My Little Graduate

Avery graduated preschool yesterday. I've been explaining to her what graduate means and getting a little misty as I tell her preschool is all over. It has been a really great experience for her. When she began her 3 year-old class, she hardly spoke to anyone and was very content to play alone. When the year was more than half-way over, her teacher still did not feel that she was interacting very much and wondered if she had a very broad vocabulary. I was very surprised, since she spoke VERY well for her age and was very conversational at home and with family and friends she was at ease with. This second year, however, she has really blossomed. Probably three months into school, her teacher (a different one from last year - both were good) pulled me aside and very excitedly shared that Avery had run a game of red light, green light. Avery had even yelled out to get everyone organized and her teacher was shocked, since she was still so quiet in class. Mrs. Wood couldn't have been more thrilled with that progress. What a blessing to have a teacher want to see your child succeed as much as you do! Avery is reading short words and sentences and adds and subtracts very well. These academic things are good, but at this age and with this girl, I'm much more pleased with her emotional and social growth. Every morning on the way to school I pray for her obedience, compassion, generosity, and kindness. Icing on the cake - the thing her teacher noticed most was her "continual kindness" in class. Could I be any prouder????