When I envisioned being a stay at home mom watching other kids in a kind of home "preschool" setting was always a part of the vision. However, in reality that's not quite the work I was cut out to do. Should have been clued in when I could only handle teaching kindergarten for a half day, but I still thought it would somehow magically be a good fit. Ha, ha...the last year has taught me that toddlers are VERY different from one another and I can only "differentiate instruction" for a couple at at time:). That said, I feel like the current scenario has been great. Isabella plus two other toddlers close in age allows for us to do some structured activities and keep her entertained during free play.
Last month I got a a car seat for AJ for our car. That way it would be super easy to do field trips on the days I just had two kids (or maybe attempt to run an errand or two here and there). We have done some story hours and gone to a place called the Playhouse which is basically like a play room with toys, kids and other moms which allows all of us to get out. Through our adventures I have to learn three things: 1. My child really likes to be on the go 2. Both kids enjoy playing in different settings 3. My Monday through Friday child gets upset more easily in larger groups and could probably use some more exposure to bigger groups of kids more frequently
AJ is away for a long weekend so I used one of my Iz and me only days to check out a kids gym called Romp N Roll. LOVED it! We had tried a place in the spring but it seemed overprice, too structured and not very big. This place was huge, offered art and music on top of gym and while they offer structured activities here and there fully understand that kids will come and go as they please at this age. Unfortunately the place I don't like is right around the corner and they one I do like is a 25 minute drive from us. But it's a trade off I am willing to take. The owner even said she would give us the sibling rate once I explained the situation with AJ so I just needed to get his parents on board which turned out not to be a problem at all.
I also used this opportunity to let them know what I was thinking about preschool for next year. I think that it's important for Iz (and AJ) to start acclimating to bigger groups of kids and working with adults who aren't their parents. I would love for them to go two (maybe three) mornings a week. This would also allow me the opportunity to possibly do some online instruction or adjunct teaching (fingers crossed I will be finished by then!). Again, his parents were totally on board.
Now begins the fun part...figuring out the right fit for Iz and AJ.
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