PreK 4: A Reflection on the First Week of School from a First-Timer

2

Before school started, I intended to write about my hesitations on sending my four-year-old to PreK. My plan faltered when I sobbed uncontrollably onto a piece of paper that listed all of my fears and hesitations about my little one starting school so young. I was fully convinced that if I finished my list, I’d ultimately decide to cancel the first day of school – and my daughter would be devastated.

My daughter has never been to daycare; she has spent maybe five nights away from me in her entire little life. She is my absolute heart and soul. Maybe it’s because my daughter is my first-born. Perhaps, I’m just super pregnant and hormonal. Regardless of why, the decision to enroll her was difficult. I just couldn’t imagine being separated from her every day during the school year.

The decision to put my daughter in school was difficult, but after this first week of PreK, I’m finally at peace with the decision… I think! Ha.

We attended a meet-the-teacher the day before school started, and the school let me know that they swapped my daughter from the AM half-day PreK program to the PM half-day program. If we hadn’t attended the meet-the-teacher, we 100% would have shown up at 7:30 am for drop off. I was fully convinced it was a sign that I needed to un-enroll her immediately.

I left the elementary school in tears over whether or not I just needed to keep my daughter home another year, or stick with my original plan to home-school.

In my mind, the miscommunication was a sign from the universe that school at age four was a poor choice. Yet, my heart was conflicted because every day for months and months, my daughter had requested to attend PreK with her friends.

She walked into school on that first day like a champ. There were several crying kids. But mine, with all her sanguine temperament, was ecstatic. My husband and I stayed with her through lunch. She was absolutely ready to begin her first day as a big girl. Over the course of the week, I watched her confidence grow. (Which is pretty intense considering she is already the most confident little person I know.)

My daughter comes home from school with an enormous smile on her face. She gives me details of the awesome books her teacher reads at story-time. Most importantly, she tells me that she missed me, “baby brubber,” and “baby in Mommy’s tummy.”

For all my tears, and all my hesitations, I ultimately believe enrolling my baby in PreK 4 was the best decision for her.

As a former pre-school teacher, I know I could give her the basic academic tools she needs at her young age. But as a mom, I know that her needs are beyond academic. My daughter thrives in social situations; it’s who she is. I think catering to the social/emotional aspect of development, with an academic perspective will greatly benefit her.

We’re only in the second week of school, but I can see that what is best for my deeply introspective, introverted, contemplative, melancholic self just may not be what is best for my outgoing, silly, confident, extroverted little girl.

What was the first week of school like for you other stay-at-home-moms? Did you have any little ones new to school? Was starting school an easy transition?

2 COMMENTS

  1. My son is a first timer going into kindergarten and his school has very strict policy on parents entering the school. They don’t allow parents to walk their kids to their classroom and it is called a drop off policy. Where you walk your child to the front doors and staff walk your child to their classroom for you. This is for safety reasons but I am not even allowed to visit for lunch at all. My son has few words and has a speech delay. I will not know if he eats or what he eats and I can not if he is getting the same attention as the other students in class. It’s a terrible first experience and I am transferring him to a different elementary school. Have you heard of any schools having strict policy’s against parents coming to schools?

    • Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that you’re having a terrible first-time school experience! I’m not very knowledgeable about what is “normal” and what is not as far as school policies go. My daughter’s school allowed us to walk her to class and eat lunch with her the entire first week. Beginning the 2nd week, drop off was at the front of the school, I don’t even walk her to the door; they have staff that guide the kids in the building. At pick-up, we have tags on our vehicles and they bring the kids to our cars. I totally understand being worried about speech and communication. My daughter just finished up a year of speech therapy in May for articulation. Before she “graduated” from speech, I was always worried about how she would effectively communicate if I put her in school. She has done wonderfully though. Hopefully your son will do wonderfully as well! I think ultimately if you are not happy with where your son is, there’s nothing wrong with finding a better fit. Good luck! 🙂

LEAVE A REPLY

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here