In March, I got him on a waiting list for a local PreK/Mother's Day Out program and the waiting began. In the meantime, I got all the big kids ready for school and just figured if he got in for at least one semester, he'd be good. After the big kids started school and less than a week before the program started, we got a call telling us they had a spot for him in the Pre K 5 class at Walnut Ridge Baptist Church. And I started getting worried for him.
Besides a once a week half day program he's done with my mom, Seth has never really been in a program with other kids where he wasn't the center of the universe. He throws fits for me when he doesn't get his way. He plays really rough with his siblings (thanks to a big brother). I was just praying he wouldn't get kicked out. He's super smart, but I really felt like he needed this more for the social/structure side than the educational piece.
I expressed my concerns to his teacher when I dropped off the paperwork and she assured me he'd be fine. It may take some time to adjust, but most kids from similar situations fit in rather quickly. At meet the teacher, he wouldn't cooperated or even really meet Mrs. Vickie. It didn't help that the visit started with him running into another of his teachers. He didn't expect her to be there (as a parent) and he just spiraled downward after that, hiding in the corner, escaping from the room, acting angry. My mom later got him to express that he was nervous and just didn't know how to express himself. We came up with a plan for the first day that he could tell me if he was nervous, we would ask God to help him, and then he would go to class. And that's pretty much exactly what happened.
No tears, no fighting, and not getting angry. He went into his class like a pro. I did pray for him when he felt nervous and then said my goodbyes. We were both fine until I pull out of the parking lot. I shed a few tears (how could he possibly be this old already?), distracted myself and waited anxiously to hear about his first day.
He did awesome and has pretty much been that way every day since. He loves school and has already learned so much. He is just a sponge at this age and loves it all. The highlight of his second week was getting invited to the birthday party for one of his classmates. He has gradually eaten more and more of his lunch (also something I was concerned about), has earned several super stars for good behavior, and was sad that he didn't have school yesterday (it's only Tuesday through Thursday).
The things he has has learned in only 2 weeks, 6 days really, blows my mind. I told him if he keeps learning so much so fast, he would be smarter than me soon. He smiled at the possibility.
I'm so glad I made the effort to get him in a program this year. I almost didn't (goodness I don't need another thing to keep up with). The whole experience makes me look forward to kindergarten for him next year.
I pulled out the easy reader books yesterday and we've started reading more with him. The big kids were nostalgic when they saw the books come out, and remember most of them, claiming certain ones as favorites. I love that my big kids finally have "when I was younger" memories that include us. Things have come full circle.
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