Summer School at Annabelle's Montessori

Montessori school runs from September to the end of June. For the month of July, there is summer school, with the same hours as the regular school year. Then, there is a break in August.

Since Annabelle didn't start school, we wanted to sign her up for summer school, to expand her knowledge of Spanish, to socialize with the kids, and to keep her busy!

In the end, it was a great decision, as Annabelle really enjoyed summer school! Summer school focused more on art than the regular school year, which Annabelle seemed to love. She was very excited to bring home her finger paintings (above), as well as her other art projects below!

Folder with a giraffe and lion (Annie calls it a tiger) glued on.

Little piggy bank.

Potato head, made out of panty hose. Turtle made out of an egg carton. Little pot with Annie's name on it.

Picture frame with string glued on.

**Side note: At the beginning of summer school, when the finger paintings came home, I noticed that Annabelle's name was being spelled with only one "n". After emailing the school's director, the next day's project came home spelled correctly. At Annabelle's school, and in Mexico in general, Annabelle is pronounced "Anabelle", stressing the first "A", not the n's. Ana seems to be a pretty popular name here, with there being several Ana's at Annabelle's school.

Visiting Annabelle's School

Yesterday was Annabelle's second birthday! So, I emailed last week with the director's of Annabelle's school and coordinated bringing in cookies to her class.

School starts at nine am. I was told to bring the cookies in at 11:20 am.

When I arrived, I went upstairs and saw three separate little classrooms, with about 6-10 kids in each class. In all three classrooms, the kids were sitting at little tables, eating their lunch!

Shockingly, Annabelle was one of these well behaved kids! I couldn't believe it!! As soon as I entered, she started talking, saying "MOMMY! Mommy's here." It was a nice welcome! She's not embarrassed of me yet!!

I was given my own little chair and sat behind Annabelle while the kids ate their food.

Each kid had a place mat that indicated where their plate, fork, spoon and tiny cup were to be placed.

To my amazement, Annabelle picked up her cup, which did NOT have a lid, drank it, and said "mas agua". Then, put her cup back in its' correct spot!

My amazement continued as the kids all continued eating their carrots, watermelon, and their main dish, which has a name, but I cannot recall it. The dish consisted of a piece of french bread, topped with refried beans, then layered with cheese. Annie ate the entire thing...which, again, shocked me, because normally the only thing she eats in full are sweets (a chip off the old block!)

Once the kids were done eating, the teacher instructed them individually to take their plate, cup, utensils, placemat and leftover food to the "dish section", where each kid had to put everything away in it's proper spot.

I think my jaw hit the floor as Annabelle followed her teacher's instructions and took three trips from the table to the dish section, putting everything away!

Next, it was time for Annabelle's cookies! Since moving to Polanco, we have become big fans of Le Pain, a local bakery. They have GIANT chocolate chip cookies that are very thin and taste amazing! So, we got enough giant cookies for each kid to have one. But, it worked out best to split up two amongst the whole class, then send each kid home with a full cookie! Before the kids were allowed to grab a piece of cookie, they sang "Las Manitas" to Annabelle. She smiled and clapped at the end! Then, the kids got their cookie pieces! It was pretty silent in the room as the kids devoured the cookies! Lots of "mmmmm" sounds coming from the kiddos, but that was about it!

The kids then walked up three steps to the bathroom area, where the assistant washed their hands, gave them their toothbrushes, and helped clean everyone up! After seeing Annie's class eat, I now fully understand why each kid is supposed to have a denim smock! I'll be purchasing one of those very soon!

After cleanup, I was invited to stay and go outside for playtime/recess. All the kids were out there.

Annabelle held my hand and the railing as we walked downstairs. With each step she took, she yelled out "Be careful E-A". (E-A is what she calls herself, as for awhile she had a hard time saying "Annie"!). So, the whole way down, I laughed as she kept telling herself to be careful! Once we reached the end of the stairs, she let go of my hand and started running towards the backyard, saying "I play with kids". She went straight to the gardening table, then moved on to the Little Tikes slide and log cabin. She was not concerned with me...which was good because that is when the older kids attacked me!

There were two girls and one boy, around the age of six, that would not leave me alone. They were trying to stuff plant leaves and nuts in the pockets of my jeans, in addition to trying to steal my iPhone out of my back pocket!! I must have said "NO. No mas. No gracias. Estas mal" about twenty times. A teacher came over and yelled at them a few times, but they were persistent. They kept after me! Then, I had about ten younger kids randomly coming up to me, speaking to me in Spanish, asking me my name...among other things that I couldn't understand!

Towards the end of recess, Annie found a soccer ball and started kicking it around the yard, yelling "I play soccer. I kick the ball". So, that was very cute to watch.

And, periodically she would look up and yell "I see my teacher", give her a big smile, and then continue playing!

I can certainly see why she comes home exhausted every afternoon! And, she seems to be very vocal, comfortable speaking English when everyone around her is speaking Spanish, for the most part. So, that was nice to see!

It was very nice to be able to spend over an hour with Annabelle at school today! She seems to be doing very well there!

Annabelle Goes to School

Yesterday was Annabelle's first day at Montessori school in Mexico City!... And, of course, we took photos!

For this first week, she is easing into her school day. Yesterday, she went for one hour. Today, she went for almost two hours!

She had a long list of school supplies that we needed to gather and purchase prior to school beginning. Being me, I waited until Sunday night to gather the non-medical form supplies. Needless to say...I still have to purchase several items.

However, the school was more than happy to take her with her partial supplies!

On Monday, Mike worked from home, so that he could go with to take and pick up Annabelle. When we picked her up, we were let in and waited while they brought her down from the upstairs classroom. We could hear her talking the whole way down, saying "I see my mommy, I see my mommy". When she did get to me, she gave me a big hug and started crying. But, when we asked her if she wanted to go back the next day, she said okay!

Today, when I picked her up, I waited outside. Once she cleared the last step, she came running to me and said "Hi mommy". No tears! She was in different clothes, wearing one of the four extra outfits that I had to send on day one, as part of her supply list! Apparently they had played with water. So, I was given a bag with her wet clothes and we went home.

Again, she says she wants to go back tomorrow!

Needless to say, Mike and I are still very excited for Annabelle's opportunity to learn, play with kids, and increase her Spanish vocabulary. And, it was nice to have a few hours this morning to run to Superama, Sam's Club and take Molly on a walk!

Carlos Slim's Soumaya Art Museum

Sunday afternoon we took a walk and ended up at Carlos Slim's Soumaya Art Museum.

It has only been open for a few weeks and has plenty of wallspace for more pieces...but impressive, nonetheless.

The unique design outside carries thru inside. Since we had an energetic two year old with us, we didn't make it to the top floors. But, we enjoyed what we saw and Annabelle loved the lack of stairs. We walked up and down ramps to get to the various levels.

I am quite sure we'll be going back to the Soumaya Art Museum as we have more visitors!

It is also important to note that entrance to the museum is free!! You do have to go thru a metal detector to get inside and check your purse/bag/stroller...but that is also free of charge!

And, if you aren't familiar with Carlos Slim - Mexico's richest resident...also the richest man in the world... take a look at his wikipedia page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim