The night before school started, as we settled in for bedtime, he asked me to tell him a story he hasn't heard before and wasn't about school.
Me: Once upon a time, there was a boy named Gabriel. He was about to start Kindergarten, so he got some good sleep and then he went to school in the morning and he had a great day. When Kindergarten ended, he rode the bus to daycare, and he had a great day there, too. Then mommy picked him up and they went to Gabriel's favorite restaurant, Jason's Deli, for dinner to celebrate the first day of school.
<Gabriel turned over to face me with the biggest light in his eyes and a huge smile.>
G: Let's bring that to life! Can we bring that to life?
(We did.)
He was pretty goofy when I tried to get a first day of school picture. He really didn't want to take one at all, so I'm glad we still got to capture his silly self.
J and I both walked him into school on the first day. We got to his classroom, and G said he was scared. Bit he walked in the room with both of us, hung up his backpack on the hook next to his name, and found some cars to play with. J and I both managed to get a hug before we left, and everything was fine. :)
On the second day, I walked him in to the cafeteria where they gather before time to go to individual classrooms. G lined up with his class and followed them down the hall when it was time. J said he didn't even look back.
On the third day, parents aren't supposed to walk past a certain spot without getting a visitor's pass. We planned to drive in the car drop off line to show him what that would be like. At first G said he could get out and walk inside the school by himself, but J and I decided we'd both go in case a parent was needed to walk inside. Sure enough, G got anxious about getting out by himself, so I hopped out too and we walked in together. But when we got to the spot parents should stop at, G kept walking and didn't even look back.
On the fourth day, I took him through the car line and he got out and walked in. Done.
We seem to be off to a pretty good start.
We're excited that he is in the dual language program. He will have about 90% of instruction in Spanish this year. We think it's going to be great for him, and it's fun to already see him apply what he's hearing.
We had this conversation after the first day of school:
G: Does "more bien" mean "good job"?
Me: "Muy bien" means "very good."
G: I knew that because I did something good and my teacher said "more bien."
(He argues vehemently that it's "more bien," not "muy bien."
At bedtime on the second day of school:
G: Can we go to a different aqui?
Me: A different 'here'?
G: A different house. <points down>
Me: Well, we're planning to live in this house for a while.
G: ok
He told me on Friday that he can't understand everything his partner says, but he said that's ok.
The first week of kindergarten was a success, it seems. We're sure the rest of the year holds great things.
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