. This was important because I was not having much luck finding a small pillow on line. The mat has an attached pillow case stuffed with fiberfill. It's very soft and the whole thing can be washed together. Of course, the nap mat cover also has dinosaurs on it! Perfect.

In the morning, we had a little hemming and hawing, but when it was time to get on his back pack and go, Truitt seemed ready. Ray and I were equally ready and possibly even more excited since this was a big day for our Big Boy. Mathis stayed behind with Magda and waved from the porch.

(Sorry about the quality of the picture. My camera lens fogged up when we went from the a/c to the humid outdoors)

I was actually a little surprised that he was willing to wear his backpack. He never had much interest before. But then again, his backpack never had a big, green dinosaur or his name on it before.

Campus was bustling when we pulled up. The school seems far away compared to what we are used to, but it's a straight shot down I10 and then one turn, so it took less than 15 minutes to get there. We parked and got all his stuff together, then headed to his class. The school is very green and has lots of big trees, but no, this is not why it's called School of the Woods. It's named for the Woods family, who were the 1st benefactors and who pushed the school in the Montessori direction in the early 70s, a few years after it opened.

Truitt's class has its own building on the far southern side of campus. It's a large class, 30 students, with 2 teachers and 2 assistant teachers. Like all Montessori classes, it's also mixed age, so he spends his days with kids from 3 to 6 years old.

Here are Tru and Daddy walking to his class. After this, it gets a little dicier.

Montessori education puts a huge emphasis on independence in the child. This is one of the reasons we chose this method for Tru's education and we believe he will really excel but we weren't quite ready to have our apron strings cut so abruptly on the 1st day. When we walked in, his primary teacher, Ms Pilar, took his nap mat from Ray and told us that Truitt should be carrying it. Tru was still ok at this point but then she told us we had to leave and that is when we all got upset (well, T and me. Not so much Daddy). It was all very fast and I feel like I barely got to say good by. I was hoping to help him settle in but that didn't happen. I was pretty upset for most of the day, surely longer than Truitt was upset for. I could not wait for 3:30 to go get him. When I did, he was fine. Of course. He said he had a good day and wanted to come back tomorrow.

I wish I could say the next 2 days were easier, but as of today he is still having a hard time with drop off. This is to be expected, though, and the fact is that the boy will need to start school eventually. Better we go through this now than when Kindergarten 'real school' starts. I think this week coming up will be a bit of a turning point... I'll let you know!