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Monday, May 23, 2011

Kindergarten…...not like when we were kids!

Happy Monday!! Hope everyone had a great weekend. A new week is upon us and my only hopes are for some nice weather!! Well, I had a few things I wanted to post the end of last week, but I was having some problems with Blogger. Yes, again!! But, you will see directly below this post is some random post that my kids somehow published from my phone!! LOL! Yes, I uninstalled Blogger from the phone as you all do not need a ton of nonsense coming through your Google Reader that my kids have published!!

Anyway….about to last Friday. Christopher had his Kindergarten orientation. We were so excited to go. Neither of us has ever been in the elementary school before so we were anxious to see the school and meet the teachers. I really had no idea what to expect from the two hours that we were scheduled to be there but I knew Anthony was not coming!! LOL! It was nice to have some special one on one time with Christopher for this special day.

We got to the orientation and we saw a few familiar faces which was nice. There were some kids we recognized from the library and soccer. None of the kids that he currently goes to school with will be with him in Kindergarten so it is kind of sad. But he will make all new friends and he never has a problem doing that.  As soon as we got there they separated the parents and the kids. They took the kids into 3 different classrooms and they alternated an activity in each room. The first room the teacher read a story, the second room they did an art project and the third room was free play.

While the kids were doing that we sat in the cafeteria and listened to the principal talk. Now, here is where I see the Kindergarten is not like when we were kids!! I mean, I knew that. But this all made it so real. I will tell you some of the things that I was amazed at. The first being cupcakes.
agave-espresso-cupcake

You remember when you were a kid and your mom would bring up cupcakes for your birthday in the bottom of a gift box?? LOL! Well, our school district is all about being healthy. And yes, I get it to a certain extent. But you are not allowed to bring in any foods baked from home. You can bring in a store bought snack as long as it meets the guidelines (x amount of calories, x amount of sugar, x amount of fat, etc..). I am sad about this. I will never be able to bake for my sons class. Who wants to bring in carrot sticks to celebrate a birthday?? And, by the way, they celebrate all the kids’ birthdays for a particular month together on the 15th of the month. So, it is not like your kid is even getting a special day to himself!!

I am sure you all agree that the curriculum these days is crazy. And again, yes, I get that we want our kids to be smart and excel on all of these tests. But really. They need to know so much going in that I feel they don’t really have time to be kids anymore. As the principal went over what the school day entailed, I was flawed. What happened to playtime and nap time??  I know that there is going to be an adjustment just from going to a full day. But on top of that, it seems like we will be doing a ton of homework too!! As we went on a tour of the building we saw third grades sitting at their desks on laptops!!! If we had one old computer in school when we were kids, it was a blessing..LOL!

They finished up the orientation by taking the kids out to sit on a school bus. Wow….Christopher was ecstatic!! He can’t wait to ride the bus in September. They also let the kids go through the cafeteria line and get a snack. He said that was the best part of the day!
christopher

Lastly, we went on a tour of the school. Oh, did you know that kids play this is in gym??
wii2

Well, I can sit an go on and on about what I like and don’t like about the Kindergarten. But I do know that my son is so excited to go. It is going to be a new experience for the both of us. A new chapter. We will both learn new things together. I know that I had tears in my eyes as he walked out of the cafeteria. I can’t believe that time has gone by so fast. I love my little boy and want him to stay little forever!!

I know for sure I will be a mess on the first day of school! LOL!

6 comments:

Big Fat Gini said...

Yeah. It's really different now. We can no longer bring anything made at home, because it doesn't come with a nutrition label and parents' kitchens may not be sanitary enough. Really?

Also, I read in the news last week that San Antonio has just installed cameras in their lunchrooms to monitor what your kids are eating and how much.

Carol said...

I feel ya. We are in this together this year. When is his first day of school? If it's Aug. 22nd, we'll both be in the same state of mind that Monday morning.

Liz @ LivingMySweetLife said...

WOW! that is crazy, I remember nap time and singing in kindergarten! It was all fun! I will be sad when it's my turn to send my little ones =(

nomo wino daph said...

Oh wow, who knew?? Having older kids, I didn't know this was going on. Unfortunately, mine don't even eat at school! grrrrr They have no choices of anything good.

I was LOL at your comment, you're right, we haven't talked in forever! LIKE 4 days!! What's going on here?? ha

You will survive school.(lots of tears and prayers!) I didn't think I would but I did.....now, I am abt to have 2 in high school. Lawdy Mercy.

Happy Monday Friend!

AllieMakes! said...

Oh my! That is WAY different from when we went to school! Remember when the library got it's first computers in the High School?? Heck I took a typing class in high school -on TYPEWRITERS! Anyways, A has been going to the pre-k program at our local elementary and it has been fantastic! She loves taking the bus, so I am sure Christopher will LOVE it just as much!
Anyways, you will wonder how you ever made it through with both of them, after about a week, lol! He will do great, I'm sure of it!

Jamie Rubeis said...

His school sounds pretty awesome! That is kind of sucky though that you cant bring cupcakes!