The Harrison Family: Carter Starts Atascocita Montissory School

The day finally arrived that Carter started Atascocita Montessori School. I have been waiting for this day for so long....two kids at the same school is a mothers dream! Carter previously attended Crossroads Early learning center which I liked a lot. They took excellent care of him and I really loved that school for him as a baby. As he started to get older, I felt like he was not getting the education and structure that I feel like he needed. While the school was very sad to see us go, I knew this as the right decision for Carter and our family. Carter Started Atascocita Montessori School on Monday, June 30 when he was almost 17 months old. Typically they do not let kids start until 18 months but since it is summer and I am a repeat customer, they made an exception for us! Carter started in Miss Ana Cruz's class which is the same teacher and class that Riley had at his age. We think Miss Ana is a fantastic teacher and were delighted to get the opportunity to have Carter in his class.

The first day of school started great. Carter is very familiar with the school from all the times we have dropped off/picked up Riley so it was nothing new to him. We put his bags and things away and got him situated in the "tea room" for he and Riley to have breakfast. Justin and I had a talk with Riley and asked her to look after her brother and take care of him while at breakfast. Carter was laughing and smiling until he saw Justin and I break for the door and the much anticipated tears started flowing. We reluctantly left as Riley and Ms. Ana calmed Carter down. It was before I even made my way to my office that I was already getting text messages from Ms Ana with photos of Carter playing and smiling. She said he only cried for a few minutes and then played and had a blast with his friends. He even took a great nap (probably because he was exhausted). When I went to pick him up he was smiling from ear to ear and had a fantastic day. Unlike Riley, Carter seems to be able to adjust to change pretty well. When I picked up Riley I was told she had a meltdown when they took Carter out of breakfast and brought him to his classroom. She insisted that she was told by her mom and dad that she needed to take care of him so she needed to go into his room instead of the primary room where she belongs. I thought that was super sweet! Carter is so lucky to have such a caring big sister!

Day 2 was a little more emotional for Carter at drop off since he knew we were for sure going to leave. He cried but again, I got text messages from his teacher telling me how great of a day he was having. Riley did much better on day 2 as well! When I went to pick him up on the second day he was sitting on the carpet with his friends listening to Miss Alexis read them a story.

Day 3 drop off... he DID NOT cry at all! It only took two days for him to transition and he is like a pro! I can tell he is loving the new school and already learning a lot! I cannot wait to see how quickly he develops and learns in his new environment.

I have recently compared video of Riley and Carter at the same age.. 17 months and as surprising as it is, Carter is more advanced at this age than she was! He speaks very well for his age and says a ton of words. Some of his favorites are hi, bye, momma, Ka (Luca), Nak (Snack), Love you, dada, Nanny, lunch, shoes, foot, nose, and plenty more. He can show you his eyes, nose, ears, mouth, hair, etc.. He is still as sweet as ever and loves to give hugs and kisses. His teacher told me that he loves to hug all his new friends at school. I sure hope he stays this sweet!

Riley has been doing fantastic at school. She was struggling with her writing but has really made huge improvements. She can write all the letters in the alphabet... some better than others. Her teacher now has her writing and spelling words. Her teacher was so excited to tell me the other day that she spelled and wrote the word cat all on her own! I always knew Riley was smart but sometimes she still amazes me! She is reading well and nightly reads her daddy and I an early reader book. Last weekend her Nanny and I took her to see the Little Mermaid Broadway play. She LOVED it and was so good! Here are some photos of our recent adventures.