Everyday Life for Four Seasons

No photo today. I'm at the point in my picture-taking experiment where I need to get focused on what I want to learn. I'm spending a little time reading photography tutorials and not a lot of time taking photos today.

Today is my birthday. It hasn't been a terrible day, but it's been less than ideal, certainly worse than a normal day. 'A' was really upset about her visit to the doctor today for her 3 year check-up, and she continued to let me know about it throughout the day. I'm 35 now. My life is pretty much what I thought it would be at this point.

Update on the preschool saga: I went in to observe last week and found that the class was pretty quiet for the first hour. The second hour wasn't all that bad, and when the communication did break down between the children and the teacher, it was pretty clear to me that it was because the teacher has set up some unrealistic expectations for the class. Some of the children are able to follow the instructions and don't need to be reminded about the rules more than once or twice, but some cannot, and it seemed to be more a matter of their age (2 and 3 year olds) combined with the fact that they really aren't held accountable for their behavior, than anything else.

Since I enjoy watching group dynamics unfold, it was entertaining for me to see how the snack routine played out. The teacher has class rules that she would like the children to follow, including a rule about throwing away their garbage after they are done with their snack. Some of the children get up after snack and don't throw their garbage away - they go straight to playing, running around, or whatever it is that they feel like doing. The teacher then repeats the rule about throwing away their trash, but aside from that gentle reminder, no one holds them accountable for actually throwing it away. No one leads them back to their seat and puts the trash in their hands and leads them over to the trash can. So, when they ignore the teacher and continue to spin around in circles, the teacher gets frustrated and then throws the trash away herself. It seems to me that part of the issue is with the teacher herself.

I am very happy with the situation overall - I would much rather have 'A' go to preschool and play and coexist with students who receive gentle reminders than have her attend a school where the students are disciplined or criticized for not being able to follow an unrealistic set of rules. That was my big fear.

Hopefully a photo of the day will appear tomorrow!