Kindergarten

Yesterday was the first day of kindergarten.  Frank is going to the same place he's gone to daycare since he was five months old.  It's a full day, as opposed to our home district, which is only a half day.  Also, this class has only 13 kids, and a teacher and an aide, whereas he could have 25 kids in his class at our local elementary school, and one teacher.  We figured that, with the SPD and the fact that he won't be five for another two weeks, lots of attention would be good.  Also, with the SPD and difficulty with transitions, this gives him another year to mature before we throw him in with a whole bunch of new kids.

He got a bit teary-eyed yesterday when I brought him to school.  He told me on the way in that, "I hate new school years.  I hate going to a new class.  It's so stupid.  I did fine in my old class."  Well, you can't really fault his logic, I guess.

Much to my pleasure, the aide from his class last year is in his class this year.  He saw her and yelled out her name and gave her a huge bear hug.  That alone helped a bit, I think.  I wonder if it was just a natural switching thigns around, so things don't get stale, or if the director switched her for Frank's sake.  They've been awesome all along with all of his quirks, so I wouldn't put it past them. 

Frank was and probably always will be the first to arrive in the morning, which can be difficult, because there was nothign to distract from the fact that OH MY GOD THIS IS A WHOLE NEW CLASSROOM AND NEW TEACHER.  When this sawned on him, less than a minute after he'd hugged the aide, he began to weep and threw his arms around me.  I picked him up and began to wander around the room, pointing things out to him.  He eventually calmed down, and perked up when the teacher said casually, "Hey, Frank, let's turn on the computer."  Frank loves to play games on the computer.  He immediately slid down from me and ran and sat at the computer, where he and the teacher discussed games at his favorite websites.

I left after about a half hour there.  I have first period off this year, which is nice, because I'm not as rushed in the mornings, so I could take the time to help him settle in.  I called in mid-morning, and the teacher reassured me he was fine. 

When I went to pick him up, he was exhausted.  He was ornery adn cranky all evening, and went right down at bedtime.  He woke around 6:30am this morning, which is late for him.  Right now, it's ten minutes to eight at night, and I put him to bed around 7:15pm.  He didn't complain.  This new kindergarten routine must be exhausting!

So, all in all, the transitionhas gone well.  I can now start to worry about first grade, next year, in a whole new school.  That, my friends, is going to be the real culture shock.

So...how was your first day of school?