End of an Era

Yesterday was Marissa's last day at KinderCare. She'll be home with grandparents/aunts next week, and then on September 1st she begins a new program called Fours Explores. This program is part of the Mpls KIDS program and is geared for kids for whom this is their year before kindergarten.

We've had one or two kids attending KinderCare since 2003 -- six years. It's hard to believe that we'll be done with dropping our kids off there, seeing all the parents and the other children who attend, and especially seeing the teachers and director(s). The director has been there the ENTIRE time, something that's unheard of in terms of daycare centers. Usually directors are at one place for a while and then move on.














But it's also a relief for a couple of reasons: it's expensive. Damn expensive. We're going to have several hundred dollars per month get freed up come September. And secondly, over the years we've seen lots of teacher turnover in which our kids' day became inconsistent, depending on who was running the room. Marissa's pre-school class was made of 3 through 5 year olds -- can you imagine trying to develop curriculum to help each of those ages at their various levels? Not very practical.

I love these photos of her in her graduation cap -- she was jumping up and down and very excited to be starting her new program.