Gus started preschool today. Yeah. Gus. Not Hank. Gus. He is 1 year and 4 months old. When I say this to people they give me that look. The one you all have right now. “What can a 1 year old possibly get out of preschool?!” A lot. Let me tell you.

Hank on his first day of one year old preschool and Gus on his.  Gus is obviously the lesser of compliant.

Gus is going to preschool to learn sight words, some basic math, and the color wheel. Oh stop, I am kidding. What is Gus really learning? How to stand and walk in line. How to go up and down stairs. How to pass out snack and sit at a table. How to throw away his trash and pick up his toys. How to sit and listen to a book being read. Pretty basic stuff, huh? But you would be surprised how many kids aren’t able to do this when they get to preschool and kindergarten.

When people ask me what Gus is doing at preschool I tell them this “He is learning to learn.” Hank went to One Year Old Preschool last year and I saw a difference. He knows how to hold a book the right way and how to pass out napkins for snack. And all these little nuggets of knowledge showed up from just one morning a week.

We practice these skills at home too. Our house doesn’t consist of alphabet cards and magnetic numbers. I don’t want to teach my kiddos tricks. I want to teach them skills they need. Looking at a card and saying “That is a ‘b’” is a nice thing to be able to do. However, it is even more important that your little one knows how to sit in a circle and listen to a story.

Learning to learn needs to come first. If our little ones don’t know how to sit at a desk, they cannot learn their ABCs. If they cannot wait in line, they cannot learn to play baseball. If they cannot clean up after snack, they cannot hand in their work when it is done.

If you live in the Sioux Falls area and are looking for a one or two year old preschool class. I give Kingdom Kids at First Presbyterian Church two thumbs up! Miss Cathy has been teaching for over a decade and we love her! (Not to mention your kid would get to spend time with my little hunks!)