Tuesday, November 30, 2010

First Day of School




John started school on Monday.

Actually, in the interest of being precise (and what kindergartener is not precise) John started kindergarten “Two months ago in Kensington which is near to Berkeley on the Arlington.” But Jay and I say that it’s not really worth celebrating until we’re not paying for it.   So Monday was a special day, break out the Champaign, John went to public school.

John was a little anxious, understandably so.  But his teacher, Mrs. Poper, was very friendly, and his locker (!) was number 109 – auspiciously the same number as his classroom, a fact which Jay and John noticed right away.

And so, you may wonder, what did John have to tell me about school?  What was he eager to share, after a whole day away?  What deep insight did he have about Montessori vs. traditional teaching models, Chicago vs. Berkeley sensibility, walking to school vs. driving?  “Mama, they have oranges in jello if you want to buy them for lunch.”

Ah well.

I did manage to get out of him that there were laptops for all the children to use “You have to have a password.”  “What’s your password?” “I forgot.”  That there is gym class, “We dribbled balls!” And that there are kids to play with “Sam says I’m his best friend.”  “Did you play with him?”  “No.”

In other words, John was just as forthright about school as he was at home.  I think he’ll make an easy transition.

No comments:

Post a Comment