His school has done a great job with activities to make the kids feel comfortable with each other and to get to know the school. We've gone to summer play dates, an ice cream social and he got to visit the school one more time at enrollment. He was shy at each of these events, preferring to stay close to us unless one of his friends from pre-k was there.
I'm so glad we waited and didn't send him to kindergarten right after he turned five. I think at five he was ready academically, but the extra year has given him additional social and emotional maturity.
Getting him to smile for pictures is still an adventure.
I wish we could put tiny little cameras on their sholders and watch what they do all day and how they interact with everyone. I asked a bizillion questions when I picked him up but I got a lot of 'I don't remember' answers. I keep asking and eventually learned bits about his day that I can piece together - I'm learning that some questions are better openers than others.
When Karsten was born, I remember having a conversation with Kenna about kindergarten and how we hoped the district would offer full day kindergarten by then. I thought we had SO much time before we had to worry about kindergarten. Not true, not true at all.
I want to try and enjoy every minute of these years - I know they go far too fast.
Lucky me, I have two wonderful boys!
Our neighbors were outside taking their own back to school pictures, and they kindly volunteered to take a family picture.
Hopefully the teachers are ready for these two monkeys.
And then it was time, Scott dropped Liam off at school then came to meet us at Karsten's school. Karsten and I took a few more photos and talked about how much fun he was going to have, then headed to school. The principal and priest were outside greeting everyone as they arrived. I tried for a photo, but Karsten said 'no' in a sad voice. I didn't want to push it, so I let it go and we headed to his classroom.
They wanted to take photos of each Kindergartener with their parents - rumor has it we will see this photo in a project at the end of the year!
We got his backpack put away in his locker, and he humored me for a photo.
He was excited to see his little friend, Sam. I was so excited that Sam was in Karsten's class, I think the transition would have been much tougher without a friend by his side!
Then, he went right over to his desk and sat down - he was ready to get started. The whole thing went much more quickly than I had anticipated. I looked at his teacher and quietly asked if we should head out and she said 'yep!'
I gave him a big hug and told him to have a great day. He jumped up for one more hug as we got ready to go, but then he went back to his desk and looked through the book he had chosen. As we walked out, I asked Scott 423 times if I should go back and check on him to make sure he was ok - bet you know the answer from Scott. Before we left, I did peek in one last time, and just like Scott predicted, he was just fine. I'm so proud of him!
He only had a half day, and I couldn't wait to pick him up and hear all about his first day. I got there a bit early, so I was toward the beginning of the pickup line. I think I spent 10 minutes agonizing if I should park and go into the school and get him or wait in the pickup line. It was pouring rain and most of the parents seemed to be in the pickup line, so I stayed with the group and braved the pickup line.
Sam's mom invited us to join a group going to pizza for lunch. We met so many great people that we look forward to getting to know more - such a welcoming community that we've been lucky to find!
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