Sunday, September 19, 2010

1st Day of Kindergarten



Yes, it is true, my baby is in kindergarten.  I have had so many emotions leading up to this first day of kindergarten.

Many of you know that getting your child into a good  school in NYC is very difficult and very difficult to manage. Getting your child into a private is also very difficult, but an option we didn't even consider.  So, over the past year we have pursued every options we could for Gavin.

I will spare you all the details, but let me just say, I have been very anxious about it all.  IN the end, I had my heart set on the dual language Spanish program at our local school.  It is great program that helps Spanish speaking children learn English and English speaking children learn Spanish.   The classroom is comprised of 50% Spanish speakers, 20% bilingual, and 30% English only speakers.  Each day is split between English and Spanish.  For example in the morning only spanish is spoken and in the afternoon, only English is spoken.  I though it would be a unique experience and I felt would be a great fit for Gavin. Because of the program's great reputation there was a lottery for the English speakers and Gavin did not get in on the first round.  I was pretty upset that he didn't get in.  He was fairly high up on the wait list, so I continued to follow up all summer.  Luckily, one week before school, Gavin got into the program and I was so excited. 

Gavin has also been very excited to learn spanish and to attend kindergarten.   He was a bit nervous on the first day, but he has enjoyed it everyday and he has wanted to go back.  I had a breakdown the night before school started.  I felt like I was just handing him over to someone else and that scared me!  Luckily, I didn't have a breakdown the morning at the school. 






After a week of assesments, Gavin was assigned to Miss Alicea.  We have all been happy with her so far.  I know that I will miss Gavin, but I know that it will be really nice to have some one on one time with Eli.  I will continue to pray that Gavin is happy in his new class! 


1 comment:

mysomedaylist said...

Wow! Kindgergarten. He's so big. I agree, it is so hard to let them go. Sadly, things will never be the same, you will never really have them back like it used to be, except in the summer for a few months. But, it is good for them and after a while new routines will fill up your days. Good luck with the transition.

Janell