Last Day of Preschool

I tried to get a good last day of school picture of Lauren but she was in one of her moods where she was trying to pose. So this is what I got. Still very cute but silly.

These are pictures from the kid's scrapbooks. This is from Lauren's book. On the pages are note from the student. So on Finlay's page there is a short note to Lauren.

More kid's pages.

These are from the teacher's books. I gave the parents pages and had them or their child or both write the teacher a note. I love who these turned out!!

Here is Lauren's page to one of her teachers.

Today was Lauren's last day of Preschool. Tomorrow is her school's "graduation party" . I can't believe that my little girl will no longer be in preschool. She started preschool when she was 2 years old and she went two days a week. When she was 3 she went three days a week and now that she is 4 she goes four days a week. She has never cried when she was dropped off at preschool even that very first day. She has loved all her teachers and she loves to play with her friends. Although this year has frustrated me and there are times she was upset, if you ask her about school she will tell you how much she loves school and her friends and her teachers. Preschool for Lauren was a great experience and I think she will do great in kindergarten.

I was just reading someone else's blog and they had a comment about how they pulled their child out of preschool because they didn't feel that the child was learning enough and that preschool was just like babysitting. I feel bad for this child because there is much more to preschool then learning the ABCs. I am glad Lauren went to the preschool she did. There are so many different types of preschools from play based to academic based. The school I sent her to was a play based program. Being a former teacher, I know that each child will learn at their own speed and to force learning (flashcards, practice writing and and the like) does not benefit them in the long run. The child might learn to read a little faster but studies have shown that by the end of the third grade kids are all about at the same level no matter how they started.

I wanted Lauren to have fun and learn to play with other children. I wanted her to learn to sit in circle time and to take turns in a group setting. I knew that reading and writing would come at her speed. Which it has. A play based school teaches children through play and it works. Lauren has never done a worksheet in class or they have never done flashcards but it is amazing because she is starting to read. She loves to write and had been writing since she was just over three.

The other thing I love about this school is their approach to creative art items. You will never see a coloring book or coloring pages at this school. What you see is a lot of blank paper, scissors, stickers, markers, crayons, paint, staplers, tape, glitter, and the like. I get great art projects. I was at a friends house the other day and I saw an art project that is made by a 3 year old child and you can tell that she was told exactly what to do to make the project turn out. I am sure that every child's art project look alike. There is no creativity with that type of art. I have taken the approach from school and Lauren has a whole cart full of art supplies. I get so many cards, notes and letters that are decorated in such a wonderful way. She loves to make art projects for her friends and cousins. It is great to see her not hold back and think that there is a right way to do something. She tries things and that is great.

All is all Lauren has grown so much since she started school. It will be sad to leave the community that we have been in for the past three years. A couple of the kids will be going with Lauren at her new school but it will be a brand new experience for her. She is so excited about going to kindergarten.

I am so excited that preschool is over because I packed my last lunch!!!!! Lauren had to bring a lunch everyday to school. That is a lot of lunches for the past 3 years and now I am done. She will probably buy her lunch most of the time next year.

But what I am most excited about is that I FINISHED THE SCRAPBOOKS!! I posted a few pictures of them. The student books were 6 x 6 books. The books have 22 pages in them. The 22 pages are: 2 class pictures (one funny and one not), a page for each of the 3 teachers, a page for each of the 14 students, 2 pages of the student doing activities in the class and a question/answer page. The pages with the teachers and students, I had the teacher and students write a short note to each other. They turned out really cute.

The teacher scrapbooks turned out great. They are 8 x 8 and 30 pages, two class pictures and then two pages for each of the 14 students. The students pages have one page of pictures and on the opposite page is a note to the teacher from either the parent or the child or both. They really look nice. I would have liked to have done the students in an 8 x 8 size but I was given the books to use for the students but I think they turned out nice. I think the teacher books look a little nicer but that is probably because they are nicer books and bigger.