A "shout out" for Kids R Kids of Round Rock

Ethan and Aiden started at Kids R Kids preschool at the start of the year and I can't say enough good things about it so far. They go twice a week (on Tuesdays and Thursdays) from 8-5. The first week of leaving them was a little bumpy - as we expected - but now, for the most part, they soon forget I'm gone. Even after their long day, they fuss about having to leave school and come home.

I am loving the free time I get to tackle my ever-growing list of things I want to accomplish this year - although having them attend a school where you can log-in to watch them from home tends to cut into my productivity at times.

I absolutely love the staff at KRK. Before they opened, and before we even moved, I contacted the owner to discuss what the school had to offer. I wanted to make sure I was finding a place that was more than just a "daycare", and more importantly, one that could both meet the needs of my boys and challenge them to not just have fun throughout the day, but actually learn. Between the owners heart of gold and the state-of-the-art facility (she gave us a tour of a different KRK location) it didn't take us long to know we had found the right fit.

In just a few short weeks, the boys have already started to take off in many ways. Aiden's speech and language development has dramatically improved. So much so in fact that at his recent evaluation to transition him from the state therapy program to determine what school-based services he would require, it was decided that he is meeting or exceeding all age-appropriate developmental goals. Now I know that is most likely due to the fact that we have done speech therapy sessions once a week for the last 2.5 years, but I've truly seen an increase in his verbalization skills just in the past few weeks, which I think can be attributed to the communication-rich setting of his classroom.

And the boys are becoming more social (if that was even possible), making friends and telling me silly stories about their day together. Being in a classroom has helped Ethan to settle down a bit and learn how to follow directions. When we toured the school, I noticed how nicely the kids were all sitting in their seats at snack time and I had to laugh. I warned the teacher that THAT would definitely not happen with my boys - they'd surely be up and running around, throwing their cheerios and causing a commotion. "You'd be surprised - most parents think that will happen with their kids - but we rarely have that problem," the owner assured us. If the school didn't have cameras where we could watch the boys throughout the day I might not believe that to be true - but sure enough, Ethan, my rowdy, full-of-life Ethan, proved me wrong. Now I just need to figure out how Ms. Patty can get him to sit a full 20 minute story-time and I can't get him to stay still for longer than 2 minutes at the dinner table.

I'm super pleased with both the level of learning and the quality of care they are receiving at Kids R Kids. I can't wait to see how they continue to develop as months go by - and I love collecting the cute drawings and crafts that will fill their keepsake boxes for many years.

PS - Ethan's class will be on the news this Tuesday! They were the only Pre-K class in Texas asked to sing a song on the steps of the Capitol building in Austin. We've been working hard on the song and I will be there to catch it on film so I can share it with everyone! Stay tuned :)