Mara's teacher came for a visit...

And she was really nice. She immediately had something for her and Mara to do together. They pasted Mara's name onto two different papers, and later, we're to paste pictures on the papers, as well. One will be the nametag for Mara's mail box; the other for Mara's cubby space. She asked Mara about her favorite color and song, and then told her about colors and songs Mara will see and hear in the classroom.

We were able to ask all of our questions, including making plans for Mara's birthday celebration the first Friday of school. They have a little ceremony where someone holds a candle representing the Sun and Mara get's to hold the globe and walk around the sun 3 times to show that she is 3 years old. The other students stand in a circle to be the 12 months. Then, we can show pictures of Mara as a newborn, 1, 2, and recent for 3. We can take fruit or something healthy for a snack. We found out that the teacher is allergic to wheat, so we will not take Oatmeal cookies, as I had planned. I guess, instead, we'll take fresh fruit and cheese. Does that sound okay?

Mara will be one of about 8 returning students in a classroom of 20ish. Most of the returning students are coming back to the same classroom, but others are moving up from younger classes in the same school. The class is pretty young, but Mara will probably be one of the youngest, since she's just now turning 3. She said they will help Mara remember to go potty and they have nice things to do for upset children. She said that last year she had a student who had a hard time separating from parents in the mornings, so they sat down each morning and wrote a note to the parents telling them how much she missed them and put it in her tote bag to take home. She said that helped her calm down and then the child could participate with the rest of the class. She did reassure me that they will call parents if a child is inconsolable--although I don't expect that of Mara. She's far too sociable to really have trouble adjusting.

By the end of the visit, Mara didn't want Ms. Margaret to leave. She was calling her by name, touching her shoulder to get her attention, and kissed her and hugged her good-bye. I think Mara is going to feel very comfortable in her classroom. Cade and I both feel better after getting to know the teacher, and next week, we parents have an orientation where we'll get to meet all the other parents. That will also be nice for us--adult interaction!

I'm looking forward to how cool this school will be for Mara!