Since the boys started attending the Early Intervention Playgroup one day a week, Monday means that three kids go to school for the afternoon! As I packed their backpacks last week, I thought about how that day was the first of many more days of sending three kids off to school. It's amazing to think that they were just little babies, and now they are heading off to school. It's daunting, too. Did I prepare them the right way? Did I teach them enough about manners, waiting your turn, or saying please? Will they be scared? Will they know how to ask for help when they need it? Will they miss me (at least a little, I hope)? As a teacher, I want to feel that they are happy at school and that they view school as a positive experience and a safe and fun place. I want them to listen to their teachers, make friends, and be kind. I want them to come home brimming with stories to tell me about their days, and I want all of this to happen in slow motion so that they don't grow up too soon.
So far, the boys have done really well! They like school and get excited to go. In fact, they ask to go every single day and get upset when Mairead gets to go but they don't. When I pick them up, I get to see them sit for circle time and participate with the other kids. And, let's be honest, the two hours to myself once a week are not bad either. Strange and a little too quiet, but not bad!
Mairead is still happy to go to school. Once in a while, there are a few protests in the morning but as soon as she sees the bus, she is excited and ready to go. She loves taking the yellow bus home and tells me that she has fun at school. She is so proud to show me drawings or projects she has done, and she even mentions a few little friends by name. It's early in the year, I know, but already things are going SO much better than last year. She has made such great progress and we hope that she just keeps amazing us!
