iPhoneography // Strong Start

After a particularly crazy registration day, filled with chaos, confusion, and papers carelessly strewn about the table and floor, I must admit I was a little nervous about our first day of Grae’s Strong Start Program today…  The good news?  Today was much calmer.  The people were fewer, the atmosphere was friendlier, and there was plenty of fun to be had. 

As part of our effort to use our car less and spend more time walking and biking, Grae and I walked to the school first thing this morning, parked our stroller outside (despite the secretary’s warning), and headed into the classroom.  Gracen very excitedly put her things in a cubby and jumped into playing right away.  Puzzles, paint, play dough, dolls, blocks, books, and games filled the class and begged for her attention.  She slowly made her way around the room, playing at each station for a good long time before tidying up and moving on. After free play time, we all went to the gym, where Grae worked up an appetite throwing and chasing balls.  We returned to the room to find a small snack set out at each table spot (each family contributes fruit for the snack) and Grae was extremely pleased to see the strawberries she had chosen especially for the occasion out and ready for her friends to eat.  She happily gobbled up her fruit while visiting with friends, and then it was off to the carpet for circle time. 

After a great morning, circle time was the only part of the class that was a little too much.  Though the teacher has a great repertoire of songs and action poems and stories to share with the kids, it’s difficult to have the kids quiet and engaged when the adults in the room are not demonstrating good listening skills themselves.  I must admit, the mix of visiting, cell phone talking, and toy playing all happening while the teacher was trying to run a fun, but structured carpet time for the kiddos made my teacher skin crawl a little.  We stuck it out for most of it, but near the end (after nearly 3 hours at school), Gracen was reaching her limit and it was becoming increasingly difficult to explain why she couldn’t have toys to play with although many others did.  Rather than dragging it out longer than necessary, we very quietly dismissed ourselves before the end of class, as did a couple of other parents and tots.

Other than the circle time being a little disappointing, the only other thing I found a bit surprising was how little English was spoken throughout the morning.  Not a terrible thing… I think it’s great that Grae is exposed to different languages, and living in the Middle East for four years certainly got me used to situations like these where I have no idea what people are saying around me…  Yet it definitely makes it harder to connect with other parents and it is a little surprising in a program that {I think} is intended to prepare children for what will eventually become their public school education. Oh, well… I think it’s still going to be a great experience for Miss G, English or not.  

Overall, I’d say it was a pretty good morning.  Better than expected actually.  Gracen had a great time and left with a couple of new art projects in hand and a couple of new friends to come back to next week.

♥