Preschool Review.

Its hard to believe that my girl is done preschool for the year! Even harder to believe that next year she will begin kindergarten! This has been a huge year in terms of growth, change and getting used to the whole school routine (something Mommy is still desperately trying to get the knack of). Tomorrow is the big year end party, held at a farm of one of the teachers. Its currently raining, so I'm thinking it might be a muddy, farm party. I imagine the kids won't be bothered in the slightest.

I thought I would share some pictures from over this past year. Our little lady is growing up!

First day of preschool

Preschool Hallowe'en party. For the entire month of October they would stir the cauldron each class, singing a special song. It was only on the day before Hallowe'en that the spell "finally" worked and the cauldron was filled with bon bons. The teacher had an impressive cackle to go along with the song. It was priceless.

It was also during this year that Abbi was referred to Wally's School which really was the highlight of her year. This program did wonders for Abbi's classroom behavior and overall self-esteem. This is Abbi with her favorite teacher, Miss Jen.

For Abbi's preschool Christmas party, they had Mr. & Mrs. Claus come in to see the kids. Abbi still talks about how Santa "knew" her name. Too cute.

This is Abbi and her aide, Colleen. She was instrumental in helping with Abbi's success over the school year. She helped Abbi transition between tasks and worked with her during activities.
During the winter months, the classrom did a unit called Anicouni, focusing on First Nations history. I'm still amazed that at this age they are already instilling an awareness of the first people's of this land. They toured the Alberta Museum and their First Nations display on a field trip. They used the story of a boy named Anicouni to help make it more understandable to the kids. This is Abbi at their party where they all got dressed in appropriate garb, and even did a sweet grass circle. The teacher got permission from a local elder to burn it.
This is a youtube video of a little one singing the song, seriously adorable.

Abbi also got to have her birthday during the month of May (even though its in July). Regardless of when their birthday was, each child got to celebrate it at school. On this day she got to be "chef" which is a very special privilege, that she got to share with her good friend, "A."
This is Abbi, Mlle. Lisa & "A."
This is a picture of some of the art that Abbi did over the year. We were very lucky and got a special memory book that was put together by the Early Learning Team. I know that we will all treasure it for years to come. It contains pictures of Abbi throughout the year and a samples of her artwork.
It has been a very full year. Filled with lots of challenges and successes. We are all excited for kindergarten. Abbi has come a long way in regards to classroom routine and transitions, and although we know there are still challenges in this area, we are just amazed to look back at the past 9 months and see how far she's come.

Way to go little girl!