Let’s face it – back to school week is a blur. Parents, especially those who stay home with their children, alternate between sadness that the carefree days are over and excitement that life can return back to its predictable routine. And everyone handles it differently.
I am looking forward to the change of high school for my eldest, but it’s also a reminder of how fast the year years of elementary go by. It’s also a little trip down nostalgia lane as we remember struggling with lockers and just how we felt walking into that next phase of life.
The first day is not really a “first day of school”, whether you’re in elementary school or high school. In high school, each grade goes at a different time for an hour or so, assembling in the theatre to get the lowdown on how to high school. Either my son wasn’t listening or it wasn’t thorough enough. The evening of the first day, he asked me “what time does school start?”, to which I replied, “You’re on your own bud!” (which is how I gently encourage my children to figure things out on their own.
A 6AM wakeup after months of sleeping until 10 was interesting for my teen. In any case, he happily came home today declaring that high school is much better than elementary because they get 35 minutes for lunch. Done and done. It’s interesting to note that out of 110 peers from his Grade 7 classes, only one is in one of his classes, so it really is like starting over.
For elementary schoolers, this week is just about getting back to routines. We won’t have our kids in their classrooms until Monday. There may be some grumbling and groaning about this, but it’s far better to assess the kids, their abilities and their behaviours to get them into the best learning environment, even if it takes a few days (with 770 children at our school, it’s quite a feat).
So my expectations are low for this first back to school blur week in terms of academics and progress, but they are having the most fun seeing all their friends again and learning to see themselves in their new “level” in the hierarchy of schools and life.
-Jen
#ThatSurreyMom
@jenxrobbins