The first semester in school

It was raining and the clouds were gray. I had to tell my big girl that school was suspended that day.

“Okay, Mommy,” she said.

Later on, the rain stopped. She slung her backpack over her shoulder and said, “The rain stopped. Let’s go to school, Mommy.”

I was so proud of my big girl.

Jamaine has completed her first semester in kindergarten. We’re almost near the end of our break before she goes to school again.

In my last post, I mentioned how I wanted school to be a positive experience for her. And judging by her enthusiasm to attend class everyday, I could tell she loves school.

I owe this in part to our preparations the year before. We would always watch DVDs or read stories about the first day of school. And I would always make her feel how exciting it is.

I would tell her that she’d have a teacher who will help her learn lots of things. Teachers are always nice.

When hubby had to take a trip abroad last year, he came home with the perfect present: a Dora backpack for both girls.

Jamaine would always stuff her bag with toys and books and pretend she was going to class. She would get her toy cellphone and pretend she was talking to her teacher.

I guess you could say her preparation was one year in the making.

First weeks

Her first day in school went very well. We all went with her and I stayed outside her room the whole time.

When I asked her how her first day was, “It’s fun Mommy!”

The challenge surfaced during her first few weeks. Her teacher told me how she’d always play by herself and she would cover her ears whenever the class would sing songs.

“It’s too noisy!” Jamaine would say.

She grew up with mostly her dad, me and a nanny so I wasn’t surprised that she wasn’t sociable yet. I had hoped that school would help her become more outgoing and confident.

There were also quite a few times when she wouldn’t want to go to school.

So we made it a point that either I or her dad would send her to and pick her up from school. I think it reassured her that we would always be there for her.

Breakthrough

Halfway into the first semester, I could see Jamaine was starting to enjoy school more. She would come home with new songs eager to teach her sister. She would bring home her school projects and display them on the wall.

She would proudly show every badge, stamp and sticker she earned for performing well in class.

Our biggest test came when their class had to perform a dance for the school’s field day. Her teacher was concerned about how Jamaine would react to a crowd bigger than 10.

“Be brave okay. There will be a lot of people watching. And they’ll be clapping for you.” I told her this every day for two weeks before her performance.

When she got on the stage, she danced like no one was watching. I was one proud mama.

All the other events that came after that were a breeze.

When Jamaine would come home, she would tell me about all her friends and how she’d like to invite them for a sleepover. When I’d pick her up, she’d introduce me to her classmates, “Mommy, meet my friend Sophie…”

We did it!

At the end of the semester, I met with her teacher to discuss her evaluation and most of the items in her developmental checklist were marked as “Secure Behavior” – meaning she has already mastered that skill.

That’s what I love about a progressive school. They don’t compare your child’s performance with a set of grades. Instead they measure the child’s progress in terms of behavior: whether it is emerging, developing or secure.

Over all, I am very satisfied with Jamaine’s progress and I am happy we met our goal to help her become more sociable and confident. (So I can dance like Dora and sing, “We did it! We did it!”)

For the second semester, we will focus on developing her writing and reading skills. She already loves scribbling and making up stories while she reads a book. I’m pretty sure we’ll be having shopping sprees in the bookstore pretty soon.

Do you have a first time preschooler? What was it like for your child during her first adventure into school?