Project 365 - Week 24

Full days at Nursery School

Monkey was 4 and half earlier this week, he is growing up fast and starts full time school in September – how has that happened?  I find it hard to believe that he will be 5 in December.  Very scary.  But, it’s lovely watching him develop and become a real little boy. I’m sure that so much will change for us this year, I’m trying to prepare him (and if I’m totally honest, ME!) for the changes ahead.  Our time together is precious, but I also want him to be aware of what lies ahead in September.  So we’ve been trying full days at Nursery School.

Monkey has his 15 funded hours and loves going to Nursery School.  He’s quite quiet and has one kindred spirit at school, I think they are pretty inseparable.  He’s been going every morning and at Easter the children were offered the chance to stay all day.  Of course, this isn’t funded.  I decided that April was too early, and I couldn’t afford it either. But I had it my mind that after the May half term it would be a good idea to send him for a few sessions.

I’d got some funds put aside and decided that Tuesday and Thursday full days at Nursery School would work well for both of us.  It would give me a couple of days to blog full on, and would give him a gentle introduction to what the future holds.  He started last Thursday.

I’ll be honest, I was a little nervous.  I wasn’t convinced that he’d ever used the toilets at school.  We’ve had a number of frantic runs down the lane to get home because he was bursting.  I was prepared for wet clothes.  I had a quiet word with his key worker, but she assured me he did use the toilets.  Oh ok, well he probably needs a little prompt about after lunch, I’m sure he hasn’t done a poo at school before!  Monkey does like his privacy for that particular function!

So the day passed, no phone call with any issues.  It was time to pick him up.  He’s had a good day, a few wobbles during and after lunch, but he was reassured and has been fine since.  He hadn’t wet himself.  All was good.  His buddy G doesn’t do all day sessions, so I guess that was something else to get used to.

I did notice a whiff, but thought he’d just trumped.  We walked home and he was quite chatty.  Then he dashed into the toilet and started to cry.  Sorry Mummy.  What’s the matter?  Then I saw, bless him, he was covered in poo.  It was quite a shock as he’d never had a poo accident, not even through potty training.  Ok, never mind darling, we’ll get you in the shower.  It was obvious that he’d been in a bit of a mess for a while.

I tried gently to coax it out of him.  When did it happen?  Why didn’t you tell anyone? Why didn’t you use the toilet?  But I didn’t want to upset him any more or make it a big issue for going on another full day on Tuesday.  Never mind, it will be ok.

We were off to Legoland on the Friday (more on that coming soon), so I couldn’t talk to school until Monday.  Monkey and I had talked about the toilets at school and I asked him to show me where they were on Monday, just to try and reinforce the point.  I had a quiet word with his actual teacher.  I know all children have accidents, I do think a little more attention should have been given to a child on his first full day, but never mind. The issue was raised and I hoped Tuesday would go smoothly.

Well Tuesday came around, and Monkey had been to the toilet before school.  The pressure was off.  He had a lovely time, all was good.

Full days at Nursery School

Today, he hadn’t been to the toilet before school, will he remember to go at school?  I’m nervous, anxious for him. We will see, fingers crossed!

Are you children having settling days before they start school?  Or are your children at school, can you remember this process?  Would love to hear your experiences too.

 

15 thoughts on “Full days at Nursery School

  1. Full days are a big deal. For us it was never an issue (which is a good and bad thing) as the boys were full time in nursery from six months as I went back to work. It will different for the wee girl and I plan on sending her when she’s three for a ‘school’ day at least three days a week from the start, but we’ll just have to see how she copes with that, another year before I have to do it! I hope Monkey had a good day today x #SSAA

  2. oh lordy that is bad of the school i agree they could have given a bit more attention especially as you had a word. i hope he was not to put back by that but i am sure with time he will be in full swing. I hope you enjoy lego land we will be going there soon

  3. Monkey will be absolutely fine, I think it is us as mum’s that worry more. The first few days of anything new are hard but children get over it quicker than us and usually adapt so well. My 2 both did full days (I dropped them off at 8am and picked up at 5pm) from 12 months old and it was hard for me at first but they seemed fine. I do envy your full blogging days though, when mine are at nursery it means I’m at work!! 🙁

  4. My girls didn’t have the full days until they actually started in reception class properly….They just threw them in at the deep end and they coped with it! They were very tired and they both had a few accidents!
    It sounds like he’s doing really well!

  5. Shame he had such a bad start but I’m sure things will improve. I think it is a good idea to get him used to full days although nothing can really prepare them for full time school. Reception year is hard but this will give him a great start!

  6. Bless him. It’s such a new experience to them even if it is just going for half to full days. He’ll get there, they all do.

  7. My daughter had a few issues at nursery and I ended up speaking to the staff and organising for her to have a ‘special toilet cubicle’ that was hers which she chose with me. The staff ensured she used that cubicle until she felt more confident about going to the toilet on her own. To be honest and as far as I’m aware, she’s never been for a poo at school or nursery to this day-she waits until she gets home. I think that’s fairly common though.

  8. My twins are just a few months young and started full days a couple of weeks back. They hate it! Especially Rhys, I always get tears when I leave. I’m hoping it’s just a learning curve cos it’s just awful. We’ve had a few toilet issues too. Must be so unnerving for them to go in front of other people they dont know. I hope he gets on well! xxxx

  9. I know this is a big step for both of you! I guess he’ll get used to it after a while, and I hope he’s okay with staying in school for the full day again. That trip to Legoland sounds exciting!

  10. I was the one who cried when my twins first went to nursery! They started at 3 1/2 but only did afternoons for the first year then in Kindergarten we gradually built up additional full days throughout the year.

  11. We have been doing the same thing, Ethan now goes for a full day on Monday, we will increase this in September to two days as he doesn’t start school until the april. Sorry to hear about the toilet issues, we have had a few but we need to wait for more one to one funding to be introduced, if agreed! Apart from that it sounds like it is all going well.

    Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
    x

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