Preschool and Potty Update

Today I received words of encouragement and advice in emails from some great friends. After a day of stress about potty training (WHY did I get so stressed out???), it was nice to hear from you. It really made me miss all of you. It was also nice to know that people are reading this blog and that I'm not just talking to myself.

As I wrote yesterday, Julia got the last spot in the American International School where so many consulate families send their kids. This is the safe school - English speaking with rave reviews from the other families. I had also found another preschool close to home and Julia got their last spot as well! This morning I went to visit the latter. It follows a Reggio Emilia approach to preschool. I'm not an expert in the different methods of preschools but if I understand this approach, it focuses on student - directed learning. An example I read about was a class where a many students showed interest in learning about dinosaurs and so a long-term project was developed off what they expressed instead of a curriculum that was set for the whole year before school began. The principal at this school told me that last year they read a book that had an astronomer in it. The kids wanted to know whtat that was and then they started asking more questions about stars. That sparked a year-long project on stars. One parent came and did some dance classes and they kids made up there own dances about stars. The principal took the class along with their families camping! They brought telescopes and spent the evening looking at the stars that they had been learning about.

They also have swimming class once a week. At the end of the year, they have a mini-olympics. One dad comes in weekly for judo class with the kids - teaching them balance and control of their movements. One parent is an artist and oraganizes an art studio where the kids can come and do any art project that they are interested in that day.

The school is also partnered with a kibbutz which the kids visit weekly. They help take care of the animals and they learn about how the farm changes through the year. They learn about composting and recycling at the farm.

Because of the school's philosophy, they certainly don't care whether Julia is potty trained. The principal told me not to worry about it and that Julia would just do it on her own time. What a huge relief! I do want to add here that today happened to be a very successful day on potty training. I'm still going full force but the pressure is off and I'm not going to make myself or Julia go crazy.

The school is Sunday - Friday. The weekend here is Friday mid-day through Saturday. Sunday is a work day. The kids come for breakfast and stay through lunch. It is taught in Hebrew which initially concerned me. The principal is Columbian and is fluent in Hebrew, Spanish and English. She said that most kids have one parent that is English-speaking so they speak some English. All the teachers speak English and they are very diverse as well - American, Spanish, Russian, and of course, Israeli.

You can probably tell that I fell in love with the school. I'm sure that the American International School is just as awesome but I haven't been able to visit it since the school is under renovation. I know the other consulate families that send there kids there love it too but I think that I'm going to go outside the box and try this new preschool.

I also have to remember that this is preschool. This isn't going to make or break whether she gets into William and Mary or Georgetown or wherever she wants to go. I am lucky to have such excellent choices and opportunities for my kids.