Abern

Jacob has always been an adult-focused child--I like to think this is because he is so dang smart--but he's finally begun connecting with kids more. When I picked him up yesterday, it was like I was picking up a teenager who'd been hanging out with his buddies.

"Hey, Jacob. See you later! Bye!"

[casually, with an over the shoulder wave] "Bye Keiran. See you tomorrow."

In just a few years, it'll be, "Hey, Dude. See ya." "Yeah. Tomorrow, man." But that's the quality it had already. Like he's got these pals. Like they're a community. His teacher Laura told me that he was "beginning to see the value in the other children and to connect with them." He shut down these connections before. Now they are opening up.

When he attended his other preschool, Jacob's skills regressed; he had started reading before he went, but he stopped altogether after he'd been going to the evil co-op for a while. Now he's becoming intellectually adventurous in new ways: asking new questions, exploring new things. He makes up a new word every day ("Mommy, we're going to go abern up that hill." "What's 'abern'?" "Really fast.") He shows me pictures he's drawn with real excitement. "That's a leaf; can you see it?" He began writing his name by himself about two weeks ago.

While he was attending the evil co-op, his behavior was much worse on preschool days and in anticipation of preschool days. "Do I have to go to preschool tomorrow?" he'd say on Sunday, and he'd start fretting--and misbehaving. He was often angry when he came home. This time, he's becoming more independent and emotionally mature. The Montessori really encourages treating children with respect and challenging them to take responsibility. The lessons of respectful engagement with others are being underscored at Welsh Hills, and that's been a boon to his behavior at home too.