Parent Teacher Conference

I LOVE JACK'S DAYCARE!

I don't think I can say it enough. When Jack and I moved to Boise in June, I went to every daycare within 15 miles of our house.
Every. Single. One.
I printed out my GoogleMap, I took a pen and I drove by - if it looked clean, I went in. If the grass was dead and the play equipment was sun-bleached and/or broken, I kept driving and crossed the name off my list. Believe it or not you can gather a lot about a daycare center by the state of it's playground.

I decided to go with BSU's Children's Center for a number of reasons: cleanliness, accredited by a national association(Ooo, Ahh), lower cost for students (chaching!), I wouldn't have to pack lunches (trust me, it's better that way), they teach based on a creative curriculum, and it is centrally located to work, school, and Dad's. Perfect!

Alright, back to my story....

The center places the children under three in infant/toddler classrooms. Jack is in the third class, the older group, and will be put into the preschool class room next August and continue to move up with his age group until he starts kindergarten. The daycare uses the creative curriculum to structure their lesson plans and track the progress of the kids they care for. The teachers use a software program associated with the curriculum that allows them to track his progress based on a variety of milestones. They can check off certatin milestones - such as counting to 5 - and compare all of the kids in the class to see where they need to focus. It's really quite cool.

So at parent teacher conference, Miss Leslie met with Corey and me to talk about Jack's progress. She had a few pages of pictures they took of Jack (see below), and a print out of the milestone track sheet she used for him with her comments.

Overall, Jack is right on track, if not ahead, for his age. Here's a breakdown of his accomplishments:

Physical

- Jack can jump with both feet off the floor
- Jack can go up and down stairs, alternating feet, without a railing or help
- Jack can peddle his bike forward; the trikes at daycare can go forward or backward
- Jack can climb, run, walk backwards, gallop (slowly), and stand on either foot
- Jack can do puzzles, color, and stack blocks

Miss Leslie mentioned that she has to really watch him at the playgrounds because he has no fear. She said that he climbed up a rock wall (like the one at the park by our house) then said, "Dak dump down" and was going to jump back down instead of climbing. He loves to explore different ways for getting from one place to another.

Social

- Jack is acknowledging others' feelings and how he effects them
- Jack is playing pretend
- Jack is beginning to share
- Jack recognizes people and calls them by name

Jack makes sure kids are okay if they fall down or are crying. He loves to play with the trucks and small cars during free-play - he even puts them in the Louis Vuitton purse (good choice!) to keep the other kids from taking them. He also likes to "cook" for others in the kitchen area. Miss Leslie said that he has started to ask for toys from others when they are finished playing. He also calls his teachers 'Miss Leslie' or 'Miss Terry'.

Emotional

- Jack gets sad when Mom drops him off
- Jack gets frustrated when others take his toys without asking
- Jack is not overly aggressive or whiny

Jack is the happiest kid. He has been so much better at drop offs the past couple weeks - he hasn't cried when I leave in at least 2 weeks. We have been working on going right to the activity set up when he arrives instead of saying goodbye twelve times and watching me walk down the hallway. He is more tense when he is tired or has just woken up but is easy to reason with and calm down.

Cognative

- Jack speaks in sentences
- Jack can count to 8
- Jack can recognize shapes and colors
- Jack can sing the ABCs and other songs with a group
- Jack remembers EVERYTHING
- Jack recognizes physical differences; ie. big v. little, short v. tall

Jack can talk! He tells me the funniest stories and uses longer sentences. He can point to a shape or color when asked, but will tell you either "blue" or "purple" when asked what color something is, or "circle" when asked the shape. Jack has been hanging out with two of the older boys in his class. His teacher commented that it's like he has realized that they are more independent than the others and he wants to be like them. A lot of the things he can do now he has learned from watching them.

The only things she suggested we work with him on were potty training and his colors.

I'm such a proud Momma I could just explode!