Today was our 6th day of Kindergarten. I had to miss school yesterday because of an unavoidable appointment. I was pretty nervous to have a 'guest teacher' so early in the year, but it seemed to go fine. I did my best to prepare them for all the things that would happen while I was gone. I think it was harder for me, being absent, than it was for the children. It's amazing how they can adjust to new situations when they need to.
I have one little fellow that has been crying on and off since the second day of school. His biggest concern seems to be how long we will be at school. I made a daily schedule to put on his desk each day so he can mark off each activity as we complete it, and it seems to be helping. He has a visual, and at least he's not asking me every 5 minutes if its time to go home yet. He knows that we have to get to the end of his chart to get to dismissal time. Today he had a few tears early, but most of the day was tear free! I'm hoping this is a sign that he is adjusting to school and will soon be joining the other children to play and have a little fun.
I also got a new student today. She had started a week ago in a Pre-K program in a nearby district. Family circumstances changed and today she entered my Kindergarten room, making a total of 24 students in my classroom. I wasn't crazy about all the work it took to get everything ready for her to blend into our room. It would have been so much easier if she could have been enrolled when the year started and I was doing all of the prep for the children on my class list. But life has a way of throwing us curves, and how we embrace them makes all the difference. So I adjusted my thinking and did my best to make her feel welcome. She seemed to make an easy transition today, and hopefully tomorrow will go just as smoothly.
If it doesn't, I guess we'll just have to make a few more adjustments.
