Preschool Graduation

Beaver's preschool had a graduation party for him and the one other little girl that will be moving on to kindergarten next year.  

Here he is with his friend, Miguel. I mostly took this because I think Miguel is such a cutie, but it isn't the best picture of him.  He is from Brazil, and his dad plays professional soccer in Japan.  He's quite the little athlete.  The teacher told me that a few days ago, Beaver wanted her to play tag with him.  She didn't want to, so she suggested he ask Miguel to play.  Beaver said, "I don't want to ask Miguel, because he is faster than me!"  That is classic Beaver behavior for you.

He was not happy about wearing the graduation cap.

Beaver was supposed to give a "graduation speech", which meant simply that they had him stand up front and asked him to tell his favorite part of preschool.  He refused to speak, dropped his shoulders, and wiped all expression from his face, because that is what he does when he feels embarrassed.  After a bit of prodding, he spoke in a silly, high-pitched voice that he uses when embarrassed, and said that his favorite part of preschool was chasing everyone outside.  They also asked what he wants to be when he grows up, and he said a scientist that finds out why the dinosaurs died.

He also got an award for being the "most imaginative" student.  His teachers said that every day they are interested to find out what kind of animal he is pretending to be.  The head teacher told me that he is a different animal every day, and that a couple of weeks ago he announced that he couldn't do his writing practice because he was a dolphin and his flippers were too wet.   

It was a fun little party.  Even Bear, who was expecting to be bored, enjoyed it.  He was greatly amused by the antics of the little kids as the teachers attempted songs, dancing, and picture-taking.  Imagine a class of about 20 two to five-year-olds, and you know just what I'm talking about!