Good Job

I am amazed at all that was taught at Almi's daycare. She knows so much for her age, especially being a second language learner. I can definitely praise them for this. I am so proud of her. Here she is entertaining herself one afternoon with an old calendar:



I do think, though, that the focus on academics meant they didn't get enough time to play. Play is so important for children this age. Play is their work. In play, children can develop their social skills, their language and their imaginations. They can learn how to solve problems, negotiate and reason. Through play they can explore, manipulate, experiment and create. In her current daycare, their outdoor play time amounted to about an hour a day and with everything she has learned I imagine a large chunk of their day was focused on sitting and learning. As happy as I am with all she has learned, I know there is a lot of room for growth and development. She hasn't had enough opportunities to discover things on her own and she doesn't get enough time to be active. As a parent, I could have certainly filled in these gaps, but being a busy-single-impatient-over extended-exhausted-preparing-to-move-overseas parent, I haven't had the time to provide this for her and I feel badly about that. I am also 100% positive with more physical activity and a more diverse daily schedule her behavior will also improve. (By the way, no one looked at me sideways when they saw me Monday morning and when I brought it up to a few people they all said it was totally normal toddler behavior and that they didn't even really notice. Ha! That was nice of them. But in retrospect I do think that she was just having fun and it got out of control. And that I need to not be so uptight).

On my end I am going to enroll her in sports in the fall. I don't know what's available but I am leaning towards soccer, gymnastics and swimming. In addition, we will be at the pool and beach a lot and out walking around and exploring our new surrounding together. It will be good for both of us. Meanwhile, her new school subscribes to a play-based philosophy so she will be exposed to so many new things. I am thrilled! Included in her weekly schedule are the following activities:

clay & dough
drawing
collage
painting
blocks
role play/drama
reading/books
singing
dance
water play
sand play
physical play

I am beyond ready to get her into a different school environment and I feel so fortunate to have this opportunity. I hope this new schedule will help with her behavior and with her sleep. She has decided that going to sleep is no fun and is now getting only about 9 or 10 hours (including nap) down from 12 or 13. I am sure the need for sleep is an integral factor. Next week starts the summer program at the daycare where there are field trips and more creative activities and outdoor play. It will be interesting to see if this new schedule helps.

What kind of school setting do you (or did you) have your three year old in? Do you think it impacted his/her behavior or sleep? Do you use Melatonin or can you recommend a natural sleep aid?