First days at childcare

Josh went for a 3-day trial at the childcare last week. We had been telling him for a few weeks that he's going to school to mentally prepare him for it. He probably couldn't comprehend, but seemed pretty excited about it. Honestly I had been pretty worried about how it would turn out and how Josh would react, knowing how teary he could be.

In the morning, we went to pick up Josh at 8am and walked over to Cherie Hearts 15 mins away, but as the route is uphill and downhill, we were all hot, sweaty and flustered when we reached. Here's what happened on Day 1:

DAY 1:


Josh having his breakfast (sponge cake) n watching the other children sing.


He seemed to feel out of place, in an unfamiliar place surrounded by strangers.


He didn't want to sit with the other kids and preferred to explore around on his own.


At least he liked lunch!

There are currently only 13 kids at the childcare, taken care by 5 teachers. 2 older kids are in Kindergarden level and most of the other kids are in Playgroup 2. Only 2 toddlers are the same age as Joshton in Playgroup 1. The youngest, little Aiden, is only 17 months, so constantly needs 1-to-1 care. The Playgroup 1 kids are not ready to join in the activities and songs with the older kids, so they just sit and watch or wander around themselves. They just seemed too young to play with the older kids, so I am worried that it will be the same for Joshton.

The teachers commented that Joshton's speech development is ahead for his age, as he could say a lot of words clearly. But I noticed that his motor skills are behind, as 18-month Ian could walk up and down the stairs with help while Aiden could sit on the chair by himself.

We sneaked away for an hour when he was not looking to see how he would cope without us around. When we came back, we could hear him brawling from downstairs, crying for mummy...*heartbreak*. He was all teary and I took quite a while to calm him down.

When we left at noon after lunch, he knocked off immediately the moment we put him in the stroller. A tired and eventful first day for him.

DAY 2:

In the morning, I asked him if he wanted to go school and he smiled. Perhaps he thought we were just going "Gai Gai".

We stayed by his side the whole time, so not much teary drama on Day 2, except for a few childish tantrums.

The boss, Andy, observed that Josh is not the active type but the bookish type. He doesn't go for the toys but likes to read the ABCs and books. When we brought him outside to play with the toy cars, he didn't fancy them and went for the ball instead. And then he saw the drum set....n broke it :(

DAY 3:

We rented a car that morning after 2 days of walking in the scorching sun. My mum came along to check out the place too and hubby thought the boss Andy must have felt super stressed with her nagging. But he was very nice and accommodating towards us for the 3 days.

It's Day 3, but Josh still didn't want to join in with the other kids, even with me around. He refused to sit down even for a minute. Maybe with his character, he's not suitable for structured learning. Would the Montessori learning method be better for him? hmm....

We went to hide again when he was distracted and resisted coming out when he cried. Come Monday, he will be there alone by himeself, without mummy and daddy. It really broke my heart when he kept calling out for mummy, and we came out to comfort him after 30 mins.

I am really worried about tomorrow. He will be going by school bus but I have asked to the bus driver to let my mum go with him for the first 2 days. Hope he will adapt fast to the new place.