First Day

The first day brought excitement and jitters both. They were all excited until we actually got there. Then even Jordan became a little subdued and wide-eyed as they sat outside their classroom with all the other children. After dropping Hailey off, I came back by Jordan and Ashley and asked if they had talked to anyone. They both looked at me like that was the craziest thing they had ever heard!

Hailey with her teacher, Mrs. Camden

Hailey did pretty well and didn't seem scared much at all. She was the first to her class and after taking a picture with her teacher, she was ready to sit down and wait outside the classroom. I stayed with her until a couple of other students showed up. When I picked Hailey up she was just a chatter box as usual:

"We getted to play two times on the playground and I went potty two times cause I keep drinking and drinking and drinking. We getted to play on the centers. I played at the road things and the books. You only get to play in two and I really wanted to play in the kitchen. We went to the gym and after that we got some drinks. We cleaned the table and washed our hands and after that we ated our snacks. We telleded when it was our birthday and we watched TV."

When asked about her favorite part, Hailey said, "I got new friends, a lotta friends. I like playing with my friends on the playground. I like my teacher because I like her clothes and I like her hair." She said she got to be the class leader today because she was so quiet. She also said she laid her head down for a nap and went to sleep immediately but no one else did. Kindergarten has only a twenty minute nap session as opposed to over an hour like she had in pre-K.

Jordan and Ashley with Mrs. Martin

Ashley was very disappointed that she didn't get to go to the library today. They don't get to go until next Wednesday. Apparently the library and computer lab are not open yet. They did get to go to art today though and came back with collages on paper plates. While they didn't go to the library, they did read books in class. They read the Kissing Hand, and Jordan was excited because they read Miss Nelson is Back with another adventure about Viola Swamp as the teacher for awhile.

I asked Jordan what her favorite thing was and she replied, "Everything! It's the best school ever!"

When I asked Ashley, she responded with, "Nothing."

Yet, when I asked her if she wanted to go back, she said, "Of course. Why wouldn't I?"

I think the big difference was with friends. They saw another boy named Andy from their class last year and were excited about that. Jordan said she made a new friend but didn't know her name. Ashley said she didn't make any friends. I asked if she talked to anyone and she told me they were strangers. I said, "They're only strangers until you talk to them and then they become friends."

She said, "That's the rule. You don't talk to strangers."

I replied, "They're not strangers; they're your classmates."

She said, "No, they're strangers."

Hopefully, she'll relent and talk to some strangers tomorrow.

Tomorrow morning: first bus ride.