Forest Hill Day Care

I thought I would post some more details on Hank's new day care, as well as some good pictures of his first days a couple weeks ago. It is in the Forest Hill Presbyterian Church and it's just a few minutes from our new house in Westover Hills. I don't even know what presbyterian means, but I do know that it seems to be a great place! There are kids from infant up to 6 years old from what I can tell, and tons of nice teachers and administrators. Terri picked it out because it seemed like one of the most clean and educational places she saw, and I think it's living up to that. Hank gets there around 830-9am, has few minutes of play time to get in the groove, and then they have a morning snack at 9am. After that, they do an hour of "circle time" during which they sing songs, practice alphabets, and spell words with other kids in their age group. Then they do outdoor play time for a while before they have lunch at 1130. Hank doesn't eat meat so he has to have a substitute "entree" a lot of days, which we bring in. At 1230 the kids all jump on their cots for a 2-hour nap...it's really nice, they close the blinds so the rooms are nice and dark, play nice music etc. I think Hank struggles a bit with nap time because it's early for him and he usually just falls asleep in his car seat or while watching a movie to have his nap with us...he's not used to going to sleep when someone tells him to, you know? But from what I hear he is doing fine with it. One day last week, the teacher said he and his friend Max were playing, touching feet and giggling while they were in their cots for a lot of nap time....but today he had a good nap and went right to sleep. We're trying to get him on a similar schedule on his non-school days, but it's tough!

After nap, they spend time outside on the playground in the afternoon and then more play time inside after that. I have usally been picking him up by 4pm or so. Like I said before, he is on a Tues-Wed-Thurs schedule now....we may modify the days at some point, but it will probably always be 3 days per week. It seems like a good mix of time with mom and dad, but some good time in a structured learning environment getting to know other kids.

So anyway, here are some pics from Hank's first coupld days of school! There are a couple of him all dressed for day 1, then some of him getting to school in the car, and then a few of him getting used to his new classroom. He saw a bunch of Thomas the tank engine toys when he first walked in, and that helped him get comfortable real fast! In a couple pictures, you'll see his new friends he's made in class....would you believe the little girl (Zoey) has the exact same bunny that Hank has carried around every day of his life?? Hers is slightly less worn, but it is the exact same thing. I had to label Hank's bunny right away. And the little boy is Max....Hank talks about Max all the time so they must be hitting it off.

Talk to you later! Sam