Preschool

I've been looking for a preschool for Hannah to attend next school year. Currently she attends a home daycare. I really, really like my current daycare provider. She has been Hannah's only daycare provider since she came home in 2007. A lot of the potty training was done at daycare, Hannah learned how to color, draw, do puzzles and have fun being a little kid. In the winter they go sledding in the backyard, or bounce on the Bounce Master for large muscle time. She goes on a field trip every couple of months to places like the zoo, apple orchard, to see Santa at Christmas time, petting farm, big playgrounds, etc. When the weather is nice she brings all the kids across the street to the high school's track to let the kids run around or she'll bring them to a park for a picnic lunch. They sing songs all day long, play dress up, have story time, take naps and eat healthy food.

So why am I looking to send her somewhere else? I feel that she needs a little extra help to get ready for kindergarten. Kindergarten has changed sine I went to school. Schools these days expect kids to already recognize and write letters and numbers. They really would like kids to already be sounding out letters so they can jump into reading. While I can do some work with her at home, I am limited to short amounts of time I can work with her. She had grown in leaps and bounds from the shy, frail toddler I brought home but I feel she needs more. More challenging tasks, new teachers to work with, new children to learn from.

I visited church preschool today. I wasn't super impressed with it. The learning area was small, the play area was small, the building was old and every child in the school was white. When I walked out of that school I sat in my car and called the Montessori school that Maya had attended from the time she was 3 years old through Kindergarten. Yes, they said, they have openings for the fall, they have openings right now too. I drove there right then. I had resisted sending her there initially because, they are much more expensive that what I am paying now for day care. Once I got to the school I realized it felt right. Some of the teachers have changed but the school is the same, the philosophy is the same, the methods of teaching are the same the school is like a big family, it felt like coming home. Why did I resist this for so long? This is where Hannah belongs. The school is multi-racial, Hannah will have other children in her class who are adopted, children who are not adopted, children who look like her sister, her cousin, her uncles, her mom, and like her.

Hannah deserves this. So without a second thought I have decided to send her there. Maybe she'll even start before the spring is over. I'll cut costs in other places if I need to. I promised to take care of Hannah and give her the best that I can. I can give her this.