First Week at Montessori

Last week was Beanie's first week at the Montessori school.  It was a mixed bag week for us both as expected.

The drop off was awful!

The first day my Dad came with us since I had a bunch of stuff to carry (diapers, etc). I had been told to keep the drop off short and sweet, but it was much too abrupt for my liking. They said Hi, took Beanie who burst into tears and they basically asked me to leave. I did not have a  chance to even say a word to the teacher about what she had eaten, when she woke up, etc.  As I walked away Beanie started screaming, seeing her frightened face was so upsetting to me.  I burst into tears as I walked away with my poor Dad following behind, not knowing what to do.

We sat in the car for about 15  minutes. They had said that if a child cries for more than 10-15 minutes they would call the parent. I did not get a  call and by the time  got home, I got a text from her teacher saying she was fine. When I picked her up she seemed happy, playing outside. The teachers were very happy with her and really impressed at how well she did on her first day.

As I mentioned the teachers are all known to me so that evening I called the lead teacher and talked a bit about the drop off, food, etc. They apparently like to have the drop off be really quick - a hug, kiss, bye. The teacher said that if I had anything to mention, eg. B has a diaper rash, or did not sleep well etc, to text her.

Weird I know!

But I have to say both she and the other teacher has been super nice answering all my questions, texting me (or my Mom) Beanie's pics during the day...so I know she is in good hands.

The next day the drop off was worse:-(

I had been warned that it usually is. Beanie clung to me crying desperately. Her little hands clutching at my shirt and I had basically had to prise her fingers open. It was HORRIBLE :-(

I sobbed all the way home!!

As soon as I got in (15 min later) I got the text saying she was fine and asking how I was doing. The teacher complimented me that I was very calm with Beanie even during the hysterics and followed their instructions of just handing her over very well.  I told her I was an emotional wreck but seeing her text and knowing that Beanie was working on a  puzzle made me feel so much better.

Wed was similar to Tue, crying, clutching and fingers being pried open, but no tears from me.  Thursday was just some crying from Beanie, about 1-2  minutes. Her shoe had dropped off in the car, so by the time I walked down the driveway to get it and back, she was not crying.  And Friday no crying (from either of us!!!).

Tomorrow (Monday) will probably be back to Square 1....I expect her to cry but hopefully not the heart rending screams.

She is liking it there I think. They spend a  lot to time outdoors in a shaded play area with lots of trees and nature. She seems happy when I pick her up and even on the first day was happy holding on to different teacher's hands in the playground.  They all know my Mom so wanted to meet her.

Mid-week when I picked her up she was playing with an older girl who was "mothering" her. I think its nice she gets to interact during afternoon playtime with the older kids (4-5 years old).  When we were leaving the school to go home one afternoon, some of the older kids said "Bye Beanie" and Beanie waved at them - awwww!

The challenging part has been for me to adjust to the new school .

 In the old school B was in the infant room so they were very structured. I would get a daily record of how many diaper changes, what type (pee/poop) and when? What she ate and when, and how much? When she napped etc?  And what she did during the day?

This place does not do that, so I feel "blind" in a way since I don't know things like if she pooped at school or not, or other stuff. Nap times and meal times are now scheduled so I don't need to know that, but its still hard for me to go from so much info, to nothing.  I would love to know how much she ate for example. They send back anything she has not eaten so I figured that out.

Also, the other school had cameras so I could log in to watch her during the day which this school does not have.

Additionally, since B is still being introduced to new foods, we decided that I would send two snacks and lunch each day. Normally snacks are provided by the school. But the teachers are worried that they would not know what Beanie has eaten before or not. I agreed, it is just easier for the next month or so as I introduce things to her. We did strawberries yesterday - yay!.

The most frustrating things has been the milk. Beanie is drinking organic, school provides regular so I have been sending her milk in a bottle so they can pour out how much they want. I have not had time to get a regular bottle so using baby drinking bottles and sending 8oz. I explained this to the teachers but the entire week they kept sending 4-5 oz back which I had to chuck down the drain since I was not sure how long it had been out (waiting for me to pick her up).

I was getting really annoyed with the waste. Finally I decided to send about 3oz in  a small bottle since B does not usually drink milk during school hours, She has 8oz in the morning, about 6 oz around 4pm after she comes home, then 8 oz at night and 4-6oz around 3am. So, she is getting enough of milk.

But by law, they have to offer it to her so I send a  bit each day.

Then the sippy cup kept coming back when the point was for them to keep it, so she could use her own cup in school.

Lastly the school had drop off in the mornings from 8-9am. Since this was B's first week I wanted to walk her in and not hand her off to a teacher on the curb. That meant dropping her later than normal, usually it would be around 8:15-8:30am so that needed some adjustment as well.

So, small stuff like that which was really annoying because it was different from what I was used to, but I was able to talk with the teacher each day in the evenings and we sorted it out. She is really nice and wanting to make sure that Beanie is comfortable.


 I don't expect to be calling/texting the teacher as much as last week since I too am now understanding their system a bit better.

But such growing pains are to be expected when one transitions to another place that has its own way of doing things. Hopefully things will settle down and we will get into the groove.

The teachers are thrilled with Beanie and really impressed at how she can communicate by signing or shaking her head yes/no which makes things so much easier for everyone. They felt she did amazingly well in her first week, no crying jags which they see frequently in new kids (except the drop off) and very happy and busy with the puzzles and "work". They are really happy with her :-)