School

Monkey said “Bear”  several times.  He’s been saying an approximation for some time, generally “Bee” or “Be-ah” but clear as a bell this morning we heard him saying “bear!”  We excitedly told the teaching assistant and she went over to speak to him.  He was, at that time, playing with blocks.  When she asked him if he was playing with blocks, he repeated “block” to her.  She then told us that yesterday, on their way to the park, she had told him not to drop the loop yet (the loop on the rope they hold when out walking off school grounds) and he replied “loop yet.”

Woot!

We all know you can predict absolutely nothing about the school year after only two days.  This is just a mere update.  I don’t consider any of this indicative of how things will progress, OK?  I’m still fully prepared for year two of unabating school hell*.

So.

Day 1.  Monkey refused to walk into the school.  One of the special education teachers, but not one of *his* teachers, violated the no morning greeting policy before we even made it to the door of the school.  Duhdee tried valiantly to get Monkey to put his feet on the ground but basically carried him by his arms into the classroom.  No number of M&Ms would convince him to do anything more than stand just long enough for a reward before he slithered back to the ground.  FUN!

So we entered the classroom all sorts of strung out.  Convinced Monkey to play in the sink for a bit (his transitionary activity from last year) and then to play at the water table.  We snuck off with our tails between our legs and Monkey went on to have the most AMAZING day EVER based on his teacher’s description.  Monkey was very happy, huggy and giggly at pick up so that may even be true.

Day 2.  Monkey took a few voluntary steps toward his classroom today.  Of course none of them were sequential.  Duhdee still largely had to carry him into the classroom.  There were no chipper greetings this morning.  Thank god. 

Monkey played with bubbles at the sink.  If neither Duhdee nor I were physically touching him he would stop what he was doing and grab for us.  There would be no sneaking away today.  He decided he was done with the bubbles and we set off to look for another activity.  He was not letting go of me yet.  We found playdough.  He sat and he used a toy rolling pin and pizza cutter to play with the dough.  Totally appropriate play.  He was at a table with 3 other children and an adult (we still have no idea who she is, we’re awful parents.)  He let me go.  Once I was satisfied that he was engaged I kissed his head and we waved good-bye.  He didn’t cry or try to catch us so I guess he was ready.  *Phew*  And he was set up for another AMAZING day per the teacher report.  He played with paint (red and blue, it’s on his shirt,) he sat for “focused activities” for longer periods than he did last year, he enjoyed circle time because he recognized the games.  Focused activities and circle time were two big trouble spots last year that were used as examples of him needing more supervision.

So that’s it.  Two days in and he’s done OK.

*I either need to consider some happy pills more seriously or I’m just trying to hold my optimistic side in check, you decide.

 

So many speech and learning activity suggestions for kids seem to focus on ryhmes and songs.  Monkey is not a big fan of songs though.  He will tolerate my “singing” to some extent but it’s never been his favorite activity.  I’ve noticed that songs on typical pre-school programs (like Backyardigans) seem to trigger him.  He loved the show for a very long time but he began running from the room whenever they sang (which is a lot) and then he decided he didn’t want to watch the show at all anymore.  In his classroom, the singing and movement activities really upset him and he would have meltdowns.  Gradually, he stopped doing that but he will not participate, he will grudgingly stay within sight of the kids as they sing and/or dance but that is it.

It’s not all songs that bother him though.  He listens to music at bedtime each night.  He listens to music in the car (grownup music, we own a few lullaby CDs but that’s it…he listens to what we listen to.)  Last night he had trouble falling asleep and eventually ended up crying.  I let him get up to calm down and he sat on my lap while we watched this, not your typical toddler music.  I was familiar with some of the songs b/c my parents listend to them when I was growing up.  He was fascinated and relaxed in my lap.

I wonder if this is something I should try to “fix.”  I don’t particularly see anything wrong with it but I know it would make his pre-school teacher happy if she could do movement activities with her class without having Monkey protest.  There is no guaruntee that anything I do at home will help in the slightest bit because there are, quite simply, different rules and allowances for Umma (even Duhdee doesn’t get cut quite as much slack as I do, lol.) 

Are there any 4 year old appropriate CDs that your kids like(d) that won’t make my ears bleed?  I’m resigned to the fact that whatever CD we pick we will be bombarded by ear worms (I’ve been singing “Baby Beluga” for 5 days now, ugh)…I’d just like them to be slightly pleasant for a grownup to listen to.  I’ve heard They Might Be Giants have a couple good CDs, I’m not sure who else is good though.  Bonus points for any songs that are standard pre-school fare.  I’m definitely deficient in this area since my parents didn’t play “kid” music for us as we grew up either, I don’t even know what I missed!