By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy
I did it. I just took Capri to her first day of pre-school. I
ALMOST made it out of the building without shedding a tear until I saw a little
boy crying about leaving his mom. Then I cried…Capri was fine.
I know that the experience of going to pre-school is going
to be so rewarding for her. At her pre-school they are full steam ahead in
learning over play, however, I fully believe in playing to learn and we do that
at home. I am also thankful for fellow Choosy Kids blogger, Molly Luke, who
shared her tips
for going to school which really helped me!
My goal for Capri at pre-school is really to get her to
adapt to being without me, to listen to someone other than myself or her dad,
and to interact with other kids her age. She also needs to start to learn
routines because we are a very flexible schedule kind of family!
I never went to child care or pre-school. I went straight to
Kindergarten and to be honest, I had to take a test to even be allowed into the
class because I missed the birthday cut off date by 3 days (parents – September
birthdays are the hardest). I remember taking the test: building a tower of
blocks, telling him my ABC’s and even correcting him when he spelled my last
name wrong on the paper (it was a bit harder than it is now). Needless to say,
after I corrected him we didn’t do any more tests…I was READY! Mind you, it was
a half day program. Capri is in a 2-day, 2-hour program so the time difference
is huge but I know that if I survived Kindergarten without even doing any kind
of pre-school, then she should be fine.
This year, she is going to learn all of her ABC’s, how to count to
30 and learn lots of animals (hopefully some new ones that she doesn’t already
know because she is an animal “expert”). Her teacher is amazing and a lot of
parents with kids who already went through the same program have agreed that it
is truly one of the best pre-schools in our area. Let’s cross our fingers that
she meets some new friends (wouldn’t it be cute if she met her best friend in
pre-k?!) and dives feet first into this new adventure…by herself, like a big
girl.
And now the tears start to flow again. I knew this day would
come. Everyone told me that time will just fly by when she is young but I truly
had no idea time would go this fast. And now I look at Cam, already 4 months
old, growing like a weed, knowing that in a short 3 years I’ll be doing this
all over again with him. Hopefully I won’t cry, but who am I kidding, I am a
mom.
How did you react when your children first went to school? Tell me your
stories about this separation anxiety so that I know I am not the only one who cried!
About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master and The Choosy Mommy for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and newborn son Cam. Click here to learn more about Christine.
I'm a teacher myself so I'm pretty used to the school concept. I'm pretty excited my 4 year old is in pre-school this year. He absolutely loves it!
ReplyDeleteThat is awesome that your son loves school. How many hours/days does he go? The pre-school we go to is discussing doing 4 day/full day next year. Makes me nervous but our kindergarten is full day.
DeleteHi Christine,
ReplyDeleteNo worries, you are not alone. :) My kids are all grown now but I will never forget their first day of Pre-K...I cried like a baby when I got to the car. My kids were excited about school and I was depressed. :)
Sounds like your daughter has a great teacher and I'm sure she'll make lots of friends!
Take care mom. It gets easier. :)
Cori
So glad I am not alone! And I am waiting for it to get easier but I just keep thinking about the future!
DeleteHey Christine, you are not alone...this is universal mommy's emotions and you have depicted very nicely in your blog...!!
ReplyDeleteThank you! At least we can go through it all together and have a shoulder to lean on!
DeleteOh my goodness. Preschool was hard, but kindergarten this year was even worse. It's a full day..he leaves at 8 and doesn't get home until 4pm. I think it's more of an adjustment for me, but he's also really tired by the end of the day. He went to preschool for three days a week last year, 2.5 hours, and I think it really helped. They also had a summer program through the school system that was really great because it was every day for 2.5 hours for a couple weeks. Ps. I'm a September birthday and went early too. My son is October and he's one of the oldest.
ReplyDeleteWow...that is a really long day. We have full day kindergarten too! I think every year will be hard until she goes to college!!
DeleteYour daughter is cute - and brave! I don't have kids yet but my niece was happy to go to preschool on day one and then threw the tantrum of the millennium from day two. Thankfully preschool helped her adjust to kindergarten and school.
ReplyDeleteSo the teacher actually said she cried on day 2 and day 3 she cried when I left but she's been fine since then. She says she misses me! Aweđź’—but I'm glad we are doing this so she is ready to go to kindergarten.
DeleteAs a teacher, it's so sweet seeing the parents who are sad to leave their kids on the first day of school. We know it's hard, but it also lets us know that those students are the good ones - the ones whose parents are invested and supported and who are getting everything they need at home. You are a good mama!
ReplyDeleteIt is so refreshing to hear you say that! Thank you! I like to think I laid a fairly well paved path for her when it comes to learning. I hope her teachers think the same!
DeleteMy daughter, who is only 2 1/2 started "pre-school" this year and it was the hardest thing I have ever done. We decided to start her early because she was so ready. She only goes 3 days a week from 8-12noon but that is MORE than enough for me. She loves it and that makes it all worth while but I bawled the first week. Then I started doing super good and then I bawled again when for the first time she didn't cry when I left. It gets easier to leave them because watching them thrive is so amazing but it never gets easier watching them grow.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is quite a time commitment for her first time at school. Go her for being OK with it. And I'll send you some tissues because I know we will just keep crying as they grow!
DeleteOur daughter is off to preschool for the first time this year too. I totally remember doing a test before starting kindergarten to see what I knew. I had gone to preschool for two years before my self. Now with working in the school system I also know that they do the "test" to see which classes students will be divided into.
ReplyDeleteI feel like my daughter grew up over night with going to preschool
That is really interesting about the test! I had no clue (although I am this first to admit that I am pretty naive about things like that). And I totally agree with you about growing up over night! She tells me about so many things that I had no clue she even knew about.
DeleteI was the exact same way when both my children first started school. It is hard when the realization that your child is getting older and soon won't need you as much hits you. My children are now both teenagers. My son will officially be an adult in the next 3 years and I hate the thought of it lol. They will always be my babies!
ReplyDeleteI think my daughter grew up more when her brother was born, too. My hubby used to call her "baby" but now she's not the baby-Cam is. I agree that she will always be our baby!
DeleteAww my little ones are 7 and 3 and I still remember my oldest's first day of preschool. It does go by fast!
ReplyDelete