Bear Hollow Preschool



First Day of School

Gracie started her second year as a Bear Hollow Bear.

Gracie adores her teacher, Miss Molly.

Miss Molly had a Western Theme last year. And this year, for the 4 turning 5-year-olds, the theme is "Clowning Around with Learning Found." I was able to stay on her first day and help her work on an art project. Gracie has never been worried to have me leave. She is an independent little girl. When I waved goodbye on her first day, I blew kisses to a little girl. BUT when I came for pick-up...this is what I discovered! Red Clown Nose and all. For those of you who know Gracie's obsession with 'Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer', you can understand HOW excited she was to be showcasing a red nose!

Gracie has homework each night. She writes her name quite well, and is learning the phonetics of basic reading. I had a Parent/Teacher Conference earlier this week with Molly. She said Gracie is SO obedient in class. That's great to hear, because at times, we struggle with that at home. (But hey, she's four. So that's to be expected.) Molly also told me Gracie was the kindest and nicest student she has this year. I was so happy to hear that! Molly said that Gracie is almost too nice for her own good. Apparently, some of the other little ones make fun or exclude some students -- including Gracie. When this has happened Molly told me Gracie replies by saying,

"Please don't say those things. I just want to be your friend."

Melts my heart. After the Parent/Teacher Conference, I couldn't stop thinking about how a four-year-old would have to deal with bullying...in PRESCHOOL!! I remember kids being cruel from 4th grade on - Jr. High was terrible; but it seems our little ones have to deal with more and more at a younger age. We love Gracie, and we are happy she wants to include everyone.

Miss Grace has such an imagination. Last year, after coming home from teaching High School, our darling nanny we had at the time was giving me a rundown of what happened while I was away. After a long list of activities they had done she crinkled her nose a bit and said, "And we also played the Dinosaur Hatching Game. " (This is a Gracie original game.) Grace loves dinosaurs. She also loves to pretend to hatch out of an egg. So she had instructed our kind nanny to sit on top of her. Gracie, meanwhile, was curled up in a ball -- her back facing the ceiling. Gracie would then start wiggling to indicate she was about to hatch. Bahaaaa!! I was laughing just thinking of this 20-something babysitter going along with this. Surprisingly, she didn't even ask for a pay raise....and that was after Gracie forced her to watch our Wedding DVD two times in a row.

Our preschooler gets frustrated when she doesn't get her way. She got mad at me when I wouldn't let her eat a huge handful of Halloween Candy before dinner. She said,

"Mom (big dramatic sigh) you need to be sanitized!"

She obviously didn't understand what she was saying. She was really mad and thought that would get the point across. ;) She keeps us chuckling with her constant narrative. She is at a fun age.