Joffre is in Kindergarten now. Really - I mean, it's for three-year-olds, but it's every day and for four hours. And they are doing all sorts of enriching, educational things, as evidenced by the school supplies I was required to buy:
-48 page notebook
-3 plastic folders, in red, blue, and yellow
-250 white 8x11 sheets of paper, A-4 bond
-1 box of large Faber-Castell crayons
-1 10-colour box of Faber-Castell modelling clay
-1 1/2 litre bottle of acrylic paint, any colour
-1 fine-tipped permanent black marker (assume from here on in that anything that can be specified Faber-Castell, is)
-1 fine-tipped paintbrush
-1 compass pen
-2 tubes glitter glue, 1 silver and 1 green
-1 1/4 kg tub craft glue
-1 squeeze bottle white glue
-1 pair child's scissors, red
-1 wide paintbrush
-1 sheet of "microporous acrylic" (kind of like a thin gym mat, but for crafts)
-3 coloured sheets of A-4 bond paper
-1 20-piece puzzle
-10 pieces construction paper
-5 pieces glossy coloured paper
-1 sheet white poster board
-1 sheet corrugated cardboard
-1 sheet crepe paper, any colour
-1 sheet tissue paper, any colour
-1 sheet "kraft" paper (I still don't know what this is)
-1 piece of sandpaper (not yet procured)
-1/2 metre of "corrospun", any colour (no idea what this is, but it's crossed off the list, so I guess the nanny bought it and put it in with the other stuff)
-1 set of Duplo or Megablocks
-1 set of small shape blocks (called "logic blocks")
-1 bottle coloured nailpolish (not yet procured)
-1 musical instrument
-1 ball of yarn
-3 rolls of masking tape
-1 hand puppet
-1 cushion
-2 packets of coloured popsicle sticks
-2 packets of coloured macaroni
-5 large balloons
-1 packet coloured bottlecaps
-1 packet drinking straws
-1 sponge
-12 disposable spoons
-12 disposable forks
-12 disposable plates
-12 disposable drinking cups
-3 "tecnopor" balls, medium sized (can't find these in any store and have yet to understand what they are)
-5 large buttons
-1 old toothbrush, for crafts
-1 bottle liquid soap
-1 plastic placemat
-1 plastic smock
-1 old t-shirt
-1 handtowel
-1 comb
-1 toothbrush with children's toothpaste
-1 plastic cup
-6 rolls of toilet paper
-1 lunchbox, filled daily with a healthy snack
-paper napkins, as needed
-2 dishcloths
-1 small bag of cotton balls
-1 12 cm2 beanbag (can't find in shops - have been advised by shopkeepers to make one)
-1 large rubber ball
-1 complete change of clothes
**All supplies must be clearly labelled with the child's name. This includes every building block, every puzzle piece, etc.
So, I got all but about 5 items on the list, and labelled them (although not as prettily as some of the other mothers did), and packed him off to school.
The thing is, it's a pretty impressive list, but bear in mind that we are paying about $60 CDN per month for 20 hours a week of excellent preschool programming in a safe, secure, caring environment with instructors who speak basic English and who are committed to teaching Joffre Spanish. They don't provide any supplies for the children, because their fees are so low.
Still, what does a three-year-old really need a compass pen for?
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2 comments:
I have no idea what much of that stuff is but oddly reading the list was very evocative of the excitement I used to feel at the beginning of every school year. We would get large bags of school supplies and it was just so much fun to go through them in February. I remember the excitement of finding my first blue and red pen in the supplies - "Wow! This year we are gonna learn to write in pen!"
I am certain you are going to see all this stuff again in the form of mothers' and fathers' day cards; Christmas greetings; art projects worthy of the fridge; art projects worthy of other places; projects matching the week's theme...
I'm so excited for Joffre, and what is more, you now will have time to take up your own new hobbies! ;-)
You know, it's exciting for me, too! I remember eagerly going over all the school supplies the night before school started, and - like you - I remember being very excited about the number and colours of pens. I remember the thrill of first needing a geometry set or, gasp, a calculator!
Of course, for us this excitement was at the end of August. I can't think of school supplies without thinking of crisp Canadian autumns, and somehow the rush of back-to-school has permanently made fall my favorite season. It reminds me of You've Got Mail, a movie I detested but which has several witty lines, including one where the Tom Hanks character enthuses about fall, and how it makes him want to buy school supplies, and how he would like to send Meg Ryan a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils.
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