I knew it would be a busy week before it even began! School started on Monday, although 7th and 8th grade students didn't start until Tuesday so we had one extra day to prepare. My room was all moved and set up, and I at least had a vague idea of what I was doing in both subjects. I have never taught Math or 7th grade before, and although I have taught high school astronomy, I suspect 7th grade Earth Science will feel like a whole new ballgame as well. But all in all, things were shaping up pretty well.
Tuesday was absolute chaos - there was a plan to have all of the kids do scantron testing on the first day of school and we had a special schedule to accommodate for it. Unfortunately many of the computers (including the set alloted to my class) did not work. They began shuffling around kids and schedules, and well it was all pretty much a wash after that. Wednesday was better though, and as the week wore on we all started to settle into more of a routine, though I don't think anyone (me or the kids!) is completely settled yet.
Tuesday was also our 8th Anniversary! We celebrated by going to Guiseppe's Restaurant in downtown by the Railroad tracks. We got to see a few trains go by, and the food was excellent. It was especially nice to relax after the hectic day I had had at school.
Wednesday Lily's Minnie Mouse Halloween costume came, and she was excited to prance around in it a bit, but I had an RE meeting at church in the evening. Finally had a free afternoon on Thursday and pretty much collapsed on the couch when I got home. The first week of school is always so draining.
Friday afternoon was the Kindergarten Open House at Lily's new school. We had to skip swimming lessons to go, but I definitely didn't want to miss it. Oh, I have worried so much that we had made a poor choice moving her there. I hadn't noticed anything particularly wrong with the place and I actually really like the kindergarten teacher, but it just didn't have the same feel. When I walk in the door they don't make me feel like Lily is the most prized possession in the whole school, I guess I had gotten spoiled to that before. Everything seemed more unorganized and disjointed, and it had bugged me for weeks that she hadn't been given a cubby, and it was weeks before they even made her a folder! The room always seemed to small and cramped, and not "cheery" like I would expect. I had also been assuming they did online payments like the Kindercare website claimed and had been annoyed when I found out they didn't. I guess the whole thing had that "just a number feel" to it. So I hadn't been overflowing with confidence about this choice. Maybe we should have tried for Full Day Kindergarten at Ridgeview. But deep down I think I have really felt that we just plain sold out. Sacrificed too much for a closer location and cheaper tuition. It kept going through my mind over and over. It wouldn't have been like this at Primrose. We should have left her there.
So I was hoping this orientation would change my perspective a little bit. As soon as I walked in the front door one of the directors waved me down and asked if I would be interested in doing online payments, that they were starting it next week! Well this was certainly a good start. I had already received the Discover card I ordered before I knew I couldn't use it (Kindercare onle accepts Discover) so hopefully we will be good to go with it soon. I was a little irked though that they didn't have a sign about where the open house was, and I went into Lily's room before learning it was somewhere else. I was glad she didn't get upset that I was leaving without her anyway...
So the meeting started, Brian got there soon after. They explained that they are doing something different with the class this year- combining it with the younger kids in the PreK class and moving into the bigger classroom where they will have both the K and PreK teachers. This alone brightened my mood immensely. Not only would they have a better classroom, but I really like the PreK teacher who had been with Lily's class a few times in the afternoons when I came. Things were looking up!
Then they went through the curriculum and explained the structure of the day. Apparently things will be much different that they were in the summer, I was glad to see that their schedule looked very similar to what she was used to at Primrose. And the curriculum looked satisfactory enough. There was some confusion about what would happen next year, many of the kids in that class don't really make the age cutoff so there was a lot of discussion about "how to get your kids into first grade next year" but we confirmed that that didn't apply to us since Lily makes the cutoff, and Kindergarten isn't required anyway. But the teachers explained that it is run exactly like D49 Kindergarten, right down to the report cards and "Thursday Homework Folders".
So by the end of the meeting I was feeling much better. We will see how it goes after a few weeks, but I have hope now, and a lot more confidence. I think it was just tough coming in during the summer when everything is so chaotic. It's still not Primrose and I may never feel as good about it, nothing will ever be the same. But I think it will be okay, and for now that's good enough.
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