Today was the day. Nathaniel started his first day of JK this morning. (For those readers from the States, children are 4 when they enter Junior Kindergarten). I have to say that it went really well. No surprises. Although I have to say that I was surprised by how excited Nathaniel was last night and this morning. I was preparing for a little more hesitancy about going to school. Last night I was feeling like I should have prepared him more. Maybe practised having lunch out of his containers. Before bed we tried on his indoor shoes to make sure there were no problems getting them on. (In the store he kept pulling out the velcro strap and complained that he couldn't put them back in the hole.) With 2 practices he got them on perfectly each time and was even able to put the strap back in if he happens to pull too hard. I labelled his shoes and he eagerly placed them in his backpack. I then showed him his clothes for the first day, nicely laid out beside his bed. I was envisioning that he would wake up at 4am all ready with his clothes on. Thankfully that didn't happen. He was up around 7. When I came out to the family room around 20 minutes later (Andrew was there with Jesse) I found him naked searching for his indoor shoes. Of course he had searched every other zippered compartment BUT the ones that had his shoes. I found his shoes and then he was able to get dressed. He was ready to remind me what he wanted in his lunch. He seemed organized with what he would eat at each of his 2 nutrition breaks. He would have been able to head out the door at 8 am if we let him. I told him he had another half an hour to wait before we actually had to leave. I think it was this waiting time that allowed some of his anxiety to come out. He said that his feet were too hot and stated that he would not be wearing socks to school today. He was itching his legs and carrying on like he hadn't just worn socks the previous day. Thankfully he was back in his socks 10 minutes later and ready to go outside.
He complained that his backpack was too heavy, so he agreed it could just stay beside him for his first day of school picture.
This has been our routine since school started last week. We walk to the end of the street with out neighbours and Nathaniel is able to walk their dog Scruffy. (You can kind of see him in the front of the pack.) This has been great since it was the only way that Nathaniel would agree to actually walk to school. Unfortunately we won't have this arrangement all year, but hopefully he will believe in himself that he can actually walk to school.
Nathaniel giving Daddy one last hug before Andrew had to bike to work.
Nathaniel standing in line waiting for his teacher. There were no tears, no anxious words. He just stood there waiting for what was to come next. When it was time to go in, his teacher asked if he would rather walk in line or hold her hand to go into the classroom. In a quiet voice he answered "Hold your hand." So my little 4 year old walked timidly into the school with a whole class of strangers following behind. Be brave Nathaniel.
Today was the day. Nathaniel started his first day of JK this morning. (For those readers from the States, children are 4 when they enter Junior Kindergarten). I have to say that it went really well. No surprises. Although I have to say that I was surprised by how excited Nathaniel was last night and this morning. I was preparing for a little more hesitancy about going to school. Last night I was feeling like I should have prepared him more. Maybe practised having lunch out of his containers. Before bed we tried on his indoor shoes to make sure there were no problems getting them on. (In the store he kept pulling out the velcro strap and complained that he couldn't put them back in the hole.) With 2 practices he got them on perfectly each time and was even able to put the strap back in if he happens to pull too hard. I labelled his shoes and he eagerly placed them in his backpack. I then showed him his clothes for the first day, nicely laid out beside his bed. I was envisioning that he would wake up at 4am all ready with his clothes on. Thankfully that didn't happen. He was up around 7. When I came out to the family room around 20 minutes later (Andrew was there with Jesse) I found him naked searching for his indoor shoes. Of course he had searched every other zippered compartment BUT the ones that had his shoes. I found his shoes and then he was able to get dressed. He was ready to remind me what he wanted in his lunch. He seemed organized with what he would eat at each of his 2 nutrition breaks. He would have been able to head out the door at 8 am if we let him. I told him he had another half an hour to wait before we actually had to leave. I think it was this waiting time that allowed some of his anxiety to come out. He said that his feet were too hot and stated that he would not be wearing socks to school today. He was itching his legs and carrying on like he hadn't just worn socks the previous day. Thankfully he was back in his socks 10 minutes later and ready to go outside.
He complained that his backpack was too heavy, so he agreed it could just stay beside him for his first day of school picture.
This has been our routine since school started last week. We walk to the end of the street with out neighbours and Nathaniel is able to walk their dog Scruffy. (You can kind of see him in the front of the pack.) This has been great since it was the only way that Nathaniel would agree to actually walk to school. Unfortunately we won't have this arrangement all year, but hopefully he will believe in himself that he can actually walk to school.
Nathaniel giving Daddy one last hug before Andrew had to bike to work.
Nathaniel standing in line waiting for his teacher. There were no tears, no anxious words. He just stood there waiting for what was to come next. When it was time to go in, his teacher asked if he would rather walk in line or hold her hand to go into the classroom. In a quiet voice he answered "Hold your hand." So my little 4 year old walked timidly into the school with a whole class of strangers following behind. Be brave Nathaniel.
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