Gavin has been in pre-school for a few weeks now and LOVING it. He is so excited to go to school everyday, has a best friend, Devin who gets to hang out with, and truly has been learning a lot! I got to spend 2 days doing Virtual School with him this past week and witnessed myself how much he's learning- I was amazed! I'll post about that next!
So, since school started, every Wednesday Gavin has show and tell. They've been bringing in items that represented their favorites (favorite toy, book, color, etc). One day, they even got to wear their favorite outfit- so we put Gavin in an LSU jersey (he really wanted to wear his Batman costume, but I didn't know whether that was what the teacher wanted when she said favorite outfit).
Anyways, this past week, for show and tell, was bring your mummy (his teacher is English) and little siblings to school. It was really a cute idea. The kids were putting on a skit, singing all their songs they've learned, which Gavin comes home everyday singing his favorite song from the day and pretty much sings ALL THE TIME!! He was really excited about show and tell and couldn't wait for me to bring Miles to his school, not to mention, the day before, he invited Delia to come with us (which Delia use to be a preschool teacher so she was just beside herself to get to come see Gavin's school and all that he has been doing).
So, picture this. All the parents are sitting in chairs in one room and the kids enter into the classroom in a single filed line as quiet as can be. All the kids are waving to their parents, smiling, giggling. For a moment, Gavin was excited and smiled and then all of a sudden things changed. He QUICKLY got very serious, the look on his face went from a smile to being sad. He wouldn't look at me and this was how he looked-- almost terrified (picture 1). His teacher immediately picked up on the change in his behavior and saw the look on his face, so she moved him next to Devin, his best buddy and this is what he did (picture 2).
Just to give you an idea of what EVERY OTHER KID WAS DOING... and what Gavin was doing. He would NOT look up at me. And then it happened. The room was completely quiet, like you could hear a pin drop, and all of a sudden Gavin let out this LOUD, MASSIVE, LONG scream and started crying. Everyone jumped because they had no idea what was going on and didn't know if something happened. Gavin still wouldn't look at me so I couldn't help him calm down while he was sitting on the rug with his classmates. It took Devin's mom to get Gavin to look at her, to get him to look at me, and then his teacher went and got him and brought him to me. I really wanted to see if he would calm down on his own, to give him a chance to work through God knows what issue that overcame him, and settle down, but that did not happen. Gavin spent the majority of the program sitting on my lap and me calming him down. Devin's mom and I and Delia tried and tried and tried to get Gavin to participate with his friends and show us the songs and movements that they were doing, but he wanted NOTHING to do with it.
When the kids finished singing their songs and we watched Goldilocks and the 3 Little Bears play and Gavin was still in my lap, still crying, I told him I was going to leave so that he could go back to being with his friends. He didn't want that at all. So, I made him go back to the carpet to finish their show and tell. He was NOT happy about that, but we got him his juice cup, I pulled out a small Batman toy from my purse, and we moved him right by Devin and I sat in front on the floor for the end of their program. Look how pathetic the look on his face was. I really did feel bad for him. My heart ached for whatever he was going through, but I was also determined to use this as a teachable moment.
After my threat to leave, Gavin stayed on the rug with his friends (even though he wasn't happy) and finished the program. All the American kids stood up and showed on a map where they lived and told everyone they were from Texas! Afterwards, Gavin seemed to do a little better. He actually never perked up until it was snack time. All the kids and parents were ushered into classroom #2 and there was movement and a change of environment so Gavin was completely over his little escapade and was himself again. I got to enjoy watching him interact with all his classmates and see him being himself, again. What a chaotic time snack time was! It was cute though!
Getting to go to the show and tell allowed me to see lots of Gavin's work that he's done since the beginning of school and that hasn't been sent home! I was quite impressed. They've obviously, been busy in class. Their theme since school started has been All About Me- hence all the body and face pictures. Check out his full body picture-- this one is where they learned about head, shoulder's, knees, and toes. One problem-- he doesn't have a nose! This second picture is Gavin's ENTIRE body outlined where he got to lay on the ground and get traced and then he covered his body with "clothes" (he's the center one). I love the third picture, where he colored his face. This was done the second week of school -- he was just learning about coloring objects. I love how his friend, Flavie, who's picture is below his is all nice and neat and looks good. Please don't think at all that I'm comparing Gavin to other kids-- not at all-- I'm grateful he's enjoying school and having the opportunity to learn so many new things. Not to mention, we're not looking for perfection, just that he's enjoying learning!! I'm assuming the 4th picture was about Humpty Dumpty-- they have been learning about nursery rhymes.
I'm so glad I took pictures of Gavin's work to be able to show Brooks. This last set of pictures cracked us up! We could not believe what we saw!! If you notice in the left picture... the top, yellow car is Gavin's. Check out all the cars that were hung up with Gavin's in the right picture (his is the one on the top right). Notice, for some reason, Gavin's car is THE ONLY ONE where NONE of the parts are touching. We have NO IDEA why he made his car like this, or why he is the ONLY one who seemed to not get the idea of how to make the car, but we are contributing it to his need for things to be in exact order- and in this case- not touching. He seems to have a very precise, clear picture of things being just perfect, in line, in order, organized in certain ways (color, size, etc), so apparently, this car picture isn't any different. We LOVE it!!
What a fun day show and tell turned out to be! Wonder what the next school event we're invited to will be like!
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