Ms. Lisa's Preschool Prep

Last August, I received a flyer in the mail for a program called "Preschool Prep - the Preschool for Twos." In August, Reagan was only 21 months old, so we weren't sure if she was ready yet for preschool, but I figured it was worth looking into. I called the teacher and set up an appointment to meet her. The minute I met Ms. Lisa, I knew she would be the perfect teacher for Reagan. Ms. Lisa used to be an elementary school teacher and she has her masters degree in Special Ed ... she's definitely over-qualified to teach preschool to 2-year olds! I had an overwhelming feeling that Reagan just HAD to be in Ms. Lisa's class, but then I was nervous that she was too young and Ms. Lisa wouldn't accept her. After interacting with Reagan and talking to me for about 2 hours that day, Ms. Lisa told me she'd love to have Reagan in her class ... I was ecstatic! She has a wonderful preschool set up in the basement of her home (which is conveniently located right here in River Vale!), which provides such a warm, inviting atmosphere for Reagan. We signed her up for the program, which was only 2 days per week, for 2 hours each day (9-11am). Reagan's first day of preschool was September 25th and here are some pictures from then: Isn't it funny to see how much she's changed since September? When I pulled up these pictures, I was amazed how different she looked ... not different, just younger. See how short her hair was? As you can probably tell, I was pregnant with Avery at the time (33 1/2 weeks) The expression on Reagan's face right here is pretty funny ... it reminds me of an expression on my older sister Benee's face from a Fawson family portrait when we were young! My immediate family will know what I'm talking about: remember the outdoor picture where Benee is in the red dress and she has that scowl on her face? I think it's still hanging over the TV in Grandma & Grandpa's front room.Here's John with Reagan on the second day of preschool (9/26/07).


Reagan immediately bonded with Ms. Lisa, which wasn't hard to believe since she's one of the sweetest, most loving people I've ever met. There are 4 other children in Reagan's class and she treats each one with a great deal of love and care. Before Reagan started preschool, we had never left her with anyone other than family. She was our baby and we couldn't have left her with just anyone! But there's no one I'd trust more than Ms. Lisa ~ I know that Reagan is receiving the best possible care when she is there. On Tuesday, Ms. Lisa sent me an email, telling me some cute things about Reagan. I wanted to post her email to my blog, so I asked her permission, then took these pictures the next day (Wednesday, 5/7/08) to accompany the email.

The other day we when we were talking about Cinco de Mayo we were looking at pictures of how the people from Mexico celebrate it. There was a picture of a pinata and I asked who knows what comes out of it. No one answered. I reminded Reagan that she had one at her birthday party and she didn't seem to know what I was talking about. I told them lots of candy comes out and she said, "Oh, Easter." I guess she's associating Easter with candy. So cute.

I also rely on her to answer me when no one else does. For example, I might ask the whole class what color is this and no one answers. Then I'll say, "What color is this, Reagan?" and she answers correctly. I also do this for numbers, letters, or various objects and she's always there for me........smart little girl you have!

Of course, I think Reagan is a pretty smart little girl, but it's always so nice to hear that from someone who spends a lot of time with her ... especially when it's someone whose opinion I really value.

In December, all the other moms were discussing where they were going to send their children for preschool the following year (yes, I can't believe how early you have to register your child for preschool here! Most places are full by January for the upcoming school year which starts in September!). Another mother and I were talking about how much we wanted our kids to stay with Ms. Lisa, so we asked her if she'd be willing to teach a class for 3 year olds. We were so excited when she agreed to do it for us! I couldn't be happier that Reagan will be returning to Ms. Lisa's house in September, along with 2 other little boys from her current class. Because of Reagan's birthday (11/27/05), she'll end up having 4 years of preschool, so I'm happy that the first 2 years will be in such a loving, home environment. I feel so blessed to have found such a wonderful teacher for Reagan. The bar has been set so high, that I'm pretty sure I'll be disappointed with most of Reagan's future teachers ;)

Not only has Reagan had the most amazing teacher, she's also had a wonderful group of kids in her class. There's 1 other girl (Amanda), and 3 boys (Harry, J.P., and Eddie). They all get along really well and Reagan talks about them all the time. When the weather is bad, they usually have 'music and movement' time when Ms. Lisa plays various CDs and gets out the box of instruments. Here's Reagan playing the drum last week.

My only complaint about Ms. Lisa is that she loves her own children way too much ... she'll be taking the summer off to give her son and daughter her undivided attention ~ great news for them, but sad for Reagan! I'm kidding. I just know Reagan's going to miss her this summer and I'm going to miss the few hours that I get to spend with just Avery. I'm sure it will go by very quickly and it will be September before we know it.