Three Weeks In

Our intrepid little explorer has wrapped up three weeks in his new school. He is doing great! We have been blown away by how easily and quickly he has adjusted to his new surroundings.

He loves water day – “beach day” – at school and excitedly points out the splash pad when we pick him up. He also talks a lot about the housekeeping center and has a favorite spot on the kid-sized couch to reach stories.

There are usually no tears in the morning! This is a big change from his last school. He goes in and as long as he follows his exact routine – favorite table, Baba behind him in his chair, teacher bringing breakfast to him – he does great. Mommy (or Daddy) do not linger, as that does tends to result in a few tears.

He still asks to go to “new school” each day, which we take as a sign that he likes it. His teachers say that he is adjusting well. They’ve commented on his good behavior, sweet personality and willingness to help out.

We are loving how close it is to our house – only four minutes away! It’s made a world of difference in our commutes, for starters. “I really miss spending three hours a day commuting” – said no one ever in the whole history of time. We’ve also seen a difference in L.J.’s behavior in the evenings. He’s generally happier and more agreeable. (Let’s be honest: so are his parents.)

There are definitely differences between his new school and his old school, which we are adjusting to. I like to say that his old school was like going to Grandma’s – lots of snuggles and playtime with educational components and (loving) discipline. His new school is more like, well, school. It’s bigger. It’s a bit more “regulated” if that makes sense. And the educational curriculum is stronger.

We love the educational part. We miss the “family discipline” of his old school and worry about the influence some of the kids may end up having on Landon.

Here’s an example: I was picking him up the other day and one of the little boys was swinging a play purse around, hitting it against things. The aide just kept saying, “Max, please be careful.” Max ignored her.

In his old school, Max would have done that, been told not to do it immediately, and if he continued the purse would be taken away and Max would be redirected to a new activity.

It was the end of the day – so maybe the aide was just done for the day – but I’ve seen a few times on the Internet monitor where some discipline was needed but not administered.

Mike and I have to remind ourselves that there were no Internet cameras at his last school, so it’s really not fair to make comparisons based on that. After all, all we saw was what was going on when we were there.

Do I like having the Internet camera available? Yes. I check in a couple times a day. They are in and out of the room a lot, so it’s hit or miss if I get to see him. Always makes me smile when I do though!

The camera has been reassuring for me during this change, but if it went away tomorrow it wouldn’t be a big deal. We’re used to not having one, so it’s still kind of a  novelty to us.

Overall, we’re happy with his school and he appears happy to be there. Here’s to hoping things continue to go well!