The Road to Kindergarten

“Gerardo came into my class not knowing any letters and was extremely shy,” said Ms. Henri, Gerardo’s teacher. Gerardo, a Bright Beginnings student, started coming to Grace Place a year ago after his mom, Luisa, noticed he wasn’t socializing well and was not near kindergarten ready. “He was having a hard time expressing himself. He was incredibly emotional and couldn’t spell his name,” said Luisa. “I heard so many great things about Grace Place’s Bright Beginnings program and I knew it would be best to sign Gerardo up to go,” said Luisa.

After seeing Gerardo’s progress, Luisa recommitted this year. Gerardo is now flourishing in the full-time four-year-old class and Luisa has enrolled in the Beginnings 102.

“He is growing leaps and bounds,” Ms. Henri said with a big smile on her face. “He spelled his first and last name clearly for the first time in front of his peers with such pride,” she said.  The best part is, Gerardo is learning the alphabet in English and Spanish. “He explores letters presented through unique items around the classroom,” explained Ms. Henri. “For instance, he brought two lanyards up to me and the cords had created the letter M.  He then exclaimed ‘Ms. Henri look at the letter M!’” It is no doubt that Gerardo will soar in kindergarten!