Yesterday I dropped Austin off at 8:30 am. Talked with the teacher a bit because he is new to the class. He moved up to Year One which is a big step for him. There are no toys in the classroom, they have individual desks, the teacher doesn't help them getting their books and things out, he is a lot more responsible now. It was amazing to read with him last night. The readers they had sent home from his last class were really basic, like a book about "D". Just pictures with the word "duck" or "doll" under it. So, last night he got a real book with sentences and we practiced with him. I was so impressed to hear him read the sentence by himself! He read "The duck swims with her babies" or whatever it was... and continued to finish the book with just a little help with Dad on a few words. I think a tear came to my eye. He was so proud of himself. It really made me glad that we went ahead and decided to move him up. The kids are still the same age, 5 turning 6 this year (like kindergarten), so really it's just the curriculum that changes. Diane was so worried about him moving up. I saw her the other morning, his first day in the new class, and she said she hadn't been able to sleep all night. She said in her mind the other kids just kept getting bigger and bigger, while Austin got smaller and smaller. It made me think, "Are we doing the right thing?" I made sure that it's just a trial and if he seems stressed out after the first couple weeks, we can move him back again. However, he seems to be doing just fine. When I asked him yesterday how it was he said, "Easy peasy, Mom". He is such an easy going kid. Just love him!
The uniform looked pretty funny to us at first, but now we're used to it. I don't know why the collar of the shirt is so huge. The hats are required for outside play since the sun is so strong here. He likes to push it behind his ears- it's kind of supposed to be on top of his head but you can't tell him that, of course! The other photo is from the street looking at his school. All the classrooms are seperate buildings, like you see in CA or AZ. Also, all the play areas are shaded.
4 comments:
Wow, I can't believe he's reading already. That's so great. I'm sure he'll be fine in the higher class. He may be little in stature, but there's nothing little about his personality. He can hold his own with big kids for sure.
Thanks for posting pictures of the school. It's nice to be able to see these new elements of your life.
That is so cute! hilarious collar. It's so exciting when your kids start reading, I love that moment so much. I also love what Jill said about Austin -- small in stature but not in personality!
He must be a super-smarty pants to be moving up to Year One. That is awesome. So, does "year one" mean that he is in First Grade now, or is it like A.P. Kindergarten?? You'll have to explain how the whole school system works down there. :o) His uniform is so cute, too.
Jamie, I haven't figured out the system yet. It seems like Year one is kind of between our Kindergarten and first grade (I am guessing based on the age and the curriculum).
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