I’ve been waiting all year to get a chance to go in and help out in Erv’s preschool class.
Two years ago, I was in Essie’s class once a week, helping with center activities and getting to know her classmates.
Two years before that, I was in Ivy’s class once in a while, and the year before that, I was only in Henry’s class a few times (including when I brought baby Ervin as Henry’s show and tell).
As the older kids have gotten older and are in school full days, it’s gotten easier to get into the preschool classroom…which is why I wasn’t really able to help Henry’s class. With three younger siblings, it was just too hard to get away.
It’s one of my favorite things to do, though. Preschoolers are hilarious, you guys. And they’re adorable. I don’t know Ervin’s classmates very well yet, but after a couple of weeks of spending an hour in there every week, they’ll start greeting me with a chorus of “Ervin! Your mom’s here!”
It’s so much fun to get to know them all and watch them grow up. And to see your own kid interact with kids that he’s not related to.
At parent-teacher conferences a few weeks ago, Ervin’s teacher told me that he’s really not social and tends to play by himself, and that he was content doing that. Today she told me that he’s just, in the last week, started to come out of his shell a little bit.
He still won’t do the motions when he sings though. Eh, that’ll come. It might be first grade, but he’ll probably eventually waggle his booty with the rest of his class. Or not.
I think you know my kids are VERY close in age (6 months apart) so this is the first year that they're separated . . . up until now, if I did anything to help out school, it was preschool – with both of them. This year, I have one kid in kindergarten & one kid in preschool.
First, I was afraid that I wouldn't have the ability to head into kindergarten because of the "child clearance" rules — it's not that I've done anything in my past, it's just that I'm incredibly lazy when it comes to filling out paperwork, so I didn't think I'd actually apply for my clearances & background checks (but then I was offered a position at a high school, directing their musical – so the promise of a payday in the future meant I actually filled out the forms I needed to).
Now, when I head in to help, it's quite something to see the differences between my kids. Leila, the preschooler, is QUITE independent – she's happy to have me at preschool whenever I'm there, but it's "just a thing." She doesn't make a big deal about it. CJ, on the other hand, when I show up at school – he's my shadow. And all of his friends make sure they know "this is my dad." It's funny.
I really loved helping out in my kids' early classrooms. Bonus is when your kids are still small enough to look forward to your visit each time.