On Wednesday Ashleigh’s mom came to pick her up from the center and asked how her day was…

She commented “I had a perfect day”.

Nothing could make me happier!

Being the owner of 2 child development centers, I get a lot of pressure regarding academic versus child center, play based, emergent curriculum. I will often have parents ask me why we don’t do dittos, worksheets or flashcards. Imagine, we don’t actually force the kids to sit down while doing an activity! Well, every now and then I will wonder “have I chosen the right style of curriculum for my centers?” I will actually second guess my own beliefs! I will think to myself,  should I just give in to all the parents that want a more “academic” curriculum, give them what they want? Then something will happen… I will have a child confirm what we believe in!

My own son, who is now in pre-kindergarten, is a prime example. I will be honest with  you! I do not do much work with him at home. I am a full time working mom and I am tired when I get home! Last  summer he showed NO interest in letters, numbers or writing! I was a little worried. I started second guessing myself again, after all he was already 4 and isn’t that the magic age for learning how to do phonics and write??? What was wrong with my kid? What were people going to think? Then the school year started and guess what? He has found a new love for letters, numbers, sounds and writing, to the point where he is driving me crazy with “what sound does that letter make? or how do you write that?” Okay so I will admit, he is a little obsessed with superheros and he is constantly asking me what superhero starts with the letter of the week. I tell myself who cares! He is interested which means he is learning! I was worried for nothing! When the time is right, it will come to them. They have so many years to learn “academics”! Take a moment to remember how much fun it was to be a kid!

P.S. Do you think we could think of a superhero or villain for every letter of the alphabet? I was thinking of making a new letter chart! HAHA!

So, in an effort to continuously appeal to the children we created the “University Cafe” in Let’s Pretend. This cafe is in lieu of the kitchen center. They were so excited to have a new area, even though it was just a re-arranging of an old area, they were busy placing food orders, waiting on each other, cooking, etc. The best part was when I walked in to the classroom I was handed my “to go” order by Evan. He told me that he cooked and packed up my lunch because I looked hungry. It was even in a white bag!!! Good thing the pretend food is low calorie! Gotta love these guys! They make me laugh every day…

Gosh, I looked at the blog and realized that I haven’t posted for a while! Do you remember being a kid and it being the first day of school? Having your parents drop you off in your brand new school clothes and your crispy backpack, butterflies in your stomach waiting to see all the friends you have missed all summer! I sure miss “having it easy” by going to school! Well, for our preschoolers it is not much different. They are also nervous to go to a new school! Make it special for them, get a new lunch box, a new outfit or two. Talk to them about preschool in a positive manner, remember they know if you are having anxiety. Always remind them that you will return! The good thing about preschoolers is, they make friends in 5 minutes. They are not judgemental, they do not care what brand clothes the other kid is wearing, and they definetly don’t try to steal lunch money!

Believe me moms and dads, it gets even harder! One of my middle sons starts 6th grade next week and I am a nervous wreck. Oh, I know he will be okay and in a few years when he graduates I will remember back to the day he started preschool, elementry, middle, then high school and wish I could do it all over again!

The other day I was getting ready to give a tour, when one of my prek children was getting ready to leave with his nana. It happened that the family touring knew the child leaving! Joey, my prek child, was so excited that his friend was visiting “his” school. I asked Joey if he wanted to do the tour for me. He was so excited! He showed his friend every class with the enthusiasm that I love to see in children. Each class being his “favorite”. One of the last classrooms we visited was the Mad Lab, our cooking and science room, as we walked in he told his friend “Now this is really my favorite room”  as I exclaimed “mine too”! I am so happy to see after almost 3 years at FVU Joey is still excited about every classroom.

So, the other day I decided to get out some tubs of water to play in our beautiful courtyard. As we were walking out one of the children grabbed a teapot and said “I want to have a tea party”. What a great idea! We went to the kitchen and retrieved some tea bags to take to our tea party. We wore big hats and mixed our tea in to the water. They made me so many cups of tea! It was great.

They used their imaginations to play tea party, they watched the water change colors (science), they wear measuring and pouring (math, fine motor), they were saying please and thank you (using manners). Wow so many things to learn by just having a tea party!

I began 21 years ago as a preschool teacher. I had no intention of ever becoming a director or even an owner of a center. Yet, here I am! There are times that I miss being with the kids, I tell my friends and co-workers that I didn’t sign up 21 years ago to be stuck in an office all day. I enjoy and miss watching and playing with the kids.

They have the best imaginations! The other day I was outside with the kids just quietly watching. They are so creative and so funny at the same time. I recently put a kitchen outside. They have turned this kitchen area in to what I call the “Mud Pie Kitchen”. I watched as they went from the kitchen area all the way over to the sand area (which is pretty far) and back to make their “cookies”. They made me chocolate chip cookies on trays! Yummy I told them, my favorite! Then as I sat back and ate my “cookies” I watched another group of children attach a milk crate with wheels to the back of a tricycle. They would take turns riding the bike with the “trailer”, they would find things along their journey to put in the trailer, it was just so funny to watch.

As I left the playground I told myself, the next time I am having a not so good day, just go watch the kids. They always put my mind at ease!

On June 1st at 9 AM we will begin to hold spaces for fall enrollment. Spaces are based on availability only. On or after June 1st you may visit the center and hold a space for your child with the non-refundable $75.00 registration fee. You must start at the center no later than August 30th ie. we will only hold your space until August 30th.  We look forward to meeting you soon!

Summer boredom got your preschooler down? Try one of our Summer Camps! You do not have to be registered to take advantage of one of these fun camps!

Present…  University Kid Kamps

 Fun for ages 2 (potty trained) to age 6

The following camps will be offered:

June 28^th-July 2nd   Mad Lab (Science)

July 12^th-July 16^th      Icky Sticky (Sensory)

July 19^th-July 23^rd     Mad Lab (Science)

July 26^th-30^th         Let’s Create (Art)

August 2^nd-August 6^th PreK refresher (for children attending kindergarten)

Time: 9AM to Noon

When: Monday-Friday

Cost: $100.00 per week

$25.00 non refundable deposit to hold your space

(deposit goes towards first week)

NO registration or materials fee! Snack included!

Only 12 spaces per camp available, register soon.