Back to School

Thursday, September 2, meant back to school for both Joshua and me. Calvary Preschool's Open House was that morning, and Joshua's classroom was to meet at 9:30 am. His new teacher is Mrs. Dearborn, who we've heard lots of great things about; she goes to LCBC so the drummer of the worship team was telling me that he's heard good things and another friend of mine from MOPS raved about her. I was glad to hear that, and I'm hoping Joshua really likes her. Last week, he was so excited when he got his new sneakers and really wanted to go to school. Then when he found out that he wasn't with Mrs. Ford and Mrs Hilton anymore, he decided he didn't want to go. So, we really talked Mrs. Dearborn up, and he began to say her name and finally that morning during breakfast he was excited to meet her.

We had gotten a letter home from Mrs. Dearborn explaining class procedures, etc. She had mentioned to the kids that she wanted to hear all about their summers at the open house. Thinking that he may have time to talk with her or the class and share a little bit, I prepped him that morning by asking "what did you do this summer?" He just looked at me like I was out of my mind - after all, I was with him all summer. So, I started reminding him of things we did. Did you have fun at the beach? Oh, yes! Did you see some baseball games and catch a few balls? Yep! Did you go swimming a lot? Yes! Did you ride on a choo-choo train? Yes! Yes! Yes! He got the idea. Only, when we arrived at the building, there were soooo many students that I'm sure they didn't really share about their summers when we were gone. So, when another parent asked him his name and how he was doing to be polite, he told her all about his summer. Haaaa!!! I felt bad for the little guy. You win some, you lose some!

When we were going over his new teacher's name and the aide's name, I told him it was Mrs. Dearborn and Mrs. Wolfe. He said "Wolfe?!?!? Like a dog?!?!" Haaa!!! I replied, "No! She's a lady. Not like wolves in stories - that's just her name. Just like your last name is Good." He got it then, and he remembered their names and told the administrative assistant who checked us in what class he was in. She seemed impressed. We had applied for financial aid and they didn't know anything yet - please pray that he gets some! It's very expensive, and yet worth it, we believe.

After breakfast, I took the boys outside to get their pictures. Joshua looked handsome in his new-to-us shirt and his "Joshua" backpack from last year.

I packed Caleb's little Thomas backpack with an extra diaper & wipes 'just in case.' Nonie & Poppy took him to the park and out for an early lunch as a late birthday gift while Joshua & I were at his Open House. That worked out perfectly so he had something to look forward to as Joshua was getting ready for his big day.

Caleb wore the outfit Joshua wore to his open house last year. How fast time flies by!

I thought the boys looked so cute in their little polo shirts, crocs and backpacks.

We arrived at the school a little early, but there were many folks already there. We stood in line to meet his teacher at the door. She had made name tags for the kids, and they were to pick their name out. Joshua introduced himself as "Josh." Mrs. Dearborn asked him if he preferred Joshua or Josh, and he replied "Josh." WHAT!?!!? I always said his name was Joshua. But, I noticed that Daddy & Grandpa Georgia call him Josh. And I do, too, when I'm not thinking about it. And often Joshie, which is what Caleb calls him. I also call him "Bean" and many other little lovey names, so no wonder he doesn't prefer Joshua, which is what I prefer. I couldn't believe it. Then he told his teacher that his name is spelled J-O-S-H-U-A. She replied that that was "very good" and then told us where to put his back pack and extra clothes.

Next we stood in line in the classroom to meet Mrs. Wolfe toward the middle of the room. He had to find his name that was written on a star and hang it on the 'attendance tree.' They said each morning will begin with that. Then she asked if we would pose for a picture in the middle of the room by the reading rug, which also had all the names of the children in his class. We found Joshua's name, so he'll know where to sit.

Once Mrs. Wolfe was done taking a picture for their purpose, I asked her to snap one with our camera, as she had done for most of the other parents. Then she told Joshua to go ahead and explore his new classroom. At that point, there were kids EVERYWHERE and a line growing longer for people to come in. It was a little bit overwhelming even for me as a parent.

Joshua found a bin of cars that wasn't being played with at the time, and he began driving them in the garage and on the mat. Then this little red-headed boy named Jacob came up and started playing with him. Jacob's mom is the library coordinator, I found out later, and she introduced herself to us. She was the one that Joshua told his summer tales to. I saw one parent that I had met previously through the school when I was helping at the transportation days last year, and I smiled at another woman who was standing quietly by herself. She sat with me then at the parent meeting, and I got to know her a little bit better. That said, I can't remember her name. DOH!

The parent meeting was the same as last year, and since I was more familiar with the school, I knew what to expect and which events I was willing to help with. The woman I sat next to had five children, and the little girl in Joshua's class is the middle child. Her two youngest are twins just a little bit older than Caleb. She seemed very nice. When we came back, I got some pictures of Joshua's classroom. This is the back right-hand corner - it's a little reading nook.

Panning left from the reading nook is the "Writing Center."

Continuing left, there's bins of toys (this is where the cars bin was) and puzzles and then behind that is the kitchen corner that had been full of little girls that morning.

To the left of the kitchen was the puppet stage.

To the left of the puppet area was the science and math centers and just beyond the math center was the door where you enter the room.

Turning left from the door if you're still in the center of the room is the tables filled with kids. I only took a picture of Joshua's table, but you can see the cabinets beyond there. If you would continue left from this point, you would see the reading mat/attendance tree where we started in the room and then you'd be at the reading nook again. When the parents were dismissed from the meeting, we went back to the classroom and found our kids working on a craft. Mrs. Dearborn had read them the story of Franklin the turtle who had a belly ache because he was nervous about going to school. Joshua said Mrs. Wolfe had left to take a little girl to the bathroom during that time. Then they worked on little clouds. Many of the clouds had numerous cotton balls on them. Joshua's had two lone cotton balls on his. He seemed super happy to see me, but I asked him to stay seated until he was dismissed. He did well following the instructions, but she never officially told him he could leave. When he was one of the last few still seated, I told him to go ahead and come to me. And he ran and gave me a big hug.

When it was time to go, I waited until most of the other families had left and then told his teacher that she had missed his birthday. Typically the kids are asked to bring snack on or near their birthdays, but he wasn't on the September schedule. Then I noticed on her birthday chart on the wall, his name was also missing. She apologized and said it's because she planned early and he was a late addition since I had requested a T-W-R schedule rather than the original M-W-F. That was okay; I just wanted to let her know so she could fix it. I'm glad she's an early planner.

As we were leaving, I ran into the drum player from church and his wife, who I recognized from MOPS. I also saw another gal from MOPS, and we ran into Mrs. Hilton and her son. She gave Joshua a big hug, and he seemed excited to see her. It was a good first day, but I'm hoping Joshua doesn't get lost in the shuffle. There are a lot of kids for one teacher, I think. But, that's how it will be when he goes to school. So, pray that he has a good year!