In the months leading up to the start of kindergarten, he was far from enthusiastic. Adults would smile at him and ask in their high-pitched voices, "Are you getting excited about kindergarten!?!?" He would fake a smile and say, yes, but his heart wasn't in it. I knew he was dreading it.
But then something happened. Maybe it was the pep talk he got from his cousin Isabelle, how much she LOVED kindergarten. Or it was the fact that we had finally decided which school he would actually be attending. Or, and I think this was the clincher, it was the kindergarten supply list that came in the mail requesting about 10 glue sticks, crayons, colored pencils and did I mention, glue sticks. As soon as he saw that, c'mon GLUE STICKS, he realized that kindergarten may actually be fun.
But even though his enthusiasm was growing, I was still a little nervous. He would be at kindergarten all day. Every day. Away from his Mama. And although I knew it would be good for him, I wasn't so sure he would feel the same way. In the end, we had decided he'd go to the larger K-8 public school. This going against everything the boy was about. He's never been one for crowds, chaos or play with large groups of children (hmm, I wonder where he gets that). I pictured him lost in the hallways, tears streaming down his eyes. I questioned our decision to take him out of his comfort zone and put him in this school.
But I'm pleased to report, ladies and gentleman (or lady and gentleman in the case of this blog), that he LOVES it. He has not once complained about the large class size, which surprisingly turned out to be not as large as I had thought at 24. And holy cow, you guys, you should've seen him confidently strut through the crowded hallways during the open house and lead me to the gym (taking the "shortcut"). He loves gym, he loves art and he loves science. We marvel every day how his brain has opened up to art. Not a day goes by that he wants to sit down and draw -- or practice letters. And it's not like I wasn't encouraging that in the past. I don't know what this art teacher said to this boy, but there's no stopping him now. Hooray, teachers!
And get this, he's now taking chess after school. So not only has he never complained about the long day, but he wants to go longer. When presented with a few options for after-school classes, he chose chess. My little nerd chose chess. And apparently he learned enough on the first day that he played another little boy a few times. His story about how many he won is forever evolving.
I am not convinced this enthusiasm is going to last forever. I know there will come a day when he doesn't want to go to school. They've been doing kindergarten assessment recently and Elian's teacher informed Ed that Elian was reading at a 2nd grade level. Add to this the fact that when he goes to bed at night he wants Ed and I to quiz him in math problems. The harder the better (shut up Ed). He's already getting division and negatives. So I'm a little concerned he may soon get bored at school going over what sounds letters make and 1 + 1, but I'm hoping he continues to revel in his mastery of it instead.
Holy crap, my boy's in kindergarten.
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