One year at the Y

A year ago we were just beginning a discussion on picking a school type program for Ranger. Both of us had our misgivings about starting him in a program. He had been two for only two months! But this particular program was coming highly recommended from extended family. 

When E and I visited the Samuel Field Y (SFY) last year we walked in believing we were looking for something to start in the fall (nine months away). Ranger was not saying too many words at this point, and didn't sit still for Gymboree- we felt he needed time yet.

You guys, WE were the ones not ready. He has not only adapted to everything - starting from two days a week to five days a week- he is thriving with each new challenge. When we recently decided to add Tuesdays and Thursdays, his Monday Wednesday Friday class was full, so we decided to enroll him in a different classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Some three year olds might have had difficulty with two different classrooms/teachers/peer sets but Ranger didn't miss a beat. And during this new schedule he was also adjusting to being diaper free!

The teachers and staff have been excellent in every class he has been in. They have helped Ranger gain vocabulary and skills at great speed and with great confidence. I cannot say enough about how awesome they've been. If you have a child 2 or older and live near Little Neck you should check them out. They didn't sponsor me or compensate me - it is just an outstanding program.

I find myself trying to catch up to whatever new skill set Ranger has acquired. There are songs he sings I have not heard before but suddenly find caught in my head (or quizzed on "now your turn mommy, you sing it"). This week they are learning about hibernation and migration. I don't remember learning these things before Kindergarden!

I just registered Ranger for five day a week, 9am - 2 pm days, full summer session summer camp. We are upping the hours in preparation for his attending Universal Pre-Kindergarden next year. After the seeing the progress made this past year, I think the SFY will have Ranger ready for his bachelor's before he can shave.

PS. I wrote a nice review for SFY on Yelp. But it seems Yelp has some sort of wicked "spam filter" wherein they filtered EVERY SINGLE GOOD REVIEW and not the one bad review. Filtered reviews' stars don't compute in the overall business star rating, so this amazing Y shows up with one star. If you want to see the good reviews you have to know where to look and enter a captcha. I used to trust Yelp reviews/star ratings. Now I know it is total bunk.