A Learning Win for Jameson

Jameson is in his second year in a fully inclusive Montessori preschool. To say he is thriving is an understatement.

Last year our daily mantra was, “no hitting, no kicking, no spitting” and eventually it stuck. This year, we haven’t had to use that phrase much. Growth! Progress! He still has moments, like for some reason he thinks circle time or group time is the best time to make random, obnoxious noises. But, overall, he’s participating fully in his school day, engaging with other kids, trying activities and new snack foods, and working both independently and with help when needed from his teachers.

I am writing this post today to share an amazing moment, and to solidify it as a big win for this school year. Without a prompt from me or even a “what was something fun you did at school today?” Jameson shared something he learned in his own way.

After taking his bath and going through the process of ‘jammies, comb hair and brush teeth’ (we are a household of routine) he starting singing a song and doing hand motions. At first I didn’t think anything of it. But then I started really listening to what he was singing and he was consistent in his sounds, pronunciation, inflections and motions.

“What is that you’re singing, Jay?”

“Stirring, stirring …” said Jay with a big smile on his phase.

“Where did you learn that?”

“Miss Elizabeth. School,” was Jay’s answer.

Now, Jay is verbal. But he doesn’t always link concepts and ideas together on his own. His response floored me, in a good way.

“Can you sing it again for mommy? I want to learn it!” We proceeded to sing and do the hand motions together until I had a better understanding of the song. Jay was so proud of himself and I could tell he was excited to share the song from school with me.

I later emailed his teacher to ask about the song and hand motions. She sent a quick response that, yes, Jay did learn the song in school, and she shared the full lyrics and hand motion directions. To top off the amazing moment, he was pretty spot on word for word and motion for motion with what his teacher emailed me!

This is the first time that Jay initiated sharing something he experienced or learned. He obviously enjoyed the song activity at school. He liked it enough to repeat it. He remembered the lyrics and hand motions. He retained that information from the classroom to our house. And he shared his learning with me without my asking him to. Wow! Just wow!

It’s not everyday that we get to hear from Jay about how school went. And obviously in this situation, he didn’t say, “School was good mom, we did an activity and sang a song and it went like this….” But, he told us in his own way, and that is the biggest gift of all. It’s a learning milestone and a major school-year win.

Jay is growing up so fast and becoming more independent. He’s a rockstar big brother and always doing what he can to make Maxwell smile. Which, really isn’t much, Max looks at Jay with so much love. Jay is definitely Max’s favorite person. The two already have one heck of a bond.

When in doubt about what kids are learning or not learning, this experience reminded me that Jay will tell me in his own way and on his own time, whenever and wherever that is meant to be. <3