La Nina's Big Day
In the midst of remodel preparations and web sites launching, we have a little girl getting ready for kindergarten. Today, was La Nina's big Kindergarten preview. Ok, it was really an evaluation, but I pitched to her as a preview, because I didn't want her to think it was anything was a pass/fail situation.
In our school district, they encourage parents to bring their kids in for this little evaluation, so the teachers can meet the kids and the kids can see kindergarten. During the time, the kids are very subtly tested for kindergarten readiness. The tasks are simple: find your name tag on the floor, listen to a story, draw a picture, write your name, cut a line. Yet, it's also enough to give the kids a feel for big kid school.
La Nina's never been a kid who liked change. When she was little any little change through her for a loop. It's much better now, but she still isn't a fan of new things. So, when I told her today we were going to see a classroom, meet some teachers and make some new friends, she was luke warm, at best. About the only part of kindergarten that interested La Nina was the playground and her questions about that were focused on the monkey bars.
When we got to the school, the kids were almost immediately taken into their own room. Let me tell you, what a tug on my heart to see her walk into a kindergarten classroom. When did she get so big? I wondered. We parents were left to complete paperwork that asked questions like: "What should we know about your child?" or "What do you like best about your child?" "How long each day do you read to your child?" I swear, I felt like I was the one getting evaluated. Then the teachers gave a little talk about what to expect over the next couple of months.
After about 30 minutes, the kids started filtering back into the parent room, all except La Nina. Finally, she came in and she was all smiles. Turned out she wanted to make her picture extra good. After the sessions, the kids were invited to look around the room and play on the playground. La Nina liked the fish in the room and she was very interested in the art on the walls. After she finished with the classroom, it was time for the playground. I'm happy to report there were monkey bars...
When we got back to the car almost 90 minutes later, she chatted all about the teachers, and the monkeybars, and the story they read. It was clear that she had a great time and now, she's very excited to start school. Of course, I'm the one who's now a little sad. It isn't because I'm worried about her, she's more than ready for school. It's just I wonder how it is that we got to this point so quickly.
In our school district, they encourage parents to bring their kids in for this little evaluation, so the teachers can meet the kids and the kids can see kindergarten. During the time, the kids are very subtly tested for kindergarten readiness. The tasks are simple: find your name tag on the floor, listen to a story, draw a picture, write your name, cut a line. Yet, it's also enough to give the kids a feel for big kid school.
La Nina's never been a kid who liked change. When she was little any little change through her for a loop. It's much better now, but she still isn't a fan of new things. So, when I told her today we were going to see a classroom, meet some teachers and make some new friends, she was luke warm, at best. About the only part of kindergarten that interested La Nina was the playground and her questions about that were focused on the monkey bars.
When we got to the school, the kids were almost immediately taken into their own room. Let me tell you, what a tug on my heart to see her walk into a kindergarten classroom. When did she get so big? I wondered. We parents were left to complete paperwork that asked questions like: "What should we know about your child?" or "What do you like best about your child?" "How long each day do you read to your child?" I swear, I felt like I was the one getting evaluated. Then the teachers gave a little talk about what to expect over the next couple of months.
After about 30 minutes, the kids started filtering back into the parent room, all except La Nina. Finally, she came in and she was all smiles. Turned out she wanted to make her picture extra good. After the sessions, the kids were invited to look around the room and play on the playground. La Nina liked the fish in the room and she was very interested in the art on the walls. After she finished with the classroom, it was time for the playground. I'm happy to report there were monkey bars...
When we got back to the car almost 90 minutes later, she chatted all about the teachers, and the monkeybars, and the story they read. It was clear that she had a great time and now, she's very excited to start school. Of course, I'm the one who's now a little sad. It isn't because I'm worried about her, she's more than ready for school. It's just I wonder how it is that we got to this point so quickly.
posted by One Lucky Mom @ 10:04 PM
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