N's first trial week at school went pretty well. On the Tuesday he was a little nervous when I dropped him off, but the teachers were great. They were in the middle of story time when we arrived and he made it pretty clear that he was not going to join in and sit with the other kids. So the teacher directed him to the area where he had played during his previous visit. As soon as he got the toys he wanted he was happy to kiss me goodbye.
My stomach dropped a little as I walked out of the class room without him. The director told me to give her a call in 15 mins and she would tell me how he was doing. Of course he was fine when I called and she assured me that she would call if he was too unhappy. He was mostly hanging out in the same corner I had left him in, just watching and checking everything out! I sure was happy to pick him up at 11! He had a great time but hadn't wanted to sit for snack.
On Thursday while I was getting him ready for school he told me he didn't want to bring snack. I told him I would pack it just in case, but that he didn't have to eat it if he didn't want to. He got a little upset about the snack thing, so I offered to talk to his teacher about it. That was all it took to get him going and happy about heading off to school. He held onto my hand so tightly on the way in and I was a little worried that this was going to be THE day he would be upset. But he was fine, again thanks to the teachers who directed him towards his favorite toys. I passed on the message about snack and the teacher said as long as I was fine with it, she wouldn't push it. I told her I was fine about it right now, but would like him to move towards joining in a little more. After all that's one of the reasons he is going to school in the first place!
Here are the pics from his first day at school!
Since that first trial week drop off has been much tougher. It's almost as if he realised that this is a regular thing and not just for fun. He pretty much starts crying as soon as I start getting him dressed - it is so NOT fun! I'm told that he's fine as soon as I leave but I've become THAT mum, calling to check up on him after he's been there for an hour. They assure me that he's fine and that they would call if he's really too upset. The funny thing is that I totally know it's all for my benefit, I've seen it so many times with other people's kids, but I really didn't want his start at school to be like this. He's doing fine when he is at school - he now sits for snack and was telling me all about the story they were read the other day, so he must have sat with everyone for that too which is great :-) He's always happy when I pick him up and on Tuesday I managed to watch him interacting with one of his teachers before he spotted me, which was so cute. They say that he's really chatty and loves doing the crafts.
I was joking on FB the other day that I was considering homeschooling and got lots of responses. We are not really interested in homeschooling N, I don't think either he or I have the personality for it. But if he doesn't settle at school soon we will probably pull him out and try again later. As he is still 2 years away from actually starting 'real' school I have no interest in making him (or me) miserable.
Oh my goodness! That hat and backpack may be the cutest things I've ever seen. I can't imagine how hard it must be for you to have to leave N at school when he's upset. The bright side is that it sounds like he does okay after a little time. Good luck in the weeks to come. :)
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