Aaron's First Day of Kindergarten

Today, September 3,  my big boy had his first day of Kindergarten!  It almost didn't happen.  On Sunday he spiked a high fever, fell asleep at 4:30pm and slept through until I woke him up on Monday morning at 7:30am.  His fever had nearly gone away but he complained of a sore throat and hardly ate all day.  He spent most of the day on the couch.  When he woke up this morning, there was no fever but his voice was scratchy.  He said he felt OK.  I think he was too excited to say otherwise.

Aaron's Kindergarten experience began last Thursday (August 29) when we we had a home visit from his teacher. Ms. Tovar, and Ms. Amy, who is serving as the teacher's aide until a permanent one is hired.  Ms. Tovar just moved here to Japan from Texas and she is very young.  I hope that translates to lots of energy and enthusiasm for a class of 22 kindergartners.  During the home visit Aaron did a project with Ms. Amy and then played a game of Blokus while I chatted with Ms. Tovar.  Then Ms. Tovar spoke/did an assessment with Aaron.

On Friday afternoon, there was a kindergarten open house.  We missed the first half because I had a meeting on Main Base.  Of course it POURED down rain, typhoon-style after my meeting, on the way back to our car.  We literally walked through a flash-flood style river that popped up on the sidewalk.  I had Aaron take off his wet shoes and socks for the car ride back to Hario.  We probably only had about 15-20 min left of the open house by the time we got there and most people had left.  Aaron didn't mind.  He kicked of his soaking wet shoes (sans socks) and checked out the room.  Within a couple minutes he located the all-important bin of Legos and was content. 

Aaron discovers Legos and makes a new friend.

I reluctantly had him take a picture with his teacher so we wouldn't have to worry about it on the first day when everything would be crazy.  Aaron wasn't very compliant.

Ms. Tovar and Aaron.

So today, on his first day, it rained (of course).  On rainy days the kids assemble in the cafeteria in the morning, each class sitting at their own table.  Leah was excited to have her brother attending the same school she is.

Leah and Aaron, Darby Elementary students.

Normally, the teacher will come and collect the class when the first bell rings, but for the first week, parents are allowed to walk in with the kids to kindergarten and help them get their backpacks put away, etc.  Aaron said he didn't need me and had it not been raining I would have let him go by himself inside, but since today was unusual, I thought I'd go in with him.  I helped him find his cubby and his seat, but his table is over in a corner away from most of the other tables.  (There are about four kids to a table.)  I don't know why this is or if it is going to be a good idea but then he went and did exactly what I expect he will do all year.  He was bored waiting for the parents to leave and class to start so he walked himself over and pulled out the Lego bin.  I had been talking with another parent when I noticed this so I got him to put the bin back and go back to his seat since the teacher had started to put paper out for everyone. 

Aaron at his desk

I didn't hear any reports about him when I went to pick him up.  (It was still raining, btw.  It has been raining for at least four days straight.)  When I asked him about his day he said he had fun, that it was confusing to remember anyone's name, and he was bored because they watched the same movie.  I think what he meant by that was there was no outdoor recess since it was raining so they must have watched a movie instead.  Then when I picked him up at 2:30pm, I saw a movie was on then too.  (They have snack time at 2:00pm since they eat lunch at 10:30am.)  I'm guessing on that one.

 

Today was also supposed to be the first day of soccer practice but that was rained out which actually made things much easier since Leah also had a hair appointment immediately after school.  Since there was no soccer today, I was able to make Aaron one of his favorite dinners to help him celebrate his first day of school like I did last week for Leah.

I made spaghetti and garlic bread and since I didn't have any lettuce for salad I made steamed broccoli, Aaron's favorite.  I even made him a special dessert too:  chocolate pudding!

"Mmmm...pudding!"

I will be curious to see how Aaron likes school going forward.  I hope he doesn't find it too "boring."  I think once the rain stops and he gets to go play on the playground for recess things will be more fun for him.  (The kindergarten has a special playground area that is completely different than the usual playground Aaron plays on with Leah when we pick her up from school.) 

Leah seems to really like having Aaron be at school.  She told me she saw Aaron leaving lunch when she was on her way into lunch so she ran over and gave him a big hug today.  We are still working out our routine for picking her up since she is let out on the other side of the school and I have to pick up Aaron--he will only be released to a parent.  On a sunny day when we don't have any afternoon appointments, she can just play on the playground and Aaron and I will meet her on the "big" playground near her classroom.  On rainy days like today I tried to tell her to walk over and meet us but instead I found her standing under the umbrella I put in her backpack, standing with one of our neighbors who I've told her is a "Safe Side Adult," which means she is a person I've listed as an emergency contact.  I fully expected her to be a little hurt and jealous and complain that Aaron was getting all kinds of attention as I have to walk him to and from class while I have to leave her to line up with her classmates by herself.  She is used to me being there with her until the bell rings and then being outside waiting for her when school ends.  So far, however, it seems she is stepping up to the responsibility so I tried to make a big deal to tell her how proud I was of her today.  Here's hoping the rest of the school days go as smoothly as today (and that typhoon season ends soon!).