So I have a confession to make: my son hates school. But not his school, his sister’s school…. and she hasn’t even started yet. Earlier this month, my older daughter had summer school and he cried every single time we dropped her off. And not a sad-face cry…. a hysterical cry. It was heartbreaking and has me so nervous for back to school transition this week.
Since my little man will also be starting his first year of preschool in a couple weeks, I planned to use our one-on-one time to reinforce his knowledge of shapes, colors and letters in preparation for his milestone. We read books, painted, and played all day… but my boy couldn’t focus without his big sister around. He jumped from activity to activity without retaining much of the lessons I presented him. He kept saying he was hungry for snacks. He would cry for no reason. Basically, after a lifetime of having his sister underfoot, my boy was falling apart without her near.
Just in time, as part of a sponsored post with Socialstars and Playskool, a new toy was delivered to brighten his day and teach him to distinguish different shapes and colors, practice matching and hand-eye coordination and further develop fine motor movements.
We played with the Playskool Pop Up Shape Sorter while Big Sister was at summer school. I helped him open the expandable shape sorter kitty, which he loved to do over and over again, and then worked with the shapes and colors. Since Big Sister is in a Spanish dual immersion program, I attempted to teach him the colors in Spanish, as well as counting the blocks and sorting.
I tried! Because although he loved the Pop Up Shape Sorter and how easy it was to fold up and take from room to room, this dude was missing his sister like crazy. As soon as she was home again, all was right in his world. He pulled out his new toy and began to demonstrate all the things we had been working on. He showed her how he could sort the shapes and even recites the colors in Spanish. In true big sister form, my daughter listened to his rambles, encouraged his learning and patiently tended to her baby brother.
Better Together: Siblings Who Love and Learn Together
I learned a valuable lesson throughout this whole ordeal: sometimes siblings make the best teachers. While my son knows his colors and shapes, it wasn’t until his big sister was home that he was able to relax and demonstrate his knowledge…. or even truly enjoy his new toy.
It’s been a year full of transitions and changes for us, and these two siblings have really been together all day, everyday. I’m a bit surprised at how hard he has taken the change, but I know that my son will thrive under the love and guidance of, not only the teachers at his preschool, but his big sister too.
Watching them play together is perhaps the most rewarding part of my parenting. I know that as they grow, memories like this one will serve as the foundation for their relationship. They won’t always play with shape sorters and recite colors in Spanish, but by loving and learning together now, as children, they’re learn to sort through life together as adults.
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