Way back in January, after Bob had to nearly twist my arm off to do so, we
enrolled Lily in kindy. After a few hiccups, that had me telling Bob he was an
arse for thinking this was a good idea, it has been smooth sailing.
After a parent teacher interview with the fabulous Miss Mandy and reading
Lily's monthly report cards, we decided to enrol her for a second day. We are
now in the second week of this new two day week, and everyone is loving
it.
The whole point of kindy for us was school readiness, as there is a bit of
research out there that indicates first year of formal schooling outcomes are
more positive for children who've participated in pre-school programmes, it
also didn't hurt that I got to miss Lily for a short time during the week,
something that has been really wonderful as she enters the "terrible
twos".
But there's a lot more to love about kindy, and here is the top ten
things.
10. I'm only one person. I can't know every activity, song and game that benefits
a toddler's development, despite my best efforts on Pinterest, and it is so
nice to be able to leave her with someone whose job it is to know this
stuff.
9. Every single week, for the entire 6 months she has been attending, she
has come home with a new skill. I 100% feel that her numeracy and literacy are
much stronger than they would have been had I not sent her to kindy.
8. It takes some of the pressure off me to come up with a nutritious meal, fun
activities and engaging play every day.
7. Ever heard that cleaning with a toddler in the house is like brushing
your teeth while eating Oreos? I totally use kindy days to do some cleaning.
6. They teach life skills. Lily is much better with hand washing and packing
up than I can be given credit for teaching her. I would even go as far to say
that she likes to help pack up.
5. Archie gets some genuine one on one time. One of the things I struggled
with as a mother of two is not being able to devote the one on one time to
Archer that Lily had been so spoiled with. Kindy days allows me to do this. At
first we just had delicious hours long baby cuddles, but now we play games and
sing songs that he likes, and play with toys that he is developmentally ready
for. Without any bossy interference from a toddler. I've also noticed that he
naps better on kindy days. I highly doubt it's because he's bothered by her
noise, she's not a hugely noisy kid, but rather that he doesn't feel like he's
missing out on something fun.
4. She is better with other kids. Lily was painfully shy and seemed to
always be a bit of a victim. Always the kid that got shoved, or missed her
turn. Not anymore, she's not exactly assertive, but she's getting there. We did
have a short and rough bumpy road where she did get a bit pushy and would
screech "No!" if she was required to share, but that's over now and
she has even started to initiate play at the playground with other kids.
"C'mon Girl." "Hello Boy."
3. Her confidence in a wide variety of areas is blossoming, especially gross
motor. Because I wrote on her enrolment form we struggle with this, they have
worked on it with her. They've taught her to use a balance beam and how to
climb a ladder, which despite going to the playground frequently, Bob and I
have been unable to do.
2. The ladies at kindy seem to genuinely love Lily. They are excited to see
her and know all about the things that make her her. One day I was 45 minutes
late because I had a much longer to do list than usual, and I was feeling a
little frantic when I arrived. I usually try and arrive by four, before they go
back inside from afternoon outside play and before the "floaters"
take over from the usual teachers, this day I arrived at 4:45. She was snuggled
up with one of the girls, sound asleep, getting her hair stroked. When I do
arrive on time, someone greets me and tells me all the wonderful things she has
done that day. It's so nice for her to be developing such positive
relationships with people other than her parents.
1. Lily loves it. Nothing motivates her in the mornings like telling
her it's a kindy day (except maybe swimming days). Every Thursday (and now
Monday), we have the same conversation, "Hey Lily. Want to go to kindy
today?" Which triggers her running around saying "Yeah! Kinny! Yeah!
Mandy! Yeah! Jenna!" and demanding shoes, brushed hair, her hat and to get
in the pram. One morning I was really disorganised, and unsatisfied, she
climbed into he pram by herself, clipped herself in and proceeded to yell at me
until we left. She does always cry when I leave, but when I arrive in the
afternoons, she's always playing happily, and usually with toys we don't have
at home.
And that is why the Maidens family loves kindy!
