Elise's Preschool Learnings

It's been a little over 6 weeks since Elise started preschool and what a huge difference it has made. At school, she is so independent that we can hardly believe it's our Elise. A typical day involves cutting fruit for snack time, watering plants, setting the table for lunch, washing the dishes after each meal and clearing the table. At a school meeting recently, we were given a list of things that kids her age could actually do around the house. Things like make their bed, sort laundry, unload/load the dishwasher, help prep for dinner, make a sandwich, and bathe and dress themselves. The Montessori philosophy is very much about building self-confidence and teaching practical life skills very early on. So every day, we throw the clock out the window and let her try something on the list. It takes a looong time and there is some frustration on her part, and even a big mess, but you can't miss the beaming smile and pride she gets from doing it all by herself.

Her vocabulary has more than doubled and she is super curious. Her teachers say that she is constantly asking questions in class. Around the house, it's no different. "What's this, Mama?" "What you doing, Mama?" "What happened, Mama?" We have to be careful of what we say now because our little parrot has perky, sharp ears and our "adult" conversations are easily overhead and repeated.

The toddler years are definitely filled with contradictions and schizophrenia. Elise still throws tantrums when she doesn't get her way, and to look at her from the outside, she looks absolutely possessed and unrecognizable. We had a particularly bad moment a couple of weeks ago that had her running and crying down the street with Mom running behind her in heels. It was a typical scene we've all witnessed in some public place: a screaming toddler and an embarrassed parent trying to calm their child while assuring the gawking strangers that they were not abusing/kidnapping their kid. But there are other moments when she is full of giggles and all she wants is a hug and kiss from Mom that the term "terrible twos" become a distant memory. Even her pronunciation and sweet voice are such a joy to hear.

Some of our favorite phrases and actual pronunciations are:

"E-yeast (Elise) be right back, o-tay?"
"I yabba (wash) hands"
"E-yeast no like"
"Mama Dada sta-hay (stay)"
"Miss Pizza (Trisha, Elise's preschool teacher)
"Wader-belon (Watermelon)"
"I did it!"
"I wake up!"