Kids' first week at school

Last week the girls started school - summer school to be exact. F was very enthusiastic, she did everything well, got dressed in her school clothes (not a uniform but the school have a dress code), ate her breakfast, brushed her hair, put on her shoes. They are supposed to wear shoes with shoe laces, so she got new shoes. I showed her about 1,5 times to tie her shoes and she got it right away, isn't it amazing!! Now we are waiting 5 minutes extra till she is ready with her shoes, but she does it herself. A real Montessori child. F went to her class without any problem. She was very nervous, but who wouldn't be.

A had a little more difficulty saying good-bye. The first day the teacher had to rip her off me. I waited couple minutes, she stopped crying after a while. The first day was just 1,5 hours so I was back at the school after some grocery shopping. F came out with a big smile. We went together to A's class to pick her up.

Montessori is all about self sufficiency and concentration. In order not to disturb the concentration of the other kids, we cannot just walk in the classroom and pick up the girls. In A's class the children has a small piece of laminated paper just outside the classroom with their name on it. We slide A's paper under the door and couple minutes later the door opens. She is standing there ready to go.

I was telling about how we picked up A. She stood there at the door and looked at me like saying: 'you left me here', wow, that was serious! Oh boy, did I feel bad.

A was very tired after school while F got a lot of energy, she was just too happy to be tired. F told me that she painted in her first day. Her teacher called me the next morning and asked how much English she understands. F says she doesn't understand a thing, but somehow she know everything. We couldn't figure out how good her English is.

Each day they went to school a little longer. F was more and more enthusiast. She came home with apples and carrots she cut and a cookie she baked that we ate all together. A, on the other hand came out with her looks saying how much she was hurt. That night, she couldn't fall asleep and woke up crying for many times.

P's parents left Wednesday for their real vacation in the US. They rented a car to drive around the lake Michigan, a different way of vacation for them. They are not used to stay in hotels and everything, they go mostly with a camper. Anyway, they left and the kids didn't have much trouble with that. A more than F I think.

Friday F came out with the other kids, she had all 3 hours of class. I picked up A a little earlier, like 10 minutes so that she didn't see other kids being picked up before her - her teacher is so good and understands the kids' psychology. She already went to her class without crying for the first time, and there she was, standing a the door smiling at me. I picked her up and she started sniffing like she had been crying but she couldn't stop laughing when I looked at her, the little manipulator! This was the first week at school.