Reading Friends!

Just in case a month of homelessness and moving into a new home wasn't enough "change" for our children, I thought it would be good for Lyla to start attending a new school shortly after we started settling in at Beekman. (Ha!)

Lucky for me, this kid LOVES school and doesn't have a particularly difficult time adjusting to change. In fact, she seems to enjoy things getting shook up every now and again, kind of like her mama.

I found Reading Friends through, well, driving to Lyla's old school, Pinnacle Montessori. We had a good year at the Montessori school, but I was rather dissatisfied with Lyla's progress by the end of the year. And while I have no doubt she was in a happy, loving, and safe environment, I thought she might thrive better with a little more structure, not to mention a little more actual instructional time. So, I checked out Reading Friends last year, as it is almost next door to Pinnacle. I had no idea it was even a school, but when I figured it out and went on a tour, I was pretty impressed!

Reading Friends uses a Kindergarten curriculum for their Pre-K program. They also run their school like a... school. Not a daycare or childcare facility. They liken it to Kindergarten/First grade prep school, if there could be such a thing. The children actually rotate between three teachers and core subject areas like Reading, Math, Science, Social Studies, as well as gross motor time and art. They have recess and lunch, of course, and their school day is only 4 hours! So, they definitely keep the kids busy and engaged in lots of fun activities.

Lyla's first day was right after we moved in. She was really excited to try a new school, which is completely unsurprising! Her only hesitation since starting has been that she would like to visit her old friends at her old school... which is hard to keep off her mind since it is right next door!

So far, I'm very pleased with Reading Friends. Lyla is constantly sharing songs and games she learns and little catchy things her teachers say or do as part of regular character development. It reassures me that they are actually DOING things there, and my daughter's squishy little spongy head is getting filled with good stuff. Not only that, but the teachers are all genuinely good teachers, happy people and very understanding of what it means to be a four-year-old... and what it means to be a parent.

And I'm so proud of my daughter and how excited she is for new adventures! Way to go, Lyla!