Part of what drew us to the girls’ schools has been the emphasis on practical life skills. They weren’t surrounded by a bunch of brightly colored plastic, they were able to manipulate tools that were their size and take care of their environment. At this age, they see sweeping, dusting and wiping up spills as a fun task not drudgery.
Families can sign up for a Friday laundry rotation if they choose. A couple weeks ago, we had laundry duty. The basket came out in a wagon and the girls helped me pull it, Lily brought up the rear picking up stray items. While a large laundry basket, it still concealed the sheer amount of laundry within. It was packed full of towels, napkins, rags and table cloths. Three loads of laundry!
The girls helped me load the washer, pour detergent, transfer to the dryer and then fold. Each towel and napkin belongs to a particular child, as we folded each towel, we’d read the name on it and would hear a little about their friend. At least for awhile. Loran and I did the majority of folding.
Another perk of the girls’ new school is the outdoor space. Acres upon acres of woods, fields, animal pens and even a manmade hill for playing/rolling. They call it Prairie Hill. Today, the big kids went to Prairie Hill in the afternoon. Ella’s teacher reported that Ella had so much fun playing, but she had something embarrassing to tell me. While playing at the hill, Ella had to use the restroom. Since it’s a little hike to the hill, Ella couldn’t just run to the classroom to use the bathroom. The children are used to going amongst the trees. Since this was a new phenomenon for Ella, a seasoned girl took Ella to a tree to show her how to “pop a squat”. Ella thought this was amazing and it was definitely a highlight of her day. The embarrassing part, as she was finishing up, another classmate (a boy) ran over to use a tree and may have peed a little on Ella’s shoes. Despite that, she’s very proud of her accomplishment. And I’m excited that I didn’t have to teach her this valuable life lesson. I felt for Ella’s teacher, I can’t imagine the horror of having to tell a new parent that someone may have peed on their child’s shoe, not knowing how they’d react. Luckily, it was me and I laughed, a lot, and then formulated a blog post in my head.
2 comments:
My girl (age 4) tried that outside boy-style last summer, which surprisingly worked really well until the end where she ran out of the back pressure necessary to avoid wet clothes/shoes. I tried to tell her that was a bad idea!Ella's lucky to learn it the right way the first time!
That is greatness! I guess I should be thankful to have two boys who can pee just about anywhere at this age!
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