In 2006, when Aaron was still 3, we decided it was in Aaron's best interest to attend pre-school. For parents who cried when he moved out of our room at 4 months old, this was difficult. The choice of who to trust with such a precious person was one we took seriously. David did not want a religious pre-school, neither of us wanted the snooty pre-school, but we also needed to be practical. Our number one concern was safety followed by nurturing and creative.
Now 2 years later we believe we struck gold with Little One's Day Out. It is a service of the Columbia United Church of Christ (while that is a religion, it is open enough for David's acceptance and they rarely discussed any religious issue with the children). As with all child education, however, it truly is dependent on the teacher and Aaron has had a wonderful teacher that knows the kids well and provides an amazing balance of nurture and confidence building. Last Friday Aaron graduated from pre-school. In January he wasn't ready and talk of kindergarten made him nervous. By graduation, he was mentally and emotionally ready and had already played confidently at what will be his elementary school in August.
In his 2 years at pre-school, Aaron has grown in confidence and knowledge. He was the fastest kid in pre-school. Aaron got along with the younger kids and the older kids. We were told "everyone wants to be Aaron's friend" but you would not know it from the way he treats everyone equally. He would sometimes "protect" William but they also played and worked independently. Aaron was literally such the perfect kid at pre-school that his teacher was pleased (and surprised) when Aaron showed a mischievous side in recent months.
He's a special boy and loved dearly.
William goes there too, of course, and still has 2 years to go. He was happy for Aaron, but also sad about not having Aaron there next year. We cannot yet imagine how difficult that will be for William. He was avoiding the issue, and everyone else, on graduation day.
One last note: David posted this for Casey, so I thought I would take the chance to post a picture from last week of the beautiful mother of these beautiful boys.
5 comments:
What beautiful pictures! I have already expressed my disbelief to Casey that Aaron could possibly be graduating from preschool. It seems like just yesterday, we were all sitting there watching him reach every baby milestone all by himself! What an amazing five and a half years!
It is fun to read and see his continued growth (physical, intellecutual, emotional, etc.). I'm glad he's across the street for Sophia.
Congrats to Aaron and his parents. Nicely done.
Ahhh.... congratulations! It won't be long and you'll be preparing for high school like we are... :-(
I am glad Aaron had such a great teacher. Its great to know teacher still make a difference for the kids. He looks so grown up now days. Haven't seen them for a long while.
What a great post about Aaron...we have enjoyed getting to know him this past year and are excited to hear about all of his kindergarten endeavors!
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