Emily at School

Back in October we were excited to find the Summertown Montessori nursery that seemed like a great fit for Emily. She goes three days a week (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) from 8:30am - 1:00pm. It's about an 8 minute walk down Banbury Road from our apartment, so it's nice and close.

The school meets in the lower level of this church hall located just north of the Summertown shops. Here's a picture of the church hall:

Each school day we get Emily's lunch box packed and her backpack ready.

Here's our girl ready to go!

 

"See my pink backpack, Dad?!!" (Thanks Grandy and Ellie!)

 

There are about 20 kids from literally all over the world in her class with her - some from Spain, Norway, Brazil, and Zambia (there's a lot of international students at Oxford). Most of the kids though are British and there are a few other Americans.

The kids do circle time with songs and activities, individual time learning with a Montessori-certified teacher (Miss Ciara whom Emily calls Miss Cara), free play, and outside time in the garden. It seems to have a very good pace and rhythm for her age group.

Here's Emily painting her hand with Miss Abbie, one of her main teachers. Emily has started to say some words with a British accent, and uses words like "straightaway" and "rubbish" all the time.

 

Every other week, an outside music teacher comes to teach song and dance. Sophie (the music teacher) and Ralph (her stuffed animal dog) lead the kids in lots of fun music activities like playing with this parachute while they sing.

Here's Ms. Angie (another of her main teachers) reading Goldilocks to the children during storytime:

 

Snack time each morning before they go out into the garden...

 

 

Here's our "cheeky monkey" (her teachers call the kids that all the time actually) out in the garden on the cross statue. Usually they have bikes and equipment (slides, etc.) for the kids to play on. If the weather is too cold or wet, they'll build an obstacle course inside the room to help Emily and her friends get their energy out!

 

As Amy mentioned in a previous post, Emily did struggle with this transition initially, saying that she didn't want to go to school, and crying at dropoff in the morning. We knew separation anxiety is a real thing, but she had done very well at pre-school in the U.S. last year. However we realized that this behavior was intensified by culture shock and all the change of moving to another country.

 

After a month, thankfully she started to feel more comfortable going to school and now has become friends with some of the other kids. Some of her friends she talks most about are: Paige, Knox, Ella, Gabriela, and Nico.  

 

Her teachers say she is doing "brilliant," and she has even started writing her first name now thanks to what she's learning at school! We are blessed by our clever little "cheeky monkey!"