Isn't it amazing when you hear a totally unexpected thing come out of their mouths at this age? My son turned 3 last Thursday. He opened and read all his birthday cards out loud without assistance. In the past week, he's picked up the phrase "independent play" and used it properly. As in, "Mommy, I'm going to get 10 minutes of independent play before we put on my jammies." He's also mastered compromise, both the word and the concept. We employ this one deciding how many bedtime stories he gets before lights out. Fun stuff. Now if I could only get him to grasp potty training!
I wanted to tell you that DS has been in a full day "pre-school" now for a while and I was worried that he'd be bored silly and act out. What has ended up happening is a whole lot of play and he's become the resident "go to" guy for stories. His teachers report that during free time, he'll often be found reading books to the other kids. Or looking at the calendar with them. Helping.
He loves his school and although it's not a trend I want to have continued when he hits "real" school, being a helper to his teachers and relating to his classmates in this way is just fine for now.
What I like in the school is the structure, the social interaction (he may be able to read a book about sharing to another kid, but that doesn't mean he likes to actually share) and all the really fun play activities they do.
I'll get serious about school expectations when he turns 5 (I'm pretty much convinced we're going to have to come up with some creative planning for him from the get-go), but for now, I'm just really happy he's going to a place he loves. He'll get the nourishment his brain needs at home and with outside resources.
By the way, today was Water Day at his school. He may be one smart cookie, but who doesn't love running through an Elmo sprinkler with a bunch of friends? Heck, that sounds good to me and I'm 37!
