Chris came with me and boy am I glad he did! It was quite a frenzy getting the kids to their classrooms (we didn't know until today who their teachers were) and then getting all of their supplies put away. I got Mya started and then went to help Max while Chris helped Mya. By the time I helped Max and got back to Mya, she was in tears:( Completely broke my heart and I was so hoping it wouldn't happen, but honestly I'm not shocked. Luckily, Chris was able to talk her down (it wasn't working with me so I left the room) and when we went to check on her 10 minutes later, she was in a circle with her hand up. Crossing my fingers that it was just a first day thing and that it won't happen every day for 2 weeks like it did last year. Max was pretty much okay with everything. Wasn't really smiling, but wasn't sad either. He has a teacher named Miss Pickle and Mya has Mrs. Cameron. Both seemed super sweet.
Some interesting things about this school....everyone takes their shoes off as they enter. Today was a little bit different because all of the parents were coming in, but apparently on other days even the parents take their shoes off upon entering the building. There are shoe rooms in the entrances and each child's class is labeled where to put the shoes. Then they have indoor shoes that they put on in the classroom so nothing gets tracked in from outside. Speaking of outside...the kids have 4 recesses each day! Honestly I think they will spend half the day switching shoes! They have a morning recess, then 20 minutes outside before lunch, 20 minutes after lunch and another afternoon recess. Also, 25% of the school either walks home for lunch if they live close or their parents pick them up for lunch every day. There is no hot lunch program but we pay $20/month per child to have them bring a lunch from home. (it pays for the supervision) I'll probably go get them for lunch once a week when the weather is nice. I'm not going to want to deal with snow/boots, etc. once the winter sets in.
Another interesting thing for us has been the supply list. You would think Canada would have the same name for supplies as we do in the States, but they don't! Obviously some are the same, but we had trouble with others. I think I went to Wal-Mart or Staples 8 times before I had everything. They call folders portfolios (I bought 3 ring binders), they asked for each kid to bring 7 report covers (those old school folders with 3 prongs but no pockets) but when I got to school and was helping the kids put away their supplies, they were called duo-tangs! They also both needed exercise books which I eventually figured out were notebooks without spirals. But when we got to school they were called scribblers. Who knew! I would have thought the supply list would have had them called the same thing as the teachers, but apparently not. Imagine if they were in a school where English wasn't the 1st language. That really would have been hard.
As far as Ivy...she was all across the board this morning. She has asked for Mya several times and has been playing in Mya's room most of the morning! She has also painted my nails and watched some of her beloved Mickey Mouse now that the remote does not belong to her big bro and sis! We are going to do kindermusik once a week and also try to fit in some library story times. I have a project list a mile long of things I've wanted to do since we moved in, but weren't really worth doing when the kids were all here. I'm sure we'll meet Chris for lunch once in awhile and by the time she naps and we go get the kids by 3:00, the day will go fast! I so enjoyed the kids this summer. We had a lot of time just the 4 of us and I know it will probably be the last summer like that. Next summer they will be in activities and they'll have lots of friends, etc. I'm going to look back very fondly of our first summer in Canada. School will be good for them, but I'm definitely going to miss having them around here!
Ivy's paint job:) I took a picture of the better hand so you can imagine what my right hand looks like!
Update on the first day: The day went okay for the kids. Actually opposite of what I expected! Mya said it was fun. She said she pulled herself together by mid morning and had a great day. She met a couple of friends in her class that she played with at recess. Max (who I fully expected to have a great day) had kind of a tough time. He said he has some rowdy kids in his class that use bad language (shut up, you're an idiot, etc.) and at recess he asked if he could play with some kids and they said no so he stopped asking. Then he said he walked around by himself the rest of the time. Poor guy. When we got home he asked if he could be homeschooled! We talked through some things and we're hoping the rest of the week gets better. For now, he's giving it the rest of the week. I told him we'd give it to the end of 2nd grade and he wasn't okay with that:) I know he will bounce back..he just needs to find one kid to play with at recess. It doesn't help that there are 4 different recesses! Crazy. Onto day two....
4 comments:
Was thinking about Max and Mya today at school...hoping for a positive report by the end of the week!
Hoping the rest of the week gets better - it's tough to move in elementary school! I did it twice, but once you find a friend or two at school, everything will be great!
thinking of you all...first days of school are emotional for ALL, even when it's been the same school for years.
Thinking of you all! How hard to navigate such a new and different system! I can't imagine how much time is spent on shoe changes during the day, but very cool that the dirt and snow stay outside:) Love your manicure! Can't wait to hear a report on school as it moves along...
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