While it’s been a unique year for the Tots in Training preschool in Estevan, the children have still learned a lot, and had plenty of fun in the process.
The preschool has 15 children who are three years old and 30 who are age four; those 30 young children will graduate this spring and move on to kindergarten this fall.
Carrie Trobert, the owner for Tots in Training, said she had a class for 15 four-year-old kids on Tuesday mornings, another for 15 four-year-olds Tuesday afternoons, and a class for 15 three-year-olds on Wednesday mornings.
“Everybody did really well,” said Trobert. “It was a lot of fun.”
Each day they have a special day for each letter of the alphabet. When they’re finished the alphabet, they shift into learning numbers and shapes. Kids have a show and tell time every Tuesday, in which they bring a special item, and then there is a 30-minute gym time in the designated area.
The biggest challenge came early in the school year. Tots in Training used to be based out of Trinity Lutheran Church in Estevan, but because the church wasn’t accessible at the start of the year, Trobert had to shift her location in two weeks.
She wound up moving to Mississippian Drive in Estevan’s industrial area.
“The space was so great,” she said. “It was so open and big, and we were still able to have a gym area for the kids.”
With its location in the industrial area, a lot of dads were able to drop their kids off and pick them up this year.
The preschool was adapting nicely to its new space, and then the masking legislation came into effect, which can be tough for three and four-year-olds. The four-year-olds did a particularly good job of adapting to the masks.
“Kids are just really easy to adjust,” said Trobert. “That’s the good thing. They did well. They’re just so happy to be out and to play with their friends, and we were happy that we could continue and not be shut down, other than an extra week after Christmas and an extra week after Easter.”
The preschool won’t be able to have a graduation ceremony for its four-year-olds this year. There will be a special day with each class, with ice cream and lots of fun.
In a typical year, Trobert will do a grad ceremony with the kids, in which she hands out their diplomas, the kids sing the songs they have learned, and a lunch is served. COVID will prevent that from happening.
Trobert has been running Tots in Training for 11 years, and the preschool has been open for about 15 years. She enjoys working with the kids and watching them learn.
“It puts a smile on my face just to see how happy they are. Even if I’m having a rough day, when I come here, I totally forget everything, because their smiles are just so great, and (I love) their laughs and their little stories. I just have so much fun with them.”
