Many parents know the ritual. The dressing up in the uniform for the first time, the hair beautifully brushed and the shoes polished to a gleam – the first day at school. Or in Mia’s case, her first day at the nursery attached to the school we’d hoped she’d attend.
It feels like only yesterday, yet the summer holidays are now in sight. Unbelievable. I try to stay away from cliches but in this instance, I cannot – where has the time gone?
Now our little girl will soon start school for real. And while I have my worries about that (that’s another story), I’m excited to see how she develops.
But before we get to that, I want to take a minute to reflect on Mia’s first year.
Getting prepared
I honestly can’t remember when we applied for the nursery place, but I remember the excitement when it was accepted. All those lovely little conversations with Mia, about how much she’ll enjoy it and all the friends she’ll make.
Then there were the formalities – buying the uniform, filling in the paperwork, applying for the government’s 30 hours free childcare funding. This is an absolute must so make sure you check if you’re eligible.
We were confident Mia was ready to go to nursery. While we couldn’t afford to take her to private childcare, we took her to various playgroups in the local community where she could mingle with other kids. (I say we – it was nearly always Amy as I was invariably at work.) She always seemed to hold her own and enjoy herself. She was also pretty bright and inquisitive, so we hoped she’d love the learning side of it.
Initially, we only put her in for three days, partly because we weren’t sure how she’d take to it but also because we didn’t want to lose all our time with her. Her induction day was a great success and she was smitten with her teacher, a delightful lady starting her first year of teaching.
The first day
The big day arrived, with Mia very excited. However, we knew that it could all be a facade. It was quite possible that she’d get to the gate and the cold feet would kick in. I was supply teaching that day, so I didn’t get to see her take her first steps into nursery. I kissed Mia goodbye in the morning and off I went.
When I called Amy at lunchtime to see how it had gone, all fears were eased. Mia had dashed into the warm embrace of her new teacher without even a second glance at her mother.
When I got home, Mia relayed all the fun things she’d been doing with enthusiasm. Unfortunately, this was the most I would ever get out of her – nowadays, she seems to suffer some form of amnesia whenever we ask about her day.
Tapestry
Thank goodness, then, for Tapestry. Many parents will know it as the platform many early years providers use to share things with parents. Every week it’s a joy to see all the photos and descriptions of Mia’s activities and achievements at nursery.
Thankfully, she always looks very happy (though I doubt they would post pictures of her being miserable) and it’s nice to see what she’s up to.
Learning
When I see what Mia’s been doing, it seems like they do plenty of the fun stuff you’d want your four-year-old to be doing – playing, painting, being outdoors, early number work and little arts and crafts stuff.
Planting their own little herb garden was a particular highlight.
I must admit, though, I’ve been surprised by the amount of phonics and letter formation they’ve been doing. I didn’t think that would really start until reception. I suppose schools are doing what they can to fast-track children’s progress. While Mia seems to love learning and pick things up pretty quickly, I’d perhaps be a bit concerned if my child was a later developer and not yet ready for more academic stuff.
Friendships
One of the big worries was around Mia making friends. While she already had a little bezzie we met at the park one day when she was 2 and she’d been to playgroups, she hadn’t spent huge amounts of time with other kids.
But she seems to have cultivated a nice little friendship group. The one thing she actually does recount after a school day is which of her friends she’s played with. We’ve even joined the birthday party circuit. We threw one for her, with bouncy castle and pizzas, and it was lovely to see her giving it the big one with all her wee pals.
Of course, there’s been the odd tiff between them, but it’s all formative and part of being a kid. We’ve discussed these incidents with her and while we don’t want her to be upset, we also don’t want to overprotect her from the facts of life, such as falling out and people not always being nice.
Pride and joy
I imagine many parents feel nervous about their child going off to nursery – separated for hours at a time, placed in the care of other adults who you don’t really know in an unfamiliar environment.
Then there are the concerns about whether they’ll make friends, whether they’ll enjoy it, whether they’ll do well and such.
But our year has been full of moments that filled us with pride and happiness. Her teacher has had lots of lovely things to say about her – being kind to others, helping to tidy up (which is odd, since she seems to have a phobia of this at home), doing well with her numbers so they’re giving her an extra push with it.
We soon realised Mia was thriving there and we requested for her to go an extra day, so after Christmas it was four days a week.
She hasn’t changed a great deal, which I’m happy about. She’s always seemed to have quite a strong sense of herself, and being around other children and adults doesn’t seem to have diminished that. If anything, she’s become more independent, getting herself dressed in a morning and cutting up her own food etc.
This year has been a sort of school-lite. Next year, it gets real. Five days a week, homework, progress targets, assessments. A lot to think about but a lot to be excited about too. Now I’m going freelance, I’ll be able to do the school run more often and I’ll be able to come and see her in performances or assemblies. Be more involved.
But before then, we’ll be sure to make the most of Mia’s final summer as a pre-schooler.
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