Ben started pre-school on Wednesday! He was excited to wear his back-pack (“packpack”) from Grandma — until it occured to him that he might have to wear it the whole time he was there. Fortunately he had his very own hook to hang it on, so that made it OK.
He calls his teacher “the big teacher with the big head” which probably isn’t ideal, but at least he likes her. The group isn’t overly large, nor is their “teaching” overly ambitious. But it gives him another opportunity to learn to get along with others, and have somewhat of a more structured morning. Many pre-schools and pre-kindergartens in the area have gone to full days, which we are not in favour of. This arrangement is two half-days a week, which gives Abi a little more special time with mommy (or daddy, on occasion) and gives Ben a good start.
The pre-school is a co-op, so Nic has to help out once or twice a month, and there’ll be a Christmas fundraiser we’ll have to take part in. For September it works with my work schedule for Abi to stay with me while Nic is “teaching” — beyond that we may have to come up with another solution.
My own school is already a little intimidating. My classroom schedule this semester will only be two (very full) Saturdays between now and Christmas, with the rest done online, or via homework. Six hours of homework a week is the estimate! Class hasn’t even started yet, and I’m already deluged with e-mails and frightened by my very large textbooks. Hopefully I’m not in over my head here — I’m only taking one course a semester!
Lots more of Ben’s “first day of school” pics on the sidebar/Flickr/Facebook.