Preschool Chaos!

Kaylee started preschool last week. I expected the first week to be chaotic, but I didn't expect the hurdles we had to jump through to make it through the second week.

I will say, my nerves are shot! I've never left Kaylee with anyone besides family or one close friend. I knew that leaving her with strangers would be difficult. But, when those strangers showed how disorganized they were, I really became worried. I try to keep in mind that is a first year program. I try to give them a huge learning curve as they get things set up. As long as my kid comes home healthy, happy and with no super bad habits, then I can live with those bumps.

Sunday night I received an email. It said that the 2 year old class had a student resign, which made it too small. So, they were going to move the 2 year olds to the 3 year old class. This wouldn't have made me uneasy if my 2 year old wasn't 26 months old. If she were, say... 32 months old, then I think it would have set a little better for me. Kaylee is also between the 5-10% for her age. So, she's tiny! Now, that doesn't mean she doesn't have a huge personality or that she can't tell you exactly what she wants. But, still...

So, I get to the school Monday and find that it was the 3 year old teacher that quit. She stated that her 2 year old wasn't adjusting well. UHM. I am calling BS on that one. I observed Kaylee's class for 30 minutes at the beginning and the end of Wednesday and Friday. Her kid was just fine. Now, maybe not so fine during the day.. but she didn't give him a chance! I think she just didn't realize how hard teaching 9 three year olds would be and she didn't want to do it anymore.

I talked to the admins at the school who said that the 3 year olds were "young 3s", meaning they had just turned 3 in the last 6 months. Uhm... lets do the math. That makes them a year and half older than Kaylee. That means they will turn FOUR while Kaylee is still 2. I'm starting to question whether they understand how big of an age gap for young kids that really is. Not only for verbal skills, but dexterity, size, and other developmental skills. The three and a half year olds that I know can read and write 3 letter words and their names. Kaylee is NOWHERE near that. The most she can do is draw a circle, which she just started a few weeks ago.

I'm a wreck. Next Wednesday, I'm going to go observe. And I really hope I like what I see. There are more pros than cons, but the cons are kind of big ones... like the size difference. As well as habits. Kaylee has already pushed my next door neighbor's kid, which she's never done before. So, I worry that she's being crowded at school. She went from a class size of 3 to a size of 11. YIKES.

I'm pretty sure this is why I've had a headache all week...