Kindergarten

Ben is officially a Kindergartener! He is going to my old elementary school and I just think that it is awesome! On his first day of school both his parents took him to the bus stop by our house. I asked if he wanted us to drive him but he was more than sure he wanted to take full advantage of the cool school bus. The kid had no hesitation going up into that school bus, while his parents watched him holding their breath. His Dad was fine, but I certainly cried on my way home. When he came home his parents both eagerly greeted him asking him how his day went. He was so nonchalant about the whole thing. He had fun in gym class, he liked eating his lunch but mentioned the cafeteria was noisy and loved playing outside on the playground. Later that evening he asked if he could just meet me at home and for me not to be at the bus stop. I was shocked! I told him it was a rule that parents had to meet their kids at the bus stop, but even if it wasn’t I certainly would always be there.

Ben absolutely loves school. He tells me how much he loves P.E. (I’ve been corrected that it isn’t gym), art and music. He even has the same music teacher that I had in elementary school! He loves telling me about his accomplishments such as his class earning bear paws and getting special treats like a popsicle party. Lately he has been studying Christopher Columbus and has given his parents a few recitals on songs that he has learned. One day he came home with a crown with three ships on it. Knowing he has been studying about Christopher Columbus, I asked him he if knew the names of the ships that Columbus sailed to America with. He couldn’t remember all of them, but said one of them was “the mean one”. He meant Nina, but at least he’s paying attention!

Ben also has taken a liking to pizza Fridays at his school cafeteria. He had to memorize a pin number to purchase his food and has done quite well with it. I was very worried the first day he did this and packed extra food in his snack bag just in case. He seemed to have gotten the hang of it from day one and actually told me each week he purchases pizza, chocolate milk, fruit and a ice cream. I know he loves that!

Ben does have homework at school. It is very minor such as reading twenty minutes every day, drawing a picture of his favorite story that week and then has speech homework each night. It does add up, but his drive of learning everything is just awesome. He loves playing the match game with his words and will often break the rules making me win a turn or two so I don’t feel bad. I love how sweet he is.

Speaking of his love of learning, he surprises me with the new things that he has learned. We recently went to his five year check up (43 inches tall and 43lbs) and went into space themed room at his pediatrician’s office. They had different planets on the wall and he asked if I knew their names. Curious, I asked him if he could name some of them. He named Earth, Mars, told me the big planet was Jupiter and the one with rings was called Saturn. I was impressed! I didn’t know he knew that, but I was quite proud of him.

Soon he will go to his first school field trip to Ticonderoga Farms. I volunteered to help chaperone the trip and can’t wait to share that experience with him. I know he will be thrilled to ride a school bus to another fun place!

All in all this school year has shaped up to be a busy one, with earlier hours for his Mom (6:30 to 2:30), homework in the evenings but overall a huge appreciation of learning and school. All the sacrifices, busy evenings and coordination is worth seeing how much he loves school. His parents are so proud of him!