I woke up this morning at 6:15 AM. I don't normally wake up that early, but today was unavoidable. I had a very excited five year old loudly whisper me out of a dead sleep to remind me that today was her first day of kindergarten at her new school and she did not want to be late. It was too early to remind her that not once had she gone to school late in her whole life, but, hey I can console myself now.
My oldest daughter, known simply as "E" on this site, attended kindergarten at the local elementary school last year, which, I might add, sits only three blocks away from our house. She is a November baby, and when she entered in 2009, she was four, turned five that fall, and was from then on out called "the baby" of the class. She excelled academically, but seemed to flounder socially and emotionally. It was during her birthday month that I decided to pull her out of kinder, try to get her into a pre-school, and try kinder again next year. By that time, however, she had reached a milestone. She had made friends, fell in love with her teacher, and realizing how quickly she was learning to read, became a straight-up school girl. Danny and I decided to let her continue, and make the tough decision about the following year later.
I deliberated over this decision for months. I spoke to fellow parents of young kindergartners, education professionals, and young students themselves to prepare for an outcome. I walked away from all of this research with a wholehearted, yes, she should repeat the year. She needed to be in a class with kids her own age. Even if she did experience a tough second kindergarten year, she would still be in the right place when entering junior high, high school, and college.
We then decided that we didn't want her to repeat kinder at the same school, due to the almost certain stigma she would be made aware of with her former classmates moving up to first grade, while she remained behind. So we pushed and got her into the top academic school in our town, a country school which is about a 12 minute drive away.
Today was her second first day of kindergarten.
She is beyond excited. In her backpack she carries crayons, sharpened pencils, and three hand-written notes to her new teacher. Notes that say things like, "I love you" and "I love school," but might be translated by the teacher as, "I was in kindergarten last year and already know all my letters and how to read and write basic words."
Danny met us at the house at 8:00 after being at work already for two hours. I packed him a breakfast, which explains the foil covered dish. E felt very special having her dad come home to attend her first day of school. In the background, J.D. appears to be wondering why he can't just ride off into the sunset with Danny in his big truck to search the world for tractors and hammers for the rest of their lives.
My happy beautiful girl. I know every parent on the planet says this kind of stuff, but I really can't believe she'll be turning six in a few months!
Another four under five winner! I am starting to see a trend. My four little kids CAN all stand in a photo and smile, or attempt to do so, for a brief moment. The trick is to get ready with my camera on time!
After this photo session, we hopped into the car and headed out to the country. We joined a line of Suburbans, Tahoes and trucks heading out to the country with squirmy, excited seat-belted youngsters inside. Once at the school, we marched straight over to the kinder classroom. Now up to this point, E was the picture of excitement.
However in the classroom, something changed. She saw the new teacher, and realized it wasn't her treasured teacher from last year. She looked around at the other children's faces and recognized no one. The classroom was large and unfamiliar. I saw a shadow cross her face, and she reached out to me and said, "Mommy, don't go." Luckily, we were all invited out to the flag salute, and we stood near E and her class. Afterwards, while walking her back to her class, I assured her that she would be fine, and that I would be back to get her right after lunch. She seemed a little dazed, but we had to go, so I grabbed Little G, Danny held J.D. and Cubby followed us out as we walked to the car.
"She's going to fine," Danny and I said almost simultaneously.
And it turns out, she was. She did have an upsetting encounter with a "big kid" on the playground which prompted a few tears, but the majority of the day was fun, although hot. She already made a new friend she reported, and she loves her teacher. She also loves the merry-go-round, which she calls the dizzy thing, and she liked writing her name a bunch of times, since she already knew how to do it.
Not to sound super corny, but perhaps some things are better the second time around.
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