Jack & Goose's School

I need to give a quick shout out to Kiddie Kottage here before the school year ends and we are on our own for the summer.  (***not really though.  I'm keeping them in school on Wednesdays in order to keep my sanity.  This is the first time I've kept them in school and am trying to suppress the mom guilt that comes from this BUT given that they love their school - I'm not feeling TOO guilty at the moment.)

Class pictures!  I really like Lucy's teacher Miss Rebecca.  Lucy had a hard time letting go of Miss Megan (her favorite teacher ever) but Miss Rebecca is so good and has already been working on potty training for me so I don't have to :)  My favorite thing of all is that each morning, before Circle Time, they say the pledge of allegiance.  I was not expecting this at all when Lucy randomly grabbed a flag from Jack's army man set and began reciting it.  It is beyond precious and nothing I can take credit for of course.  Lucy is sort of smiling in this picture which I'm shocked by.  Maybe it's a smirk.  Close enough.

Video proof of the Goose's patriotic nature :)

Jack's last preschool class.  And of course he is being his ridiculously photogenic self.  I really like Ms. Laura - she is nurturing and soft-spoken (with Jack - I've heard her get stern with a couple of the kids in there and even being around some of them for 30 seconds I'm shocked she doesn't let loose a string of obscenities at time.  But then again, no one should be surprised that patience is not my particular virtue.)  Now that he's on his way to Kindergarten, I've been getting lots of advice from people who went through FPS about what teachers to get and which to avoid.  I don't really think it's possible to avoid anyone really, but it's funny the reasoning people give me.  The one that did make my ears perk though was when one friend noted that her son got a teacher who is strict, rigid, no nonsense - which was just what her son's personality needed.  Someone to make him settle down and behave.  That is definitely not Jack's problem so I'm hoping against all hope that he gets the teacher with a little of the nurturing side to her.  He doesn't really respond well to Drill Sargent. 

(Please note:  In true cheapskate fashion, I did not purchase their class pictures. I took a picture of them when they were posted in the front office for parents to order.  I love his school but am not really sure what I would do with an 8x10 of 12 other kids I will never remember the names of.)

One of my favorite things was this bag that his teacher made for us for Mother's Day.  This is a keeper :)  The 15 pictures he drew for me of super heroes killing bad guys and them bleeding all over the page, I will not keep.  Sorry Jack.

Back in January, one of his afternoon teachers, Ms. Viggi (who also happens to be the mother of one of my students last year) asked me if she could take pictures of Jack for a project that she is making for her early childhood education classes she's taking at Pellissippi.  I assumed this was something that she was making of the whole class and gladly signed off on the release form.  Last week she handed me the finished project for me to keep and I was surprised to see that she ONLY used Jack.  It's kind of nice to know that of the 15 kids in his class, he was the one she wanted to use as an example for this "Day in the Life at School" project. And as a bonus, I now have this sweet little chronicle of his life at preschool (and I didn't have to make it!)  I'm sure she selected Jack because he really is so photogenic.

Sadly, he did not quite fit that description when I flipped through the book ;)  It was super cute though.  (p.s. the picture he is making for me?  Another super hero/bad guy blood battle.)

It really is hilarious and sweet all at once.

Things like this make my mom guilt dissolve a little.  Although working sucks at times and I feel like I'm missing out on so much, it's nice to know that he is learning, having fun, and is better prepared for Kindergarten.  (things I whisper to myself as I pull out of the parking lots after dropping them off each day.)

And when I get pictures like this from Ms. Megan of Goose clearly not missing me, I really know school is a good thing :)