Family Life

April Preschool Update

April was a busy month at Tee’s preschool. From Vaisakhi to Easter, there were lots of fun things afoot!

Earlier this month, Tee celebrated Vaisakhi with her class. Vaisakhi is a major festival in the Sikh culture that celebrates the establishment of Khalsa and thanksgiving for the harvest. The Indian students wore their best finery to school, and Tee’s teacher brought in beautiful scarves so the kids who didn’t have fancy Indian clothes could still dress up. The students learned a little bit about India, danced to Indian music, and played Indian instruments. Not surprisingly, Tee loved beating on the drum.

Drumming for Vaisakhi

For Easter, the class held an Easter egg hunt and had a party complete with chocolate, cupcakes, and ice cream. Tee loved dying her eggs with eye droppers and food colouring.

Dying Easter eggs

Reading, ‘Riting, and ‘Rithmetic

Tee continued to practice her reading this month. At school she’s working her way through the “pink words”. These are the simplest three letter words like men, mug, fan, and pig. Once she masters those words, she’s looking forward to moving on to the blue words, then the green words. I asked Tee what would come after the green words, and after a little thought, she decided that once she masters the green words she’ll be able to read any book she wants all by herself. Go, Tee!

Here’s a great picture taken by her teacher of Tee working on the decimal system (from 1 to 3000!). At home Tee can be something of a Tasmanian devil so I asked her teacher about her attention span at school. She assured me that Tee is one of the most independent students she has, and that she has no problems focusing on her work. Apparently it took her about 10 minutes of careful, focused concentration to put together the beads in this picture. Doesn’t she look proud of herself? I’m happy and relieved that she does so well in school, but I can’t help but wish we saw more of that at home. I keep hoping that as she matures her behaviour at home will settle down more.

decimal system

The class also studied chickens, eggs, and planting this month. As part of their lesson on what plants need to grow, Tee grew those ubiquitous beansprouts (didn’t we all?), and now I’m trying to keep these things alive on my kitchen windowsill. I have a black thumb though, so I’m not holding out much hope. Shh! If we don’t say anything, maybe Tee will forget about them.

Arts and Crafts

In addition to her Easter eggs, Tee made lots of spring themed crafts this month. Around here, spring means cherry blossoms, (cookie cutter) flowers, and ladybugs. Top right is the miniature Indian flag she made for Vaisakhi.

April crafts

Tee had two days to make up this month, so her teacher and I agreed that she should try attending a couple of full days. I thought it would be a good opportunity to find out how she’d do and help us decide whether she’s ready to go to school full-time. It turns out that she absolutely loved it, and now she wants to go all day, every day! According to Tee, the best part was getting to eat lunch at school. I swear she must be heading for a growth spurt; all she thinks about lately is food!

Finally, this month wrapped up with a fun pyjama and pancake party. I wish I’d been there for that!

 
What fun things did your kids do in school this month?

 
School photos courtesy of Ranj Chhokar.

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6 Comments

  • I don’t know a child that doesn’t love playing drums – one of mine wanted to take it up at music school but the thought of his practising was too much for me 🙂

  • Alas! My children are adults now but I have great grands, two of which are in kindergarten this year. I think your daughter did extremely with the numbers. As a former teacher, I have seen children take on a different personality at school than at home. I have noticed it in my sister and some of the children I knew outside of school so it is fairly common, I think. Your child may feel more relaxed at home with her wonderful mommy.

    • Thanks for the larger perspective, Elva. If I had to pick one, I’d definitely rather she “let loose” at home than at school. 🙂