Kinder-status

This week I attended Curriculum Night at Elisa's school.  I don't remember having this as a kid, but basically it was a nice way to meet her teacher more in depth and hear what they are studying. It kind of helped fill in the gaps (since Elisa tells me nothing usually) and show me how their days are arranged.  From looking at the class schedule, I can tell there is a good mix of subjects (Social Studies, Literacy, Art, Music, Chorus, Science, Story, Math, Library/Tech, and Choice), and they begin every day with a Morning Meeting. As her teacher Ms. Zuckerman explained, they are really working on building their classroom community with games and name recognition and fun activities, and she said that the kids have really started to show signs of this and are using each others' names more now.  The fact that they have two full-time teachers in the class of 26 kids makes me feel like there's also a good sense of direction and authority to keep the peace. She mentioned a few times that the kids are so excited by the letters they are learning right now, and I have seen this with Elisa during the homework assignments. Yes, we have homework. In Kindergarten. But honestly, it's only 5-10 minutes of work followed by a suggested 20 minutes of reading. So I feel lucky that this school has a very age-appropriate concept of what kids should be doing after hours. She might have been a little reluctant at first, but within a few minutes, Elisa was happy to show me how well she could make her letters or color the pictures. I think it's good practice for the future when homework really will be independent and have consequences.  For now, though, I just like having an excuse to sit and talk to her at the table. I think we both do.  

These were pictures of work I saw in the classroom and hallways at school:

As Ms. Zuckerman explained, we will likely see things from their work in the Art room that are much more nuanced and creative than their other efforts. She said it's because they are learning to sit and concentrate and really observe objects before they draw them. And she was right. When I saw Elisa's drawing of a lion hanging outside the classroom, I didn't think it could be hers. She never draws like that at home. But it was and when I asked her about it later, she beamed with pride when she described how to make the tail and the lion's mane. She is learning so much these days about herself and what she's capable of, and I'm so happy for her. And likewise with the bus, we are completely happy with the bus schedule and operation to date. The morning driver is almost always pulling up at 7:41 a.m. and the afternoon drop off might be a tad later than 4:17 p.m. but that's okay. It's working out well and I couldn't have predicted how smoothly it would all be going just 3 weeks into things.

(First night of homework and Elisa and I weren't sure what to think.)

So that's it. Kindergarten has begun in earnest and it's required lots of little adjustments but nothing crazy so far. I feel enormously lucky that we have had good friends to make this transition with, but mostly, that it has been a soft landing at a school we've grown to like more and more. No place is perfect and no method is the best, but for us for right now, the fact that Elisa likes school and is excited when Monday morning comes around is a good thing. She'll even show you how she walked down the halls when she got to be line leader.  It was fabulous.