I know this is cliche' to say, but seriously it feels like just yesterday I dropped Miles off for his first day of preschool in Omaha and now two years later the preschool chapter of his life is closing. Miles' first year of preschool in Omaha was pretty Meh. It wasn't bad but it wasn't all that great either. Pretty much felt like a glorified daycare to me. This year, on the other hand, was GOLDEN. We hit the jackpot when we moved to Utah just weeks before the school year started and snagged a last minute cancellation spot in Miss Annette's ABC preschool which had been full since February and came highly recommended by Kacie. From day one I knew this was going to be an amazing year for Miles and it did not disappoint. Miss Annette and Miss Andra are two of the best teachers who genuinely love their preschool kids. They have created such a fun and loving environment for them to learn in and Miles absolutely thrived there. Here is a list of things I want to remember about Miles' year in preschool.
- Every day when we would pull out of our driveway Miles would ask me what time it was and what time we would get to preschool. Pretty soon it became a game where he would tell me to guess the exact minute we would arrive. It didn't take long to figure out that it took Exactly 8 minutes to get to Miss Annette's from our house. Miles was amazed every single day when I guessed the right time. Toward the end of the year I told him the secret to my success and we started having him guess the time each day. It was such a simple thing, but a very fun memory with Miles I never want to forget.
- Miss Annette has a black cat named Jazz. At the beginning of the school year Miles was scared of Jazz and if Jazz was out in the front yard he wouldn't walk back on his own. It must have come up in conversation at school and so Miss Annette introduced them to Jazz and showed how nice he was. From that point on Miles always hoped Jazz would be out because he loved seeing him.
- Every day when I picked Miles up from preschool he would tell me what treat he got for completing a puzzle that day. At parent/teacher conference Miss Annette told me that Miles and some of his friends were the best puzzle completers they had ever had and they actually had to go out and get bigger and harder puzzles in order to challenge them. Miles was so proud to complete on the 100 piece puzzles at school. He has always been my puzzle boy from a very young age.
- Miles is a smarty pants and at his beginning assessment he already had mastered all the kindergarten prep skills they work on. Thankfully Miss Annette could see Miles' love for learning and she continued to challenge him and feed his thirst for knowledge. By the end of the year Miles is reading, Can count higher than I care to find out (The highest he has counted for me was to into the 300s), is super good at math facts, and is an excellent writer (as he always has been).
- Miss Annette and Miss Andra would regularly come out of preschool and tell me a great Miles story from the day. They enjoyed his expressions and personality just as much as I do.
- In each of his parent/teacher conferences I was told repeatedly what a great friend Miles is and how well he gets along with other children. I was not surprised, but always glad to hear this.
- I was able to go on all of the field trips this year - per Miles' request. We went to HeeHaw farms, bowling, to the play Alice in Wonderland, and the Dinosaur Museum. I loved seeing Miles in his preschool setting.
- Each week a letter page was sent home for the letter they were focusing on that week. The children were assigned to fill up the page with pictures of things that begin with that letter. Miles loved doing his letter page and it became the highlight of his week. He was always excited on Thursdays to see what letter he got and then would spend the whole drive home thinking of every possible thing he could that started with that letter. We would search for the perfect pictures to print out and then he would help cut, glue, and write what each word was. At the end of the year he got to bring home his book with all his letter pages and he loves it.
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| Miles with Jazz the cat |
Hee Haw Farms
Bowling
Alice in Wonderland
As with everything else they did this year, the graduation program was adorable. Miles was BEAMING the entire time. The smile you see in the pictures never left his face the entire time. It was darling seeing him so proud to sing all the songs and then when it was his turn to so confidently say his part, "You're off to great places, today is your day. Your mountain is waiting, so get on your way." I hate to admit it, but Miles is growing up and he really is off to great places. I am so excited to see all that this boy accomplishes in the years to come.
