Pod 4

I see Kindergarten off in the distance.....

Yesterday MacKenzy made a transition that is putting her on the path to starting school, in two years. Playworks, where she goes to daycare, is sectioned off in Pods. Pod 1 is made up of babies 6wks to around 16 months. They move onto Pod 2 once they are developmentally ready...eating without assistance, walking, etc.

Pod 2 is a huge transition! On day one they set a cup in front of the kids and expect them to figure out how to drink out of it. For the first two weeks MacKenzy came home a mess! She figured it out though. Pod 2 is also where they start potty training. Peer pressure is such a great thing at this age! It may have taken a year but she's potty trained. Those teachers have some serious patience!

Just after MacKenzy's 2nd birthday she moved up to Pod 3. This move was a much needed move! Her favorite teacher from Pod 2 moved there about a month before, and then so did most of her friends. She was stuck back where she was the oldest only because she wasn't 2 yet. Every day for about a month was a nightmare. Drop offs were rarely full of smiles, and she kept to herself or fought with the other kids. It wasn't fun for anybody! I personally sat down with the manager and expressed my incredible desire for her to move up. They moved her up the first Monday after her 2nd birthday and she was a happy kid again!

She has now been in Pod 3 for just over 15 months. She went in as a toddler, and now is very much a little girl! The things that come out of her mouth are unreal...I have to remind myself that she's only 3!

Yesterday was her first day in Pod 4- the PRE-Pre-K program! She is leaving behind her favorite teacher, but the upside is that she's in the same class as her little boy friend, Chase. She's pretty excited about that! At first, when she learned that Ms. Amy (her teacher) wouldn't be moving she told me she didn't want to go. I quickly reminded her that she could play with Chase all day in Pod 4. Her position changed.

She still gets to see Ms. Amy in the late afternoon when all of the kids in Pod 2-4 play together in the trike park- so at least it's not cold turkey! After school yesterday she was so excited to tell me about her day. She tattled on Jamison for not letting her play on the computer, but said that her and Chase played this and that, and napped by each other! (oh, God no)

This time next year she will enter into the official Pre-K program and she will be on her road to starting school! In the meantime we get another year of watching her grow into a magnificent little girl!