So many First Day of School pics….
Our kids have been in school almost two full weeks now. For context, both Mary’s son and my twins are in their second year of elementary school. And even though we got most of the first-time student anxieties out last year, there is still plenty to go around for year two.
Mary’s Check-In
My son is in first grade! Honestly, he’s been excited to go back to school since July. Nothing is brand new, overwhelming, or relatively unpredictable this time around. He had a great year last year and has a better understanding of what to expect this time around.
There’s been a lot of positives surrounding the start of the school year, like:
- The bus tracker app is officially working for us this year (yay!). No more waiting around, wondering where his bus is. The app shows me the bus location in real-time and even notifies me when it’s in radius. Yes, he still has his airtag, but now it’s to make sure he’s actually on the bus.
- He’s joining after-school curriculars, like soccer and scouts.
- He still sees his kindergarten teacher around, letting him know that he is welcome to stop by to say hello or talk to her anytime.
The after-school restraint collapses I witnessed last year aren’t happening now. He gets off the bus and talks to me about his day, his friends, or even just what he ate for lunch. When he’s not sure of what to share, we use the prompt “High, Low, Buffalo.” The high represents the best part of the day, the low is the not-so-great part, and buffalo is something completely random (which, for us, is usually some fun fact he learned).
Although many things have remained the same, a few things are different, like his teacher (obviously) and the behavior expectations of his grade level (he ain’t in kindergarten anymore).
My 6-year-old has picked up on the changes in daily routine, like recess happening towards the end of the day rather than in the middle; which, according to him, is really throwing off his regulation (but I hope his body will adapt since his teacher implements movement breaks throughout the day).
He also points out the contrasts between his kindergarten and first-grade teacher, as do I. To be fair, every educator is different based on age, experience, the grade level taught, personality, and teaching/classroom management style. Because she’s not like his previous teachers, I can’t help but be anxious about what judgements she has of him, how he’ll navigate her classroom expectations, or whether they will form a positive relationship. I may be getting ahead of myself since I know there’s a lot of new acclimations for both him, his classroom community, and his teacher.
As for the girls, they’ll be going back to preschool next month. This time it’s a full five days a week. They also like modeling their brother; so if he’s in school, they want to be in school too.
Patti’s Check-In
Last year’s big drama was that the twins were going to be in separate classrooms. This year is the same deal, so we at least knew to expect two different classrooms. Our school also has both a new principal and vice principal this year. So, right off the bat we were expecting change.
I felt the biggest relief in the world when Z was assigned to A’s teachers from last year. Z gets really attached to her teachers and now she is with a team we already know and love. I also like that they know our family and we already have established lines of communication. Our school is also fairly small compared to other schools in the district, so both girls started the year knowing almost all the other students in their classes.
Schools change from year to year, so to expect same-old same-old isn’t wise. I’m sure if you have teacher friends, you’ve heard of teachers getting reassigned over the summer to teach different classes or completely different grades. In our case, one of our Pre-K teams moved to kindergarten.
Other changes we’ve seen are that our breakfast which was in the cafeteria is now a grab-and-go breakfast to eat in classrooms. Our car drop-off point is now at a door in the middle of the school instead of the front. We also have some new admins, new teachers, new faces when you walk into the front office. Are these absolutely crazy-pants changes? No. Do they throw you off at the beginning? A little, TBH.
Even if you are at the same school from year to year, you have to be prepared for these small adjustments and transitions. Your student moving up a grade also means more involved academic content, probably more use of technology, and definitely a change in disciplinary expectations.
In our jump from Pre-K to kindergarten, there’s no more nap time so we knew there was going to be a big sensory push to get through the whole school day. The girls now have specials (Art/Music/PE/Library) when they didn’t before. They now have actual social studies and science curriculum. They have their own assigned classroom iPads, etc. Our school uses the app Class Dojo to keep parents connected with their kids progress. Last year, we primarily used it to send messages to our teachers. This year, the app is more integrated into the school day. So the girls each have their own student profiles on the app, they get points for triumphs (like at Hogwarts), and they can spend the points they earned at the school store.
Extrapolating to the older grades, your kid might have textbooks instead of worksheets for the first time and they have to carry them back and forth. They might be old enough that you no longer need to be at the bus stop with them anymore. They might have daily graded homework or an A-F grading scale for the first time instead of Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory. They might be submitting homework electronically and have to create a portal account. This all can be very overwhelming to keep straight, for both you and your kid.
This is also where you get to establish your level of parental involvement. Is your kid now old enough that they can handle part of their morning routine themselves? Do you have a set time window for homework? Will you be helping them with homework, or maybe just checking it over when they’re done? Are they old enough for a planner? When do after-school activities start? See, a lot of different factors are involved when we’re talking back to school.
Moral of the story: Be ready and be flexible. We all want school to be enjoyable for our kids, and sometimes an age-appropriate curveball will help them rise to the occasion. Isn’t that all part of growing up and adapting anyway?
For you, this is a prime moment for a “back in my day” speech. Try to avoid that.
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