Movin' on up (preschool promotion)

Yesterday Nicholas had his preschool promotion ceremony, bringing to an end the six years Mike and I have had children in preschool. Overall, it's been an excellent experience for both us and our kids.

Chris attended the wonderful Multnomah Playschool and had two outstanding teachers. We switched to Small Friends for Kieran because as we were getting ready to enroll we found out I was pregnant with Nicholas...and we needed something with less of a parent commitment. We made wonderful friends at Multnomah Playschool and got to know the other families really well...we made long-lasting friendships. That didn't happen at Small Friends; it was much less of a community feeling, and more of a place where the kids went to school.

However, Small Friends worked perfectly for our growing family because it wasn't a full coop experience, and it was easier with three children. (Some call it "coop light.") We volunteered regularly in the classroom and had a small job, but no parent meetings, fundraising, or auction commitments. Kieran and Nicholas both got to be in class with Teachers Sydney and Marah, both gifted teachers.

Both schools shared a heavy emphasis on play being the work of small children, which we fully supported and wanted for our children. Each worked well at different stages of our lives.

The kids did a little program for us. Nicholas has loved the music at Small Friends.

Nicholas was the only boy in a tie!
(He insisted.)

This boy has ALWAYS loved to sing!

They showed off a lot of advanced sign language!

 Here are some videos of two of their songs..."Popcorn Tree" and "If You Don't Want to Say Goodbye," which was Nick's favorite, and we heard it at home constantly! Watch how he's swaying back and forth during the song.



Nick with his grandparents

With Teacher Sydney

And Teacher Marah

And with best buddy Connor

After the promotion, Nick's special treat was a kids' meal and vanilla (or valilla, as he calls it!) milkshake at Burgerville!

With my big kindergartener!!