Monday, August 18, 2008

First day

And so the adventure of public school (due to end sometime in the next 14 years) starts for Keilana.  I woke her up at about 7 this morning (Dylan and Keilana were both still asleep at 7! I can still hardly believe it).  She had some oatmeal, brushed her teeth, got some braids put in her hair and put on a cute little pink shirt and some denim capris.  After we got her brother dressed, Doug and I put them in the stroller and headed for Washington Elementary school (I have a love-hate relationship with where we live.  Sometimes I hate that we're right in the middle of everything and often I love that we're so close to everything).  

When we got there, we briefly met her teacher, "Teacher Lili", as the kids call her.  She found her cubby near the door for her backpack and then washed her hands.  Then she sat down at the table with her cute little name card and used a pencil and paper to write her name.  She actually did pretty well.  She still has a hard time with a lot of lower case letters, so her e's and a's look a little funny, as most 4 year old's do (and she barely got the n in there) but she's definitely got the "K", "i" and "l" down and did write her whole name all by herself.  We read her a couple of books and then she started to play with some of the toys while the rest of the kids got there and got settled in.  When it was time for Doug and I to go, we had to remind her to come give us a hug and a kiss and she rushed through it so she could get back to playing--just the kind of reaction to the classroom I was hoping for.

I picked her up at 11 and she told me they read a book about a boy who's shy at school, that she ate peanut butter and jelly and milk, and that she got to play on the slides and in the little house outside on the playground--where I was informed that there was a frog in a bucket and, with a big giggle, "It was really gross".   By the time I wheeled the stroller onto our front patio, she had also remembered that they sang, "If you're happy and you know it" but that she didn't get to do any drawing today (big sigh).  Her mood was revived when she excitedly told me that they have a rabbit in the classroom.

She really enjoyed herself and is looking forward to going tomorrow.  We'll see how long that continues for.  I think she's going to like it generally, but I'm sure there will be days when she doesn't want to go.  However, due to the long August to June school calendar, there are many days off between now and Christmas, so I don't anticipate too many, "I don't want to go to school" days.  It sounds like her teachers didn't see any of the sullen-faced Keilana that seems to exist in the Primary sphere.  Yay!!   I figured she was ready for school last week when I gave her a nectarine for a snack.  She had only had one a few times before and after a few bites told me, "Mommy, its like a peach and a apple."   I agreed that that was a good way to describe a nectarine and a few moments later she started laughing really hard.  I turned around from what I was doing to ask what was so funny, and she held up her fruit and said, "This looks like a butt!"  Sounds like your typical school-aged child, doesn't it?

1 comment:

Kirby and Logan Hoffer said...

Oh I bet you are relieved that she enjoyed her first day! I find from reading your blogs and such, that Kieona is more or less the same as keilana(hope I spelled that right!). I was hoping to get kieona into pre-school this year however she just hasn't shown any interest in learning lately...no letters or anything, so maybe I'll hold off until the middle of the year.