Tuesday, August 31, 2010

First Day of First Grade

The first day of school is now over and I’m sure you can feel the sigh of relief coming from my wife and I. Yes, Kai made it through Day 1 without a major incident.

Not that it was a perfect day. His teacher was nice enough to write us an email and fill us in on the details of his day. She reported that Kai got impatient with schedule delays and had trouble working with new staff. Change is difficult for him so adjusting to new TAs will probably take a bit of time.

As for schedule delays, that is another story. This weekend, my wife and I once again got to see firsthand how upset Kai gets when things are not on schedule. The thing is, on our camping trip, we did not even make a schedule and yet he got mad when we did not follow the schedule he had created in his mind. For instance, after going to the Alpine Slide, we returned to our campsite at 5:23. Kai was agitated that we were 23 minutes late in starting our campfire. Of course, we had not promised him any particular time that we would start one, but it was a minor crisis for him nonetheless. I can only imagine that if an actual schedule at school is delayed, it would be a huge deal in his mind.

Despite these issues, his teacher said that overall he did a nice job in readjusting to the school routine after the extended break. He seemed genuinely happy to return to school and see to his friends. He was excited about doing math and reading some new books.

He is now starting first grade, and it feels like this is the beginning of “real” school where academic learning really becomes important. As such, we feel more pressure for him to do well in school. I know many parents are happy to have their kids back in school after having them home all summer, but it is a time of mixed feelings for us, with the pressure of him doing well in school a constant weight on our minds.

But, knowing that his first day back was not a bad day makes us feel a bit better. It’s only one day, I know, but a good start to first grade.

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