The First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school, not only for Jaron, but for Jaron's school too. How exciting the last year has been laying the foundations for what just started when all those little kiddies ran into those doors yesterday. Cologne Academy is now the home of seven classes from kindergarten to the 5th grade with approximately 130 students. I still can't get over it. Last year is was just a dream on paper and now its a reality.

I must admit that I was really nervous yesterday. Not about the school, I know its in great hands- the Director has done an amazing job from ordering healthy lunches to hiring the best teachers to getting furniture in the classrooms and everything in between. I was a nervous mom. Will Jaron make new friends? Will his strange sense of humor be appreciated by the other kids or made fun of? Will he get confused and frustrated in transition time from one place to another? When did he grow up? Is him going to school going to change our relationship? In good ways? What will his behavior be like when he gets home from school? Will he be exhausted? I probably don't need to go on. I'm sure you get the point.

It seems to have gone very well though. He came home excited and ready to go to his piano lesson, full of stories about his day. His favorite thing during the day was making up verses to the song, "Shoo Fly, Don't Bother Me" with another boy in his class. He ate all of his veggies and didn't even touch his chips. He met his music and PE teacher and loves his classroom teacher. They even did a little math it sounds like.

One thing that our school is doing that I LOVE, is that they are creating an individualized educational plan for EVERY student with the goal that each student will be at least a year ahead of where they are at now by the end of the year. As a parent of an accelerated child, this excites me so much. Last year Jaron had fun in kindergarten, but he most definitely was not challenged, or at least was challenged very little. This way there is less chance that he will get bored and start to make poor choices with his time. I want him to learn to do his best and am so glad that he will be challenged at his own level. I'll post more about this after his plan is in place in a few weeks.

On the flip side, this was a first day for another person in our family. Miss Lily, or I should say Lily Rose as she has informed me she would prefer to be called, had her first day alone with Mommy and her first day at preschool. The first thing Lily Rose did when Jaron left was go down to his room and look for toys that he never lets her play with. She then played with them for about an hour, then decided she liked her toys better anyway. After that we went to her Preschool Open House. It was just an hour of unstructured play and she was in heaven. She cried when it was time leave and can't wait to go back next week. She's growing up so fast and cant' wait to be independent. If you ask her how old she is she says, "I'm three, but I'm trying to be four." I hope this doesn't become a pattern and continue all the way through high school although something in my gut tells me it might.

So my babes are growing up right before my eyes and it fills me with emotions I can't really put words to yet. A sense of pride mingled with a sense of loss is the best way to put it I suppose.