Oh my... 
I took my 17 month old to an early learning type group today for the first time. It was fantastic! It's all parent assisted, which I LOVE because I get to stay (unlike preschool where you just drop them off). We do short periods of different activities (playdough, art, circle time -singing, etc). It's all done by drop in, so we basically come and go as we please. If the child doesn't want to participate in the activity, it's not a big deal. We go off and do something else. But basically, they learn through play. Either by themselves (with us parents by their side), or sitting at a table with other children.
So here I go, thinking she's going to be somewhat shy and stick close to me. Sit on my lap during circle time, listen to the stories as the teacher reads to them, or sings, or whatever. I even thought that it might take a few days to get her feeling confident enough to venture off without me.
Boy was I wrong.
Can you say kid in a candy store? She walked in, threw her jacket by the rack, and took off into the crowd (while I'm grabbing at her shoes, trying to get them off). And once she was done tearing the place apart, she decided to OBSESS over the sand table (which was just colored rice). All she wanted to do was play with the rice. Which was fine, but she wanted to dump it on the floor, eat it, throw it, etc. There was no controlling her at this table.
Also, one of the "rules" is that when we're done playing with something, we're to help encourage them to clean it up before moving on to the next play item. Which of course no one there expects a 17 month old to do... but Oh. My. Goodness. She would go over to the art table, play for a minute or two, dump the pens, then move on to something else, play, make a mess, leave, repeat... She didn't do much running (she was actually quite calm), but if I tried to bring her back to help me clean up, she'd scream (just a scream) and pull my arm away. No tantrums were had, and for the most part she was pretty stinkin' happy to be there.
She doesn't ever, EVER do this at home, and she LOVES to help me clean up, so imagine my surprise. I know it was just really exciting for her and the more we go the easier it will get, but I'm WAY too pregnant for this right now. I'm excited to have somewhere to take her, but wowee! She's a BUSY girl. And it didn't help that everyone there was commenting on either how busy she was, or how cute she is. LOL
Advice?
Or support?
Phew! Is there a "plop butt on chair and wipe brow" smilie here somewhere? haha
(PS. I should mention that due to her extreme carsickness, my current pregnancy, and cold winter weather, we haven't had a chance to get out and socialize much. All this aside, she did GREAT with the other kids. I'm pretty proud of her!)
I took my 17 month old to an early learning type group today for the first time. It was fantastic! It's all parent assisted, which I LOVE because I get to stay (unlike preschool where you just drop them off). We do short periods of different activities (playdough, art, circle time -singing, etc). It's all done by drop in, so we basically come and go as we please. If the child doesn't want to participate in the activity, it's not a big deal. We go off and do something else. But basically, they learn through play. Either by themselves (with us parents by their side), or sitting at a table with other children.
So here I go, thinking she's going to be somewhat shy and stick close to me. Sit on my lap during circle time, listen to the stories as the teacher reads to them, or sings, or whatever. I even thought that it might take a few days to get her feeling confident enough to venture off without me.
Boy was I wrong.
Can you say kid in a candy store? She walked in, threw her jacket by the rack, and took off into the crowd (while I'm grabbing at her shoes, trying to get them off). And once she was done tearing the place apart, she decided to OBSESS over the sand table (which was just colored rice). All she wanted to do was play with the rice. Which was fine, but she wanted to dump it on the floor, eat it, throw it, etc. There was no controlling her at this table.
Also, one of the "rules" is that when we're done playing with something, we're to help encourage them to clean it up before moving on to the next play item. Which of course no one there expects a 17 month old to do... but Oh. My. Goodness. She would go over to the art table, play for a minute or two, dump the pens, then move on to something else, play, make a mess, leave, repeat... She didn't do much running (she was actually quite calm), but if I tried to bring her back to help me clean up, she'd scream (just a scream) and pull my arm away. No tantrums were had, and for the most part she was pretty stinkin' happy to be there.
She doesn't ever, EVER do this at home, and she LOVES to help me clean up, so imagine my surprise. I know it was just really exciting for her and the more we go the easier it will get, but I'm WAY too pregnant for this right now. I'm excited to have somewhere to take her, but wowee! She's a BUSY girl. And it didn't help that everyone there was commenting on either how busy she was, or how cute she is. LOL
Advice?
Or support?
Phew! Is there a "plop butt on chair and wipe brow" smilie here somewhere? haha
(PS. I should mention that due to her extreme carsickness, my current pregnancy, and cold winter weather, we haven't had a chance to get out and socialize much. All this aside, she did GREAT with the other kids. I'm pretty proud of her!)
But it's only 2 hours.
if we could go daily.
