Preschool Graduation!

Remember, like yesterday, when I sent Kaitlyn off to her very first day of preschool at 3.5 years old? I cried when I dropped her off, but she was totally fine. Turns out it wasn't just yesterday...it was almost 2 years ago! Yesterday, she GRADUATED preschool! After two years of wonderful teachers and lots of learning, we said goodbye to Monclova Christian and her preschool room. It was a bittersweet day...sad to say goodbye and leave a school we've loved so much, but also very exciting to see how far she's come in the last 2 years and watch the kids perform their 'show'.

We dropped Kaitlyn off to her classroom and then took our seats in the auditorium. They had a picture slideshow playing of activities all throughout the year...it was really cute. Then all the preschoolers marched in, to the classic graduation song...super adorable, especially because they were all hiding little flags behind their backs. We all stood while they sang the Pledge of Allegiance song, then they performed the cutest song about Ohio..."Oh hey, O-hi-o"...it was so cute! They sang a few more songs, ABC Jesus Loves Me, etc. and ended with "Graduation Day is Here, Kindergarten Here I Come!" They all did such a great job and I could tell they spent lots of time practicing all the words & motions for the songs. The church pastor came up and said a few words, reminding us about bringing our children up to love God, etc. Then the kids received their graduation gifts (a kids bible), all-about-me books (my favorite!) and shook the teachers' hands. That was the cutest part because most 5 year olds don't know how to shake hands!

After the program, we were sure to take some pictures with her friends, teacher, in her classroom and one final picture by 'the school sign.' All she has left is an end-of-the-year picnic at a park tomorrow. I can't believe she's done with preschool! A couple years ago, when deciding which preschool to send her to, I remember being worried that she wouldn't "learn" much because she was somewhat ahead for a 3 year old...she already knew her ABC's, counting, etc. BUT preschool has been more about life experiences for her than academics. She's learned how to play with other kids (nicely - most of the time), how to listen to teachers, how to behave away from Mommy & Daddy, how to pray before meals and they have done an excellent job reinforcing manners/politeness in the kids. Most importantly, she knows that God/Jesus come FIRST...she loves them most, before anyone else, and she's not afraid to tell us that! Who knew that our 5 year old would be reminding us of the most important things in life? She really has grown up a lot in the last 2 years and we are so thankful that we were able to send her to MCA for two years of preschool.

Now...onto kindergarten!!! She's registered, we've been to the parent meeting and her kindergarten screening is in a couple of weeks. We even have a lunch box already. Academically, she's ready! According to the 'kindergarten expectations' we received at the parent meeting, she's beyond what's expected in everything EXCEPT we need to work on writing her name. Preschool taught them to write in all capitals, but she needs to know how to write her name the proper way (Kaitlyn - not caps) before school starts. We'll work on that over the summer, as well as memorizing her 6 digit student code. She's doing very well with reading and we honestly haven't spent much time working on it, so I'd like to get more reading in too. But yeah...my BABY is READY for KINDERGARTEN!!! How can this be possible?!