Mason Goes to School

On December 1st Mason went to his first day of preschool. We found a little school that is mainly a place for "Mommy & Me" type classes but also has one class for 1 1/2 - 3 year olds to go half days or all day. The class has about 10 kids and there are 3 teachers. They agreed to let me pay only for Mason to go two mornings a week from 9-12. He can eat breakfast and lunch there. It is in a really nice building and the classrooms are clean and bright. They take the kids to go potty at least every hour and there is a little toilet that Mason has enjoyed using so that he can flush it. He is by no means potty-trained, but has gained an interest in going #1 at school and sometimes at home. He still wears diapers all the time, though!
Here is Mason outside his school on the first day. The school is called "Star Baby" or "Xing Bao Bei"

He got a backpack when he enrolled.

Here is Mason with two of his teachers - Teacher Kelly (yes, she goes by an English name!) and Teacher Li.

Here is a view with more of his classroom

Kelly Laoshi (teacher) is the main teacher and is very sweet. There is a book they send home each week with teacher comments and ratings in several areas, like "taking care of myself", "personal sanitation", etc. It's sweet to read her comments. She says he especially likes when they sing songs and he really enjoys his classmates.
Mason really likes school. Although he has cried a little bit when I leave him, it's nothing compared to the way Reister would cry when we left him at this age. Mason talks about school at other times, prays for Kelly Laoshi at night, and when asked, will tell us the names of his favorite friends at school (one is Zi Han, a little girl about his age).
We hope he can start going 3 mornings a week in a couple months and continue at this school until he's 3 or a little older. The class appropriate for his age at Reister's school has 40-50 kids in it, and they don't discount for going less days. So this was more economical, and I think a better environment for Mason. Actually because it's getting close to Chinese New Year, some kids have already left or stopped coming and he was one of 3 kids in the class this week.
I'm proud of Mason for doing so well. Today Kelly Laoshi told me she's seen a marked improvement in Mason since he started. She said he enjoys story time and has learned the names of characters in books, can sing some of the Chinese songs they learned, and even makes "jokes" with his classmates and teachers. What a big boy!
Mason is 2 1/2 now and we love him so much!