First Day of Preschool

Yesterday was Jackson's first day of preschool! He was so excited and I have some video clips to prove it. He was particularly excited to play at the play ground and eat snacks. He clearly has high academic expectations for the school year.

Jackson was pretty cooperative for my mandatory photo shoot and I got some great shots, but only because I let him have "silly face" shots in between. He's a funny guy.

This is actually my favorite photo, but Jackson prefers the first one because it shows off his backpack. 

Captioned: Are you done yet, Mom?? Oh I just love is brown eyes. 

And check out our Aller-mates bracelet (and the remnant of a "temporary tattoo that refuses to wash off). Jackson was so compliant with his bracelet! That little piece of rubbery-plastic just makes me feel much more at ease (and perhaps the three phone calls to and from the school nurse helped, too). 

This was at the school waiting for the doors to open. The sunglasses were definitely helpful because it was bright and sunny day, but also to mask the few tears that surfaced. It wasn't really about dropping him off, but hearing him pray before we went in. On the way to the school, I prayed for him to be brave and good listener, to have fun and learn lots of new things. He prayed similarly, but also added "for the time to go by quickly because three hours is a long time and I will miss my Mom."

He's going to have a great time with Ms. Mary Kay!! 

When I picked him up, he was beaming with excitement and He could hardly wait to Skype with Derek at bedtime. It's going to be a good year!

Prepping for Preschool

At this time next week Jackson will be in preschool!! We've spent this week getting ready. Yesterday I sat through an orientation that I swear I was too young to participate. School supply list? Permission slips? What?!?

Jackson's ready and I know he is. He is eager to learn new things and engage in learning activities-- the kinds of things that I am not as super great at as a mother. Preschool is just the thing we need around here... for his sake and mine! Fortunately, the school district has a free preschool for two mornings a week. I am just not ready to send him away for much more than that!

We picked up school supplies yesterday and Jackson got his backpack all ready. A Bible wasn't on the supply list, but he asked if he could take it anyway! Of course you can, Buddy!

This morning, we worked on our first "homework" assignment. 

As the day progressed yesterday from orientation, exploring the classroom, buying school supplies... my anxiety about his food allergy increased. Jackson's school is a peanut free facility, but Jackson's allergies are to tree nuts and they are extremely severe. I was on Pinterest yesterday, which is something I so rarely do, and I stumbled unintentionally to a blog post about back to school preparations for kids with food allergies. God is so good to even use blogs to help guide and direct us! :)

Using tips and resources provided on the post, I began putting together a better, more detailed allergy kit. Target has this first aid container that is the perfect size for all of the items I need to send with Jackson!

It has his epinephrine injectors, prednisone, his inhaler, antihistamine and his allergy bracelet.

I printed off this handy form that will be in his kit, along with the nurse and teacher. 

I purchased some Oreo packages to send with Jackson so that when people bring birthday treats, he can still have a special snack that is assuredly safe for him to eat. I feel much more at ease! The staff is great at the school and is eager to help in keeping Jackson as safe as possible. 

It's hard to relinquish control over every little aspect in the lives of my kiddos, but I know it's part of my job as a mom. Jackson is ready to spread his wings a little bit and it's just what he needs! This preschool preparation is just as much for me as it is for Jackson! :) 

Preschool Prep!

Saturday evening, Derek and I enjoyed a nice impromptu date night! Honestly, the kids were driving me bonkers {to be fair, I worked until 2am the night before so my patience level was VERY low…} and I just couldn’t deal with all the talking or kid whining! I sent out a quick text to our babysitter and thankfully she was available and was over within the hour.

I was craving some Texas Roadhouse, but there just aren’t any close and I didn’t want to drive forty minutes. Derek found a place called Logan’s Steakhouse and it was exactly what I was in the mood for. It totally hit the spot. We headed over to Barnes and Noble and we browsed a little bit together, but I bailed when he started reading computer magazines.

As most parents do, we did spend a good portion of the evening talking about the kids—how cute they are and the funny things they do. And I spent a good portion of browsing time checking out preschool curriculum for Jackson because I’m wanting to start something this fall.

…and then I stumbled across the clearance section! I found this preschool kit for $12 {originally $49.00}! I am so excited about it! And it was the one thing I allowed myself to buy that night.
 

I was kind of planning on putting it away until I really started planning a “school” time in our day, but I just couldn’t wait. And Jackson just loved it. Here’s what we did this afternoon.

Jackson colored {with black, his favorite color, of course}

The coloring pages are waxy, so the crayons can be wiped off and used again. The lines of the picture are raised so it helps teach how to color in the lines. {The crayons are a mega fail—Jackson can barely hold the two inch ones that came with it!}

This was a cool activity and Jackson loved it. The letter cards slide behind the gel pack and Jackson would trace it with his finger and then when you take the card out—you can see the letter.

Jackson loved this activity—alphabet fishing! In fact, after nap, he opted to not watch a tv show that I allowed him in order to play this again… WOW! He is really good with letter recognition and he had fun spelling his name. And it was definitely good practice for his motor skills.

And he had fun spelling other names too…

And then he played with the reusable sticker shapes to make the pictures. This was definitely the most challenging as he was pretty upset when his little rectangle wasn’t exactly like the picture. I told him it would just take practice. He did have fun and asked to do this after nap as well.

 

I think I got a steal of a deal for $12! It came with a nice instruction book for lots of activity ideas using these supplies and a really nice organizing case too!

But, I’m curious about what preschool curriculum/activities you use! I’m not concerned about his knowledge as much as I would like to help teach him how to sit and work on something for more than just a few short minutes. And I won’t ever commit to something super regimented or complex. Just something fun, but educational! Thoughts?!?