Jayla Starts Pre-School

September 7th marked Jayla's first day of school.
She was SUPER excited!!!!

Daddy took the morning off so he could take her on her very first day.

Mommy of course, had to miss out because of school!! I made Jayla get ready nice and early, for a photo opp. Thankfully I had a short day of clinicals so I was able to pick her up :-)

At school, before Daddy said his goodbyes.
We all thought Jayla was going to cry on her first day. She's never been in the care of anyone besides Grandma and Nana. Well, she didn't cry!! I got the call from daddy that she was such a big girl, she walked away from daddy, waving goodbye with nothing but smiles on her face. This made mommy cry (daddy cried too). We are so proud of our big girl!!

Jayla and one of her teachers, Miss Daye.

What school does to my child... I'm sure you all know she hates sleep!!

Jayla attends a small intimate pre-school with only 17 kids, ages 3-5. After months and months of searching for the perfect school, we found the COOLEST place. We put Jayla on a wait-list before she turned 3, because we knew it would take forever to get into this school. Thankfully she was accepted, but only because they opened up a second school! I couldn't imagine taking her any other place.

Some of the things I absolutely love about her school:

1. They still say the pledge of allegiance every morning :-)
2. The kids must have a packed lunch daily, so they get in the habit of being responsible for their own lunches (opening and all).
3. They follow dysart school district's curriculum.
4. They have PE, art, and music classes (all taught by teachers from the local elementary school)
5. They do a food drive over the holidays and take the kids down to a shelter to help feed the homeless (it was on the news last year :-)).
6. The drop-off/pick-ups are just like the real deal. You pull up in a single line, waiting your turn to drop off your kid and watch them walk away to school (how nice is it to NOT get out).
7. Jayla's teachers are the SWEETEST people you will ever meet.
8. They believe in a safe environment which includes, being SANITARY; constant washing of the hands/hand sanitizer. When we toured the school, kids were put on different duties of the week. If even one kid sneezed/picked their nose/etc, the teacher was getting "Germinator" to walk over with the hand-sanitizer to disperse to the kid. They also, have a red/yellow/green light behavioral program, which means 3 reds and you are kicked out of the school. They've only needed to kick one kid out for biting (this was before Jayla's time).
9. I was HIGHLY impressed with their educational program. They are VERY structured and organized! Nothing like I've seen before.
10. Jayla LOVES it!

Mommy ditched school one morning to drop her off, and this was the fun we had while waiting....

So far Jayla really LOVES school! She is excited to go, and excited to tell me all about it when her day ends. She has made several new friends, mostly boys (just like her mama). Mathew, Hudson, and Tyler are the ones she talks about the most. And then she occasionally talks about Kayla and Emily. She told us one day that a boy with "orange hair" stole her grapes during lunch. I laughed, and daddy was ready to have a little chat with a four year old. HAHA!
She LOVES PE, music, and art. I think she loves those days the best. She's participated in show and tell, and a bear hunt. She's already learned so much like, her alphabet in sign language, knowing what sounds go to which letters (she points to her books and sounds out the letters, as if she is about to start reading the words, it's so cute), how to write several letters, how to tell time (there's more but she already knew them)... Most important, she's come home with a green star everyday!!! Jayla on good behavior! WHAT?! I need to take notes from her teacher-HA!

You are welcome for the Jayla update ;-)