First day of school jitters
Today I took a leave of absence to bring my little girl to her new school. I know, I know it’s highly unusual coz she had been to school before, for an entire year without a hitch but this time it’s a big new school and I just wanted to be sure she’d do okay. You see this entire week I was busy trying to convince her that it will be fun to enter a new school…I was a tad fearful she would not want to be left alone in her new school – surrounded by strangers, unknowing if her teachers will be kind to her, totally unsure of her place in the sun – I guess, she’s having what we could call first day of school jitters.
I made it a point to take her with me to the different schools that I inquired in since I wanted her to have a say in our choice of a new school. And after visiting three schools we finally settled on one that is not really far from our place but the rate is fine, well within our budget and the place looked clean and safe. With the choice of school over, we followed the standard procedure – entrance exams before enrolling, buying books and then school things and uniforms.
And then all of a sudden, about a week before school will finally open she began to have some misgivings about her capability. She kept on asking me what if she couldn’t cope up…what if the classmates were all smarter than she was. There were also times I even started to doubt our decision to enter her immediately in grade one. But then again, even the guidance counselor was willing to accept her because she scored high in the entrance tests for grade one. Besides, just thinking about the added financial burden of another year in pre-school makes me cringe and use all my convincing powers all the more.
Another concern that she had was the fact that she didn’t know anybody in the school…you see our neighbor, who was her classmate at the kindergarten she used to attend located within the village, will be remaining in the same school to enter preparatory level. But because she was the class valedictorian and knew how to read, she was accelerated ahead of her classmates and was thus entering grade one. I guess this is one main reason why she kept asking me why she needs to transfer to another school while the others stayed on… I had to repeatedly tell her that her high grades made her eligible to enter grade one. Besides, I told her that she would be able to make friends easily…who knows she may just end up meeting her best friend there like what happened to me and my best friend whom I also met on our first day of school. But she remained adamant and refused to go to school altogether.
Hence, I came to the decision to be absent from work for a day and hold her hand as she enters this strange and unfamiliar place. As usual, we were quite late coz I failed to correctly gauge the time we would spend eating breakfast and dressing up. Plus, my elder son also went with us so we had to take turns using the bathroom. By the time we got to the school there was already quite a ruckus with so many kids and their moms milling about trying to check out which sections and rooms the kids will go to.
As we entered the gate, I felt my daughter’s eyes on me and we plodded straight on to find her room, unmindful of the melee. We finally reached her classroom and with a regretful tug of her hand, she let go, took her stroller bag and entered the room. I smiled at her and signaled to her that I will just be outside waiting for her near the window. I watched her as she listened intently to what the teacher is saying and I felt proud when I saw her walk confidently up to the front of the class to talk about something she drew on a piece of paper.
Later on our way home, she’d tell me the teacher asked them to draw what they want to be when they grew up and she drew a nurse and proudly told her classmates she want to take care of sick people that’s why she want to be a nurse. Gently, I probed to ask how her classmates were and she seemed to have totally forgotten her apprehensions about not being able to meet someone she knew because she proudly proclaimed that she made friends with her seatmate who also happened to live in the same village as ours. And by then …I felt a heavy cloud lifting; the skies have opened to reveal that the misgivings and worries that both and I and my daughter had were all for naught. I’m glad she liked her first day in school… I just hope I can make the rest of the school year as smooth and fun-filled. But even if they’re not I guess I’ll just be here to pick her up and give her a hug whenever something or someone has disheartened her spirit…after all, that’s what moms are for…
Today I took a leave of absence to bring my little girl to her new school. I know, I know it’s highly unusual coz she had been to school before, for an entire year without a hitch but this time it’s a big new school and I just wanted to be sure she’d do okay. You see this entire week I was busy trying to convince her that it will be fun to enter a new school…I was a tad fearful she would not want to be left alone in her new school – surrounded by strangers, unknowing if her teachers will be kind to her, totally unsure of her place in the sun – I guess, she’s having what we could call first day of school jitters.
I made it a point to take her with me to the different schools that I inquired in since I wanted her to have a say in our choice of a new school. And after visiting three schools we finally settled on one that is not really far from our place but the rate is fine, well within our budget and the place looked clean and safe. With the choice of school over, we followed the standard procedure – entrance exams before enrolling, buying books and then school things and uniforms.
And then all of a sudden, about a week before school will finally open she began to have some misgivings about her capability. She kept on asking me what if she couldn’t cope up…what if the classmates were all smarter than she was. There were also times I even started to doubt our decision to enter her immediately in grade one. But then again, even the guidance counselor was willing to accept her because she scored high in the entrance tests for grade one. Besides, just thinking about the added financial burden of another year in pre-school makes me cringe and use all my convincing powers all the more.
Another concern that she had was the fact that she didn’t know anybody in the school…you see our neighbor, who was her classmate at the kindergarten she used to attend located within the village, will be remaining in the same school to enter preparatory level. But because she was the class valedictorian and knew how to read, she was accelerated ahead of her classmates and was thus entering grade one. I guess this is one main reason why she kept asking me why she needs to transfer to another school while the others stayed on… I had to repeatedly tell her that her high grades made her eligible to enter grade one. Besides, I told her that she would be able to make friends easily…who knows she may just end up meeting her best friend there like what happened to me and my best friend whom I also met on our first day of school. But she remained adamant and refused to go to school altogether.
Hence, I came to the decision to be absent from work for a day and hold her hand as she enters this strange and unfamiliar place. As usual, we were quite late coz I failed to correctly gauge the time we would spend eating breakfast and dressing up. Plus, my elder son also went with us so we had to take turns using the bathroom. By the time we got to the school there was already quite a ruckus with so many kids and their moms milling about trying to check out which sections and rooms the kids will go to.
As we entered the gate, I felt my daughter’s eyes on me and we plodded straight on to find her room, unmindful of the melee. We finally reached her classroom and with a regretful tug of her hand, she let go, took her stroller bag and entered the room. I smiled at her and signaled to her that I will just be outside waiting for her near the window. I watched her as she listened intently to what the teacher is saying and I felt proud when I saw her walk confidently up to the front of the class to talk about something she drew on a piece of paper.
Later on our way home, she’d tell me the teacher asked them to draw what they want to be when they grew up and she drew a nurse and proudly told her classmates she want to take care of sick people that’s why she want to be a nurse. Gently, I probed to ask how her classmates were and she seemed to have totally forgotten her apprehensions about not being able to meet someone she knew because she proudly proclaimed that she made friends with her seatmate who also happened to live in the same village as ours. And by then …I felt a heavy cloud lifting; the skies have opened to reveal that the misgivings and worries that both and I and my daughter had were all for naught. I’m glad she liked her first day in school… I just hope I can make the rest of the school year as smooth and fun-filled. But even if they’re not I guess I’ll just be here to pick her up and give her a hug whenever something or someone has disheartened her spirit…after all, that’s what moms are for…
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