LJ's First Week of School

Monday, August 31
Open House at LJ's school. He was to come between 10:00 and 11:00...it was my first day of classes, so I could not attend. RJ took both the kids and they had a great time. From what I can tell, they learned about how the classroom works. Things like: when it is "center time", you take your name tag off the board and put it under the center you are going to work in...only so many children can be at each center at a time; where the bathroom is; where his cubby is; etc. They got to paint pictures outside - PJ came home with smatterings of paint on his body and clothes. He came home with a yellow folder of information and is very excited about his first day of actual school.

Friday, September 4
Today was LJ's first day of pre-school. 1/2 the kids had their first day on Wednesday and the other 1/2 today. Everyone will be together on Monday. Of course, LJ had a terrific time! About a week ago, I asked LJ if was going to miss RJ and PJ while he was at school...to which LJ looked at me and said, "Um - You're not going to school with me, are you?" - clearly, he was ready for some time away. It was raining this morning, so LJ was a bit bummed that he might not get to play outside. There is a most excellent outside play area. Paths to ride tricycles and bicycle. A huge hill of sand. The "meadow" where, if a parent will volunteer to open it and watch the kids, kids can fish. Thankfully, it stopped raining! MawMaw came over to stay with PJ as RJ and I had a meeting at work after we dropped off LJ at school. We all went into his room (which is really a small house with multiple rooms) and the first order of business was to "write in his journal". They can either draw a picture or ask the teacher to help them write. Mrs. Brown (the teacher's aide) handed LJ his journal and LJ said, "But I don't want to color, I want to play"...to which Mrs. Brown replied that he could play after he wrote in his journal. So, we left as LJ was sitting down to do just that.

After school, we all went out to lunch and we tried to get some information out of LJ. The best we can tell is that he played outside, played cars and trains, and drew a roller coaster in his journal. RJ tried to trick him into confessing any naughtiness by asking, "was there anyone else who did anything naughty today?" LJ then told us that one girl took off her clothes to put on the play clothes and the teacher told them they shouldn't do that. Ha - that was funny. We finally stopped grilling him and came home for naps...LJ took his with no problems.

Saturday, Sept 5
Uncle RJ, Aunt KJ and cousins in town - and very interested in hearing about school. They even brought LJ a "first-day-of-school gift"...very nice!

Sunday, Sept 6I tell LJ that tomorrow he goes to school, to which he replies, "Again???" I'm not sure what he was expecting! Monday the whole class would be together for the first time. I told him this and he seemed excited as he said, "Oh wow! The room will be so crowded with all the students. The whole team will be there!"

Monday, Sep 6
I went to work and RJ got LJ to school. LJ was stingy with the information again when we picked him up, but we did find out that: 1) Joshua was there, 2) LJ went fishing in the meadow with the triplets' mom, 3)he didn't get any cheese with his snack, but that was ok, 4) he raised his hand to share at circle time, but the teacher didn't call on him, 5) he drew another roller coaster in his journal.

Wednesday, Sep 9
I had to lead LJ through his morning to find out what he did today. They went to chapel and sang songs, but LJ doesn't remember any of them. Question: What did you draw in your journal today? Answer: Roller coaster. I'm getting the idea this a chore he wants to dispose of as quickly as possible. The teacher will have to stop accepting roller coasters if she wants to get anything else. He rode tricycles, had goldfish and juice for a snack, and got to share during circle time. Question: What did you share? Answer: I like Curious George because he makes me laugh.

All told, LJ likes school, but wants to share what he wants to share when he wants to share it!