Pre-school

We've picked a pre-school. They've been accepted. Today I had to fill out a get-to-know-you form for each girl.

They are pretty good snap shots of behavior right now, so I thought I'd record them for posterity.

Voila:

·         What are your child's favorite activities, games, or hobbies? *

• T: puzzles, dancing, singing, running, reading, pretend play
• H: pretend play, singing, dancing, running, reading, dress-up

·         Does your child have any special fears? 

• T: *NO
• H: She can be sensitive about pooping in the potty.

·         When your child is upset, what works to comfort him/her? *

• T: She takes adversity very personally so it helps to let her know that you are on her side and not mad at her when things go wrong. She likes to have her "owies" kissed and she likes hugs and high-fives.
• H: Once she gets going it is very hard to calm her down. If she is emotionally upset then distraction works best. She gets more upset when she is hungry and that is often the real cause of her blow-ups. She doesn't regulate her food intake well (will refuse to eat occasionally) so this happens more often than it should.  She also likes to be held. She has a beat up doll she calls "Lovey Super Lovey" that can help too.

·         What kinds of support does your child need to help him/her with toileting?

• T: She currently wears pull-ups at nap time and bed time but she can put them on and take them off herself. She needs to be reminded to go "potty" during intense play, especially outdoor play. If she has an accident she will generally let you know right away and ask for help. She has a lovey that helps to comfort her.
• H: She is reluctant to poop in the potty but she will do it if not pressured about it. She still wears pull-ups at nap and night time. She can dress and undress herself but prefers not to and will fuss about it. We plan to wean the pull-ups from nap time before school starts.

·         Is there any additional information which would help us to better know your child?

• T: She likes to have concentrated play. She can focus on one thing, like a puzzle, for a long period of time (10-40 minutes). She likes to have alone time to read or play with puzzles and can be perfectly happy doing that for a half hour by herself. She also loves to sing loudly. This can be distracting. She does not like to perform on cue.
• H: Hero has an unusual personality. She is playful and funny and sulky and obstinate. Mostly, she is like a cat: hard to herd. We call her our "content generator". She takes in information and makes it her own. For example, we know she can count and tell colors apart but if you ask her to identify something she will only give you the right answer if she feels like it. Mostly, she will make up a non-sequitor answer.

·         How are you as a parent feeling about your child's first day of school?

• T: I'm excited to see how she reacts. I think it will be a very good thing for her. She and her twin, Hero, have recently started to get a little isolated; for example, when they met up with a friend to play recently they would only play with each other and excluded him. I hope that they can learn to have other friends, while still staying friends themselves.
• H: I have concerns that she will cling and cry and be very hard to handle the first couple of hours/days. She will likely be better once we leave but she may need to/want to stay with her sister until she is comfortable. She is an extrovert (wants to be with others all the time) but she is also quite shy.

·         Do you or your family have any special interest/talents or customs/traditions that could be incorporated into the program regularly or as part of a special activity?

o    I am a playwright and theatre director. I am interested in writing plays for very young audiences so if that would be of help or interest, let me know. My husband is an electronic music composer, AVID amateur paleontologist and astronomy buff. As a family we are very interested in myths and folk tales from all cultures. Our daughters were named after relatively obscure figures from ancient Greek mythology.