Wednesday, July 1, 2009

Learning To Fly

Last week, Punk had to go to Kindergarten Camp all week from 12:30-3:30. I didn't blog about it at the time, just for privacy, but now that it's over, I wanted to share a bit about his experience.

Kindergarten Camp is something put on through the local schools to give the kids a run through of what Kindergarten will be like, get to know their teacher and some of their potential classmates (it is not decided yet what kids will be in AM or PM classes, so not all of the kids that he went to camp with will be in his class). They also incorporate Safety Town and a field trip into the week. I was VERY impressed with this program and I hope that local budget cuts do not affect this program by the time my girls get to Kindergarten age.

On the first day, Punk was very excited. He had been counting down the days for a week and when it finally got here, he could hardly control himself all morning waiting for lunch to be over so he could go to the school. But, when we got all loaded up in the van to take off, I looked at him and his eyes were filled with tears. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "I'm just a little nervous, and I am going to miss you guys so much!" I told him that we were going to miss him too, and I was sure that by the time I came back to pick him up, he'd probably be mad that it was time to go home already. That made him feel better and he never cried. Not even when we got to the school and his sisters and I had to leave him. I was a smart mom, and didn't try to give him a hug or kiss "goodbye". I gave him a high-five instead, and he seemed to really appreciate that!

When I went to pick him up, he was so excited telling me his stories for the day. He thought it was cool that he had gotten to have recess. And he even had a little homework assignment, which he took great pride in completing, with my help, after he had his after-school snack.

The whole week went by smoothly, and when it was all over he was upset that he'd have to wait a couple of months for "real school" to start. He's ready, and not scared at all, and to be honest, I am ready too! This week showed me that the 3 hours that he will be gone a day are really not THAT long, and although I will miss him around here all day everyday, the break will be good. He's ready to start learning and making friends. And I am ready to watch him grow and start to use his wings.

Now, I just have to fear 1st grade, when he'll be gone from me ALL day..THAT will be what gets me.

1 comments:

MrsM said...

I wish I had some helpful advice, but when Monkey just SAID he wanted to go to school I nearly choked to death. Then I figured out he just wanted to ride the school bus, so we rode around on city transit and called it even and we both felt much better.

Good luck!