First Grade

Today is Simi's first day of first grade.

It's been an auspicious start to the year. Simi is not in the classroom we anticipated and the school is completely unorganized this year. For example, we haven't received any word on bus routes/times, so we had no idea where to wait for the bus, the bus number, or what time to be at the stop. Teachers said that last minute changes occured to cause students to be moved around as late as last Thursday. It's just a mess.

Simi's Kindergarten teacher speaks very highly of his first grade teacher and she has certification in teaching academically gifted children. She and the assistant teacher seem very nice.

As I was driving Simi to school on his first day, I flashbacked to his first day of Kindergarten exactly one year ago. Simi seemed nervous today, but much less nervous than he did last year. Simi also didn't seem as excited about the experience as he did last year. Although I didn't cry this year, I certainly felt like I wanted to.

As we entered the classroom, the teacher very nicely introduced herself to Simi and told Simi to choose a seat wherever he wanted. Simi just stood there and froze. I helped him find a seat. Simi introduced himself to the other children in the class and I watched him get started in putting his name on his bookmark. He wasn't as engrossed in the activity as he was last year.

I passed by the computer lab on my way out the door and was quite impressed by the equipment. Shiny new-looking Apple computers awaited students use. Nice.

Interestingly, just a short while ago, a charter school where Simi was waitlisted contacted me. Simi has a spot at their school - to begin in two weeks - if he wants it. Sigh...

I can't wait to hear how his day went.