Officially a full day kid

Sammy attends a Montessori school which means the children start school the year they turn 3.  He went half day (8:45-11:50), five days a week last year and graduated up to a full day/five day schedule this year.  Daddy and I were hesitant to start Sammy up in school at such a young age but Somersfield has a great reputation and can have a long wait list if you don't accept their enrollment invite immediately so we took a chance and registered Sammy for school.  As it turns out, the Montessori program is well suited to our little guy's learning abilities and he has been placed with two very capable and kind-spirited teachers, Mrs Hammer and Mrs Feven.

We got ready for school with a haircut, new sneakers (which he probably won't wear for a couple more months still but oh well, part of the process) and a new Batman lunchkit as he will be staying for lunchtime this year!

The first few days there was a bit of tears but once Sammy got into the swing of things again, drop offs were not a problem.  Most parents literally drop off their kids as they swing around the front of the school and have a teacher take the kids out of the car (no school buses in Bermuda), but Sammy prefers, as we did last year, for Mommy to park the car and be walked to class.  Jasp and Mommy are in no hurry so we are happy to walk with Sam.

Sept 2010

As I did not have a blog this time last year, I just wanted to include a couple of emails I sent out to friends and family about Sammy's first 2 days of school September 2010:
1) Sam was excited to go to school when I woke him up, he even said that he was going by himself. So we woke up, had breakfast and watched some Shaun the Sheep while we ate. When we were about to leave he said he wanted to stay at home. I convinced him that it will be fun to go and he could bring his shark backpack. Will met us at the school and we dropped him off at his classroom door. The teacher took him from us and it went by so fast, I think Sam was in shock and didn't have time for tears. When I went to pick him up, I was stuck in the traffic in the parking lot so Will went inside and got him. He was crying a bit but not much, I had a donut for him and that cheered him up fast. The teacher told Will that there was some tears but it is to be expected. I think tomorrow is going to be harder since he now knows what to expect.

2) As expected, Sam didn't want to go to school today. He had no problem picking out clothes to wear to school but after breakfast, when I asked him to put on his shoes, he said he wanted to go back to bed. Luckily, I am armed with tons of bribes so today a pack of stretchy dinosaurs did the trick. Again, he was a bit hesitant at the drop off but before the tears came out, the teacher whisked him off. He did not look as sad at pick up today. The teacher said he had some tears, then he was a "helper" in class, and then there was more tears on the playground when he heard the lawnmower. After the weedwacker, the lawnmower is Sam's least favorite loud noise. He talked about the lawnmower all afternoon. I am planning to bring out the oreos tomorrow...

I have not had to bribe Sam this year but Daddy actually surprised Sam with a special treat after his first day of school...a Playmobil Crane Truck!  I don't think Mommy can get anything to top that anyways.

Full-day school has been exhausting for Sam as he only stopped his afternoon naps at the begininng of August.  He "works" really hard (as he describes his endeavors at school), and plays really hard with all of his pals.  Sometimes after school, we will revert to our summertime routine and go to town for our "treat", a mango juice (a mango slurpee) or to the Marketplace for a donut, a croissant or simply a bun.  (honestly, these are Sam's picks!)

Though Jasper loves the all access pass to Sam's toys while he is in school, you can see the joy in his face when we pick up Sam from school.  It is very sweet to see him start waving his hand as soon as he catches a glimpse of his big brother.  Mommy is just not ready to let you go to school too little man!