The Thompson Family

Today was Nora's graduation from Children's Village preschool. It was a bittersweet day, as Nora has been at the daycare/preschool since she was only 18 months old (most weekdays for the last 3-1/2 years!). I was up and down all day - fine, then teary, excited then melancholy.

There was a lovely ceremony where the kids sang a few songs - one in English (a jazz number called Little Red Rooster - LISTEN NOW, with scatting included!) and two in Spanish (El Coqui - LISTEN NOW | Samba Le - LISTEN NOW).

For each graduate, the school director Molly read "What I Learned in Preschool". It was at the same time very touching ("I learned to help my friend up when he falls down hard") and scathingly funny ("I learned to tell my friends not to pick their boogers because they have germs").

Thank you to all the amazing teachers and staff at CV that have show love, caring, patience, education, and fun over the years. We will miss all of them deeply.

VIEW THE PHOTOS on Flickr.

Children's Village had a lovely picnic today out at McLaren Park. Lots of Nora's friends were there, as well as teacher and parents. The weather was perfect, although it was a bit gusty. View the photos on Flickr.

Dana Smith and his amazing Jack Russell terrier named Lacey were there for some impressive juggling and fun family entertainment. Here is a video of Lacey doing her Evel Knievel impression, jumping through a hoop over six preschoolers!

It's Teacher Appreciation Day at Children's Village (the preschool/daycare Nora attends). A huge thank you to all of the staff that have been so wonderful to our daughter over the years (since Nora was 18 months old!). We feel very blessed to know she is in such a loving, engaging, and fun environment during her days.

Special thanks to Molly Skuse who has brought major positive changes to the school during her time as Director. And a "ginormous shout out" to the teachers in the preschool: Dana, Patricia, Rachael, Regina, Cuc, Sandra, George and Kamisha (hope I got them all, and apologies for any misspellings!).

I Ain't Gonna Paint No More! is an absolutely amazing, fun, musical, magical book. Nora got it in her weekly "Raising A Reader" red book bag from her preschool, Children's Village. We read it last night... four times. Yes, it's that good (from the adult's perspective as well as the child's).

A little snippet of a review: "Karen Beaumont's zippy text and David Catrow's zany illustrations turn an infamous childhood activity into raucous storytime fun, giving a silly twist to the fine art of self-expression."

What is the "Raising A Reader" program, you ask? The Raising A Reader mission is to foster healthy brain development, parent-child bonding and early literacy skills critical for school success by engaging parents in a routine of daily “book cuddling” with their children from birth to age five. This mission addresses a national need for effective early literacy programs. One in three children entering kindergarten lacks basic pre-reading skills, which are proven to be a key factor in determining high-school graduation and lifelong success.

One of Nora's best friends is moving to New York on Monday. Tonight was Nora and Megan's first and last play-date at our house. We will miss Megan soooo much! The girls are going to be penpals to keep in touch (Mommy will take dictation for now until they learn to write!).

Children's Village had a Dia de los Muertos celebration to honor those loved ones who have passed away (and to celebrate life!). Teacher Patty taught the children a dance they performed to Mariachi. Here are her two videos:





Here is the collage we added to the ofrenda (the altar) of our much missed loved ones:


Christine Hanson, Mike & Mary Raimondi, MaryAnne Smith
Jesse King, Big John, Lenora Lawless
Marla Ruzicka, Bertha Springston, Genevieve King
CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

We also added Darrell Davey's note to the ofrenda/altar. For those of you who don't know, this note was found in Darrell's desk after he died when the plane he was piloting crashed into the water near Point Lawrence off of Orcas Island. He was an amazing man and we all miss him.


CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE

Trinity and Nora

Happy Halloween! Here are some photos from Nora's preschool, Children's Village, located in SOMA, San Francisco. Enjoy!

Click here to view the entire photoset on Flickr.

The preschool class at Children's Village (The Monkeys) had it's graduation for the kids going off to Kindergarten. Nora is still attending preschool - not ready for K until next year. Music, great food, a celebration of the new mural out front. It was really fun!
View all the photos on Flickr.