Today, I had the opportunity to meet with Jeremiah's preschool teacher for a conference about his progress and development. He received his report card last week and nothing on it was a surprise. Since I volunteer in the class, I also see what is going in there and his teacher and the aide never cease to tell me what a joy Jeremiah is and how much they love having him in class.
I was not concerned about how he was doing academically, my concerns were more social. Jeremiah seems like he doesn't want to be bothered with preschool and he does not seem to have made any close friends. It's not that he is not nice or friendly, but my assessment and the teacher agrees is that he would prefer to talk to and hang out with adults. He is used to adults or playing with older kids and I think he finds the play of three-year-olds and four-year-olds to be bit boring or trying. He has been exposed to more mature books, movies and toys than others as a result of him being the youngest. For example, he would rather watch the Lord of the Rings than say, a movie like Cars. He will sit and listen to books like Narnia and The Hobbit, and as of last night, The Fellowship of the Ring.
The teacher said he prefers to sit at the coloring table the entire time, where she sits doing one-on-one activities with the kids and where the aide will sit and help with coloring. She said that Jeremiah likes to sit there, color and chat them up. She said that he is always telling her and the aide how much he loves them and he talks constantly about being a priest when he grows up. She said that when he does venture away from the coloring table, he will pick a solitary activity to play, like puzzles, or go over to big blocks or the tool bench when no one else is there. He does not seek out other children. She said that he listens well, always does what he is told and what is expected, never causes trouble, and is just a joy to have in the class, that he is a very sweet and caring child. He participates in circle very actively and he and another girl are the only ones who participate at Bible time.
So, all in all, a very good report from school for Jeremiah. We have not decided what to do with Jeremiah for next year. The other three attended this preschool four days a week for 2.5 hours per day when they were 4-5 and I really like the program. But now that we are at a Catholic School that offers a Pre-K program for 4-5 year olds, it makes more sense to enroll him there since that is where the other kids are, it's at our church, and we know the families there. The problem is, the Pre-K program is either 5 mornings a week for 3 hours or 3 afternoons per week for 2.5 hours. There would be several weeks during the year that the afternoon class would only be two days a week due to early dismissals. Also the afternoon class is very small. I think there are 5 kids in it this year. I am not willing to send him off to school everyday just yet, so we are looking at the afternoon at our church school or mornings 4 days per week at the current preschool. The problem with the current preschool, is that I have about 45 minutes in the morning to kill after dropping the big kids off at school and it can be a struggle to kill that time. In addition, the current school follows the public school calendar, which does not necessarily coincide with our school calendar (Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter Breaks are different). Honestly, that 45 minutes in the morning is the real kicker for me. So, I have to decide what is best for Jeremiah without taking into account my selfish considerations.
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