The Garber Fam: School's (Almost) Out for the Summer

As this school year comes to a close, I find myself reflecting on it as both a teacher and a parent, which is a first for me. Ella and I had a wonderful experience at our co-op, Little Hands, and to wrap up our year, I thought I'd share the end-of-the-year letter I wrote to her (that will be included in the book our teacher puts together of all of our bi-weekly observation and discussion notes). Both Ella and I have learned so much, and we can't wait to go back in the fall!

To My Ella,
This year has been full of wonderful milestones for you. When we started in the fall you were crawling, curious, and interested in the new surroundings of school. Here at Little Hands I watched you play with water for the first time, learn how to play with other children and take turns, climb a play structure, play house, get oh-so-dirty, and explore things with your hands both inside and outdoors. You pulled yourself up, started cruising, took wobbly steps, tripped, picked yourself up again (and again), and learned to run.
In September you were just starting to sign words such as "milk" and "more". Now you're bursting with new words to say every day and chiming in when we sing at the end of class. My heart has been so full when we've pulled up to Little Hands on Friday mornings and you've started saying "zoom zoom" from the song we sing as a class or repeating the word "fun!" over and over. I love how you seem to be the one who leaves the "dirtiest" week after week because of the thrill you got from playing with dirt, sand, leaves, bark, shaving cream, or water that day. I hope you can continue to be the happy-go-lucky girl who loves to play, explore, and try new things. I've loved watching my baby become a toddler.
xoxo,
Mommy