Adjustment Complete

I thought some of you might like to know what Ayden's been up to,
so here are some pictures I took at his open house. Above: He has to tear paper into strips. The trick is to make a straight line, not just rip the paper. Try it! If you simply tear it, it curves. You have to use both thumbs and index fingers and slowly work your way down the paper. This builds his finger strength for writing later on.

A test of precision.
Ayden has to scoop the rice in the spoon and place it in the other bowl without spilling.
Miss Vickers said that he was sneaky on the first day of school and hurried and picked up the bowl, dumped the rice in the other bowl and yelled "FINISHED!"
She saw the whole thing and it cracked her up.

Cutting paper into small strips.
Ayden was already a pro with the scissors, so I'm sure he loves this one.

Making bubbles with an egg beater.Ayden's favorite: tools! Every nut and bolt has to be matched to the right size.
Miss Vickers says the boys all LOVE this one. There are more, like pinching wooden clothespins and clamping them around the rim of a small basket. Another is using a hole punch-both of these are very hard for small hands and also build writing strength.

The way Montessori style teaching works: The teacher demonstrates how to do the various activities, then the children are given the freedom to choose which things they want to "play" with. They are allowed to play with anything that has been shown to them, but they can't touch the "toys" that haven't been featured. There are no desks assigned-they can sit on the floor if they choose to-and they can talk to eachother while they "play". The teacher just keeps an eye on them to make sure they're using everything correctly. No lecturing! I think this is the perfect atmosphere for Ayden at this age. He's loving it now that he's adjusted to his new schedule. He has only had two rough mornings, which were last week. This week we have been dropping him off at the curb, and he walks to his class by himself. We're so proud of him! He tells us the funniest things when we pick him up. The latest is, "Mommy, it's not a lunch room. It's a cappateria!" Miss Vickers tells me that he made friends with what she calls the Paco Tan Clan. I haven't fully solved this mystery yet, but I saw Paco's parents today. They are Asian, I know that much. This case is still open. Updates will follow. Ian and I have been having a good ol' time at home after we drop off Ayden. It's alot more quiet, but Ian is a little chatterbox. He waddles around the house and talks baby jibberish non-stop. He naps from 11 to 2:30, then we go pick up "brubba" from school. Did you calculate that? I have 3 1/2 hours of alone time!!!!!!!! So far I've been spending that time reading, watching tv, surfing the internet, and occasionally cleaning-this list is in the order of my preference! So, yes, things are going well. It was difficult for all of us to adjust to our new schedule -I was quite emotional myself-but we're getting the hang of it now.