First day of school!

Sonshine has officially stepped into primary school. It is a mark that he is growing up and that he HAS to grow up. First day of school, was not as nerve wrecking as I had expected but we did had some jitters.

 

The first thing I worried about was having to wake up early. Our usual waking up hours is after 10am. (You can close your dropped jaws now, thank you) Sonshine's kindergarten hours was in the noon, so we had the luxury to stay up really late at night and wake up at brunch time AND still move at snail's pace. It was leisure at the highest, I say! But now, we have to be up by 6am, what a drastic change! Today is the second day of school, so far, it seems pretty alright for now. Sonshine woke up with ease, no whining no lethargy. He did what he needed to do and it went quite smoothly.

 

The night before, we also had alittle panic. We realised the boy was not used to the zipper & hook mechanism on his school pants. He has no problem with zipping but because the pants are loose, he needed to hold the pants up while zipping which can be quite challenging for his small hands. He was also not  familiar with the hooks. We made him practise, practise clumsily he did. So we were worried that he may have problems putting his pants back on after a visit to the loo. We tried our best to teach him and left the rest to God.

 

We were slightly late or barely on time for school these 2 days. The traffic jam caught us off guard (there are 4 schools in the same vicinity, so you can imagine how the road looks like in the morning). Or maybe Sonshine caught us off guard with he's 'I want to poo poo. I want to wash hands. I want this, I want that etc' which made us leave later than planned. I am thanking the heavens and the stars that I am not the one who's sending him to school! I'll leave the worrying & planning to the husband-ha!

 

During the first day, we were allowed to walk our kids into the school right to the assembly area. But we were not allowed to linger around. The school prepared some parental talks for us and we all adjourn to the another area until their recess. Unfortunately for us, Sonshine's recess (Primary four) buddy was as clueless as him. Left him at the table alone and didn't bring him to look for us like other buddies did. We could only try take a peek (we weren't allowed to join him) and shoulder wrestle with other anxious parents. But, I didn't really need to chat with him, it was more than enough for me to know he's there eating and he knows that we were there.

 

There are no lessons these first days. We were suppose to pack books to hand over to the teachers to keep & these few day are meant for administration matters.

 

By the time I picked him up, he was looking all dazed, probably overwhelmed by the new experience. I tried not to ask him too many questions although every bit of me was burning with curiousity. We held hands and quietly walked over to our car while other parents & their children chatter nossily past us.

 

At the end of the day, I managed to squeezed some stuff out from him

 

1) His buddy's name

2) His class room arrangement.  (I literally made him draw out a map!)

3) He played games during Chinese class, adding that a boy won the game 'BUT it was NOT me'.

4) There are 29 of them in the class- probably more boys than girls.

5) One of his classmates didn't have a buddy

6) He doesn't know his partner or classmates names.

7) His teachers names.

8) He knows the location of the restroom nearest to his classroom.

9) Water bottles are not allowed in the class and he had to leave them outside

10) There's a small library area in his class but he was quick to tell me the school has a library where there are more books.

 

I think we had a great start. Sonshine said he likes the school & teachers, though he said this nonchalantly. All in all I am thankful that

 

1) Sonshine is taking all this new changes and experiences with ease.

2) He does not have fear of going to the new school- like I did.

3) He figured out how to manage his pants on the first day of his school!

4) He brought back all his belongings in order from his bag to lunch box to his wallet and even the pack of tissue paper I gave him!

5) He has a good and experienced teacher

6) He has proven to us he can execute instructions perfectly

7) He has proven that he can be independent.

 

Having experienced, witnessed and heard from the teachers and fellow parents today, I am thankful that Sonshine is in this school. The Principal's love for the children is evident, it shows in her words and action. The culture is nurturing, I just know my kids are and will be in safe hands.

My hope for his first year of Primary school is that he finds enjoyment in learning and that he will emerge 2014 a happy boy. Well, we are off to a good start, let's hope it stays this way!