First Day Of School

Harrison started French Immersion Preschool for 4 year olds, and had his first day on Monday September 11, 2006. He was in usual Hurricane Harrison form and in a snit the first day (who knows why? I've given up figuring him out!) So here is his "Before School" photo, in front of the tree outside the house, showing me his pout! After that performance I couldn't wait to drop him off to see if the teacher could do anything with him!




Here he is outside his classroom, under his very own coat/lunch bag hook, with the nametag he made himself that day! I'm not sure what his expression is all about in this picture! Traumatized?! Not likely.... appearantly his teacher really is a miracle worker, as he came back to me a lot happier than the kid with the long face I sent into the classroom!




Here he is, Mr Sunshine in his Hawaiin floral shirt and kahki shorts, all smiles and giggles in his "After School" photo shoot, telling me tales of what he did!

He attends every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons from 12:45pm-3:00pm and loves it! His teacher's name is Madame Guylaine and the name of his school is La Coccinelle, which means ladybug! It's a very cute classroom, with ladybug everything! They start the day with free play, then find their ladybug nametag taped to the floor on their special spot for circle time, where they learn "la date" on "le calandrier" (calander) followed by "la meteo" (weather) then the french vocabulary of the day: parts of the body, numbers, letters, colours, shapes etc. After circle time, they do a craft, have more free play, eat their snack on their very own special placemats they made with artwork of their favorite foods ~ Harrison's is all circles, indicating pancakes! For those of you that know him well, that should come as no surprise, he'd eat them 3 times/day, 7 days/week! Once the snacks have been eaten and they've cleaned them up themselves (I told you his teacher was a miracle worker!) they get more free play time (one of the things I love is how much play time they get...they're only 4 yrs old afterall!) before sitting down to read a story before the parents show up to fetch their little darlings!



Here is one more "After" photo, in front of that same tree! Since he was co-operating, I tried it again with more success!

He really enjoys going, which takes the sting out of dropping my child off and watching him scamper off with half a hug if I'm lucky enough to hold onto him that long, as he calls over his shoulder, "I have to play with my friends!" I guess I should be blessed that he has friends and this wonderful opportunity to learn french. I can't help but be selfish about it as I also see it from the heart of a mother, who knows that it's the beginning of the "letting go" stage, followed by many more to come, and again, it's ME who is not ready. How is it we spend all that time preparing our children for these adventures, when they seem born prepared, and really it's us, the parents who need the prep work?!

I had strict insrtuctions from my family doctor NOT to cry on his first day...guess she really does know me! But she didn't say anything about the night before!!! That is when I broke down into tears, putting my young preschool son to bed the night before his first day. I asked him how he felt about starting school and he answered in one word, "proud!" If I wasn't crying enough before that, the tears poured down my cheeks, as I too felt "proud" of both of us! He gently reached up and wiped my tears away, and said in a worried little voice, "But you not proud...you sad". That too broke my heart as I sobbed by his bedside. I told him I was SO proud that my heart can't hold all those feelings and it makes me cry.

Don't worry little angel, Mommy is more proud of you than anything else in this whole wide world, and I always will be. It seems the prouder I am, the deeper the love, the bigger the hurt and the more tears I need to cry. Here is to one great school year at La Coccinelle....love your biggest fan!