Natalie’s Blog

Any doubts I had about changing Natalie’s day care have been completely alleviated. On the first day at Melissa’s, Natalie didn’t cry at all when I left. The second day she asked to go there. On the third day, she didn’t want to go home when I picked her up! We get far more information from Melissa about Natalie’s mood and her activities than we got at the Goddard School. In addition to the details we get about Natalie’s day through conversation, Melissa sends home a daily sheet where she logs all Natalie’s diapering, sleeping, and eating activities.

Of course the transition hasn’t been completely without challenges. While Natalie hasn’t been crying for her parents, last week Melissa reported that Natalie gets quite upset when Melissa would stray too far (like more than 2 feet) away. Today, Melissa told us that she explained to Natalie that if she wanted to stay with Melissa, she could follow her, but she didn’t need to cry. That seemed to do the trick! Melissa said the rest of the day was tear-free.

Another positive change has been with the artwork Natalie brings home. Goddard would always send home these elaborate art projects (like a construction paper Isreali flag or a hanging jelly fish) that may have looked impressive, but left us wondering what part Natalie actually did herself. At Melissa’s, Natalie has brought home art projects involving markers, finger paints, and chalk, all of which look like pictures she created herself.

Natalie sums it up by saying, “Missa’s…FUN!”

We took pictures of Natalie on her first day and on her last day of Goddard, as well as pictures of her at Melissa’s—her expressions say it all…

Looking happy and innocent because she doesn’t know what’s happening:

Looking scared and sad because she knows what school is all about (she didn’t look this way every morning, or we would have taken her out of there much sooner!):

Here are some pictures of Natalie playing at Melissa’s. Look how comfortable she is!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, September 10th, 2008 at 7:32 am and is filed under Learning, Photos, School. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.