Wednesday, August 19, 2009

First Day of School

School started today. Drop-off was a little crowded with all of the parents hanging out while their kids got settled, but there were smiles all around. Everyone was happy to say hello and shmooze a bit after the long summer break, but we couldn't hang out and turn the classroom into a coffee klatch. Morah (teacher) Erin had worksheets ready on the returning students' desks, so that they could jump right back into study. There were new kindergarteners who needed to be shown the ropes. We grown-ups had to get on with our days.

I didn't give school one moment's thought all day. I knew she was in good hands and was probably having a great day. When we went to pick her up she ran out smiling and gave us big hugs. I saw other kids doing the same thing. One K student told his Mom excitedly about a story the Morah Leah had read during Judaics about Bagels. They had read Bagels from Benny by Aubrey Davis. We had recieved this book from the PJ Library program and it's a really good one. One of R's favorites.

R. said when she got home that 1st grade is really different than kindergarten. There is much less playing and no rest period. She was a little annoyed that the new kindergarteners don't have to suffer through rest time like her class did but I'm guessing she'll get over that. It sounded like R. really enjoyed having the new kindergarteners in the mix. I asked if the 1st graders included them during free time and she promised me that they had.

I asked R what she did today that she liked. She said the best part of the day was making three different kinds of playdough, and she described to me the different recipes. When I got home, Morah Erin completed the playdough story with her email reporting on the first day. They made three very different types of playdough for their first science lab, which are being stored till tomorrow when the kids will compare and contrast.

Morah Erin's email also had photos of the kids involved in some of their first day activities. It was nice that she made sure that every kid in the class was in at least one of the photos.