Erika is getting ready for Kindergarten
Sep. 6th, 2015 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alikiOnly like at least three times a day, when we are out and around town running errands, a stranger will inevitably ask: "so are you excited to get back to school? What grade are you in? Oh, you're starting Kindergarten? HOW EXCITING!!!"
Erika just shrugs non-commitally and avoids eye contact, and looks incredibly interested in her shoes or her fingernails. The truth is, I think she is terrified.
When she found out that going to Kindergarten meant leaving the school that she's been at since 2013, she first tried the subtle "you know, mom, they have Kindergarten at [school she is currently attending pre-K]" I told her I knew, but she wasn't continuing in private school, and she was switching to our neighborhood public elementary school.
Erika then tried the dramatic my-life-is-over: "But I won't know anybody!" wailing, to which I told her she'd make new friends, and we certainly could continue play dates with her old friends.
Because no, we're not paying $14,000 a year for her for Kindergarten, when there is a perfectly acceptable low-cost public school available!
When she reached the acceptance stage, and started asking questions like: "So what is my Kindergarten teacher's name? Am I allowed to wear dresses on gym days? Where is the cafeteria? Where do I go for Aftercare? Where is my classroom? Are we allowed Free Play if we are done with our work or do we have to sit in our seats until everyone is done? If we need to get a drink of water, what is the rule?" and a lot of other questions that I've forgotten, as I looked quite blankly at her and gave a lot of "I dont know, I guess we'll find out" answers.
This freaked her out. I guess like mother, like daughter--- we both are careful planners. We like to know what is the day's schedule, the to-do list, the so-called POTD (military speak for "Plan of the Day"). "Aren't you supposed to know these things?!" she said, a little hysterical.
On Friday, they held a Kindergarten Orientation, so Erika and I attended the 30-minute event that should've been better titled "The event where the principal repeats everything verbatim that was clearly outlined in the 6-page Welcome Packet sent home to all families"--- things like when the school day starts, and what supplies are needed, how to sign up for the phone blast for emergencies, and how to pay for school lunches. Erika had the chance to meet her Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Prettyman, and it was the same person who had given her the diagnositc test for learning assistance (i.e. to identify students who may need a learning aide), so Erika cheered up at the thought.
When it came time to walk with her teacher to the classroom, she freaked out! She started doing a panicked dance with her feet, a pitter-patter frenzied running-in-place, then she grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. "I can't do it, mommy, I can't!" she said in a panicked voice, and then when she looked behind her, the teacher and her class had left, which made her panic even more. "My teacher's gone! I lost my teacher!" she yelled hysterically. Luckily a staff member approached and I explained that we lost Ms. Merryman, and they kindly escorted Erika down the hallway (parents were asked to remain behind to listen to the principal regurgitate the Welcome Packet, remember).
At the end, the students returned to us, and Erika ran up to me when she spotted me in the crowd. She said she didn't remember any of her classmates' names, but she did like the classroom, and Ms. Prettyman promised them that she'd read them at least one book every day, which seemed a very important promise to Erika, and she quite liked Ms. Prettyman for it. She said the classroom looked fun but she didn't spot a Gym so she was concerned about where they'd be running around, as she was quite sure they weren't supposed to run in the classroom or the hallways. Then we came home and spent an hour using the Brother P-Touch Label Maker to label all her school supplies and pack her new sparkly pink Barbie backpack full of lots of new supplies and get ready for the start of school after Labor Day on Tuesday Sept 8.
Erika just shrugs non-commitally and avoids eye contact, and looks incredibly interested in her shoes or her fingernails. The truth is, I think she is terrified.
When she found out that going to Kindergarten meant leaving the school that she's been at since 2013, she first tried the subtle "you know, mom, they have Kindergarten at [school she is currently attending pre-K]" I told her I knew, but she wasn't continuing in private school, and she was switching to our neighborhood public elementary school.
Erika then tried the dramatic my-life-is-over: "But I won't know anybody!" wailing, to which I told her she'd make new friends, and we certainly could continue play dates with her old friends.
Because no, we're not paying $14,000 a year for her for Kindergarten, when there is a perfectly acceptable low-cost public school available!
When she reached the acceptance stage, and started asking questions like: "So what is my Kindergarten teacher's name? Am I allowed to wear dresses on gym days? Where is the cafeteria? Where do I go for Aftercare? Where is my classroom? Are we allowed Free Play if we are done with our work or do we have to sit in our seats until everyone is done? If we need to get a drink of water, what is the rule?" and a lot of other questions that I've forgotten, as I looked quite blankly at her and gave a lot of "I dont know, I guess we'll find out" answers.
This freaked her out. I guess like mother, like daughter--- we both are careful planners. We like to know what is the day's schedule, the to-do list, the so-called POTD (military speak for "Plan of the Day"). "Aren't you supposed to know these things?!" she said, a little hysterical.
On Friday, they held a Kindergarten Orientation, so Erika and I attended the 30-minute event that should've been better titled "The event where the principal repeats everything verbatim that was clearly outlined in the 6-page Welcome Packet sent home to all families"--- things like when the school day starts, and what supplies are needed, how to sign up for the phone blast for emergencies, and how to pay for school lunches. Erika had the chance to meet her Kindergarten teacher, Ms. Prettyman, and it was the same person who had given her the diagnositc test for learning assistance (i.e. to identify students who may need a learning aide), so Erika cheered up at the thought.
When it came time to walk with her teacher to the classroom, she freaked out! She started doing a panicked dance with her feet, a pitter-patter frenzied running-in-place, then she grabbed my hand and wouldn't let go. "I can't do it, mommy, I can't!" she said in a panicked voice, and then when she looked behind her, the teacher and her class had left, which made her panic even more. "My teacher's gone! I lost my teacher!" she yelled hysterically. Luckily a staff member approached and I explained that we lost Ms. Merryman, and they kindly escorted Erika down the hallway (parents were asked to remain behind to listen to the principal regurgitate the Welcome Packet, remember).
At the end, the students returned to us, and Erika ran up to me when she spotted me in the crowd. She said she didn't remember any of her classmates' names, but she did like the classroom, and Ms. Prettyman promised them that she'd read them at least one book every day, which seemed a very important promise to Erika, and she quite liked Ms. Prettyman for it. She said the classroom looked fun but she didn't spot a Gym so she was concerned about where they'd be running around, as she was quite sure they weren't supposed to run in the classroom or the hallways. Then we came home and spent an hour using the Brother P-Touch Label Maker to label all her school supplies and pack her new sparkly pink Barbie backpack full of lots of new supplies and get ready for the start of school after Labor Day on Tuesday Sept 8.
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