Welcome to the Turtle Class

On August 23rd, Joshua will be in a new classroom, with new teachers and new friends! It is hard to believe that Joshua has been going and loving this school for a year now! Since, Joshua was born in 2007 he is the oldest in his class right now, so the school decided that it would benefit him more if he skipped the 2 year old class and went right into the 3 yr old class, also known as The Turtle Class. Dan and I agree that this is probably the best thing for him to do, but I know it is going to be a big adjustment, because he is going to not move with any of his friends from the class he is in now and he will have to make all new friends, which isn't a bad thing, but Joshua is a very structured kiddo and doesn't handle change very well, but I know he will adjust beautifully. He will become completely comfortable with his new teachers and make new friends, just like he did while he was in the Teddy Bear class.

Over the past couple of weeks, Ms. Elaine(his favorite) has been taking him over to The Turtle class to meet his new teacher, Ms. Joelene(JoJo) and get accustomed to going to that class. He was not happy about it! I guess he will just have to do it cold turkey come August 23rd. He does wave to Ms. JoJo and say hello now, so that is a huge step. They have given us a "jump start" packet, so we could read over and get an idea of what goals they will be teaching and trying to reach over the school year.

There are 4 main goals that the teacher will try to achieve with each student during the school year and they are as follows:

Goal #1: Reinforce Social and Emotional Development

Example: making choices between 2 or more things, taking turns, table manners, learning how to appropriately interact with peers and teachers.

Goal #2: Potty Training(HOORAY!!!!!) Potty Training will be the main focus for the first 2-3 months. Let me tell you how excited I am about this goal, SUPER EXCITED. Hopefully, it will help seeing other kids go to the potty and make Joshua want to do the same!!

Goal #3: Reinforcing Fine and Large Motor Skills

Example: cutting with scissors(age appropriate ones), learning how to properly hold a crayon/pencil, putting simple puzzles together, walking in a line, etc.

Goal #4: Intellectual Development

Example: Following simple directions, learning colors, body parts, numbers, begin matching shape, color and size, asking who, what, when and where questions, etc.

I am so excited for Joshua to start this new class with his new teacher and friends! He has learned and gained so much from being in this school! I am so happy that we found this school for Joshua to attend!

Be sure to check back on Aug. 23rd to see how Joshua's first day as a Turtle went!