britton thinks out loud

Ever since Peter's teacher brought it up last November, we've been wondering if perhaps part of the reason why Peter has been difficult to handle over the past few months is that he's not being sufficiently challenged at school. Potty training was taking much longer than I was expecting, daytime naps rarely happened, and much of the time Peter just seemed...frustrated.

She recommended we move him up to pre-school as soon as possible, but the school administrators informed us that they did not have the required age ratios to do so until he was closer to three years old. I harbored my doubts as to whether moving to pre-school would be some sort of "magic pill", but there was little doubt that he needed to transition as soon as possible. When we got the green light to start the move to pre-school two weeks ago, we jumped on it.

Sure enough, we're noticing the change. Right now, he's sound asleep on his bed, having voluntarily chosen to nap instead of just taking "quiet time" in his room. His potty training has accelerated dramatically. When we pick him up in the evening, he enjoys talking about what he did in pre-school that day. He's still a firecracker, make no mistake, but now it's clear that he's where he ought to be.

So, the takeaway: making sure your child is appropriately challenged at school can make all the difference in the world.