School Days

Monday: Kindergarten Orientation

The time has come -- Little Girl is going to school. It isn't as momentous an occasion as it is for some children. After all, she has been in daycare full-time since she was about 9 months old, and she went to preschool last year, as well. But this is REAL school. How can Little Girl possibly be old enough for REAL school already? But she is.

It was decided that Little Girl would be transferred to Grandma's school, and Grandma hand-picked her kindergarten teacher last year. Unfortunately, the chosen teacher retired at the end of the year, leaving a big unknown as to who would end up teaching Little Girl's class.

When the teacher, hereafter known as Mrs. Glory, was selected, Grandma was thrilled to discover it was a kind and experienced teacher she had taught with in the past -- an excellent choice for our Little Girl. The kindergarten aide had already promised Grandma that she would take good care of Little Girl. So everything was set for a great kindergarten year!

At orientation, Mrs. Glory was very impressed to hear about Little Girl's educational Little House trip. Little Girl was happy to discuss any number of things with Mrs. Glory, and was very excited to finally get to go to Grandma's school after hearing about it for so long.

Tuesday: The First Day of Kindergarten

Little Girl had a great first day of kindergarten. She informed Grandma at the end of the day that she was really good because she didn't even have to go to the principal's office! And guess what! The principal is one kid's grandma! :)

Mrs. Glory reported to Grandma that Little Girl did fine her first day, and the aide, hereafter known as Miss Brenda, said she was just the sweetest little thing, and she sat on her lap part of the day.

So it was reassuring to know that Little Girl is loved, and off to a great year!

Little Girl reported that her favorite part of kindergarten is the pizza she had for lunch. :)

Wednesday: The Second Day of Kindergarten

Oops. We got excited too soon. Grandma saw Little Girl at lunch today, and asked her if she's been good. The other kids were quick to notify her that Little Girl had NOT been good, and in fact, she was on purple!!

The children start out with their cards on green. For each offense, their card gets turned to a new color. First offense, yellow. Second, purple. Third, red.

Little Girl informed Grandma that only one more time and her card would be on red. Grandma knew the punishment, but asked anyway what would happen if her card got turned to red. Little Girl's eyes got very big as she solemnly confided, "You got to go to the principal's office!!!"

Fortunately, the scare of the office must have kept Little Girl good the rest of the day, as she was still on purple at day's end. We, however, are shocked that on her second day of school, she has already misbehaved. Her preschool and daycare teachers have always reported that she is well-behaved, is never any trouble, and they barely even notice she's there. My sister wonders if perhaps Little Girl is simply testing out her boundaries, being in a new school and all.

She punished Little Girl by telling her no tv this evening. She wants to nip any problem behaviors in the bud very quickly lest they turn into an ongoing issue. We discussed it, and came up with the plan that Little Girl will be rewarded for greens, will receive neither reward nor punishment for yellows, will have no tv for purple, and we are hoping she will never get a red so we won't have to worry about how to handle that one. Grandma says that the principal is very good at scaring naughty children into good behavior, though, so perhaps one visit to the office is all that will be needed to curb any naughtiness for the rest of the year.

Sigh. In trouble on the second day of school. We never would have thunk it.