4 days in to Angelina's first week of school and so far I have learned I've totally underestimated my daughter. I know she's bright and confident, but I also know she's a bit hesitant, sometimes overwhelmed, and let's face it, a new big school can be scary. Throw in the teacher speaking 100% in a language she barely understands (Spanish - what little she knows is from her one week Spanish camp in July), and I expected her to beg not to go to school, to cry, to not want to leave.
As you can see, not an issue. She woke up extra early Monday morning, then had too much time to kill, so we put on a Backyardigans episode. However, we had to leave before it was done. She initially asked to stay until then end then asked "Oh? Is it time to go to Bonham?" When I said yes, she quickly turned it off and ran out the door.
We had to stop her so we could take some First Day of School pictures.
And one of the reasons she's so excited about Bonham, is that it means going to school with her "big brother and big sister" aka neighbors Wiley and Felice.
When we arrived, she ran up the steps. Again I had to pull her back so we could get a picture!
She came out of school at the end of the day arm in arm with her new best buddy, Ava, bursting with Spanish words. She's in a dual-language immersion program, where in Kindergarten the teacher speaks 100% Spanish. Someone does come in with some English here and there, but mainly it's Spanish. She struggled a bit with Spanish camp this summer, so I figured she'd have a hard time when school started. Not so, she's loving the Spanish, and though she doesn't understand everything, she says "I just look at the teacher and try to figure out what she's saying." And she does!
Each day she's so excited to go to school, and so happy when I pick her up, if a bit tired. She's quickly making new friends and loving walking to school which is just around the corner from our house. I am sure sooner or later the exhaustion will come out and it won't all be a piece of cake, but for the first week, I am so impressed and very proud of how well she has handled this transition.
btw - the schools in our district all have "uniforms", all the bottoms (pants/shorts/skirts/jumpers) have to be khaki color with some specifications on style and shirts white or the school's color, in our case green. There are pros and cons to uniforms, but Angelina loves it - as far as she's concerned, it's all part of being a big kid and going to the "big" school. Also means we have a dresser full of clothes she'll only wear on weekends...
As for Lenaïc, he doesn't know it yet. but he's enjoying a more routine day with sister gone from 8-3:10. But he's oh so happy when she's home.
