Bruce's 1st grade adventure!

First grade marks an important milestone for Bruce who finally feels like part of a “big” school. It was funny, as we walked down the halls of his school they had lockers (for the older kids) and he thought he'd get one because now he's considered a big boy in our family. Little does he know he still is a young in compared to all the older kids at his elementary. However, he is so excited to be in school longer! It was such a sad experience for Alani who realized that his older bro was leaving him. All morning as I tried to work my Alani cried his little heart out, saying, "I miss Brucey", " I want to be big like Brucey", "I want my brother to come home"...my poor baby. Luckily I had some treats in my office and that soothed him for a small time before he realized that he was going to be with just his lil' sis. until Bruce came home. Before Bruce's first official day of 1st grade, we actually had time to prepare him for it. We had a meeting with his teacher earlier this week where we talked about some of the new changes that he would encounter compared to kindergarten. As a mother it was so nice to have one on one time with his teacher so I could get a feel for what Bruce's cirriculum looked like and a also what kind of teacher he'd be working with. Bruce's teacher was nothing but supportive in the goals that we had for Bruce in the first grade. After spending an hour with Bruce's teacher, I then got to spend the rest of the day with Bruce where we went school shopping, went to the nearby ice cream shop, and just hung out. I almost started crying when we were just hanging out at the ice cream shop because it hit me how fast my lil' guy is growing. He's already 6 years old and is such a fireball! He's so social and is such a boy as his pastime consists of hanging out with his best friend (next to Alani) Sam our neighbor, playing with anything that is associated with reptiles, and always pretending that he's some dino. Theres not one day that goes by where he doesn't tell me, "I love you Mom!" especially when he wants something or my attention, I get the love phrase even more so. Time just flies right on by, and it doesn't wait for no one. Anyways as Bruce left this morning, I couldn't help but think how his new schedule was impacting his old habits of playing. So I waited for him to come home and couldn't wait to hear about his day. So I tried looking for my camera, mind you I have 2 digital cameras and couldn't find one so I could take a photo. Over the weekend, I thought it would be cool to let my boys have a stab at taking pictures. I thought I could get some cool shots looking at things from their perspective. They had a hay day, but since then they feel like they can just walk into my office and touch my stuff as they please. So both my cameras are MIA, and I didn't have it to take a shot of Bruce and his first day as a big school boy.

Anyways, some of the new things Bruce got to experience today was cafeteria lunch.....remember dem days....with the pizza, chicken nuggets, corn dogs, etc. Today Bruce had chicken nuggets and he said they were so yummy...he loved it! He also got to experience a real recess without the direct supervision of his own teacher, and made alot of new friends. All these experiences is marking his way to independence. Unlike kindergarten where they were hand held in everything he did, this new milestone is allowing Bruce to use his social skills and apply them in more mature ways. But I think the true magic of first grade happens when kids develop the ability to understand what letters and numbers really mean. I get so excited as Bruce reads and is able to recognize his alphabet, recite his address (were still working on his phone number), and just remembering his site words.

I've been very impressed with Bruce and his academics. The change is already occurring as he moves slowly from a world of play into a world of symbols and concepts (with alot of backtracking along the way). We've really worked hard this summer to ensure that he was ready for all expectations, but at the same time didn't want him to come across feeling inadequate when among his peers. Although "play" has taught and allowed Bruce to grow in so many different ways, now he will have the opportunity to become more organized and routine -based, with alot more room for exploration. Now its time for Bruce to be more comfortable gaining knowlege through exploration and play. We've worked hard with him to make sure he can grasp a few concepts at the same time and then to make connections between different concepts. It hasn't been easy, but I can only pray that his transition to first grade will be a little bit easier with all the work we've put in at home.

I love my kiddies so much and if there is something I've learned from this whole education experience with Bruce, it that my kids learn by doing and by making mistakes. Although some mistakes can be frustrating, as a parent I can't forget that for every mistake my kids need even more positive reminders of the many ways that they are powerful learners. Until now as I look at Bruce, most of his learning and growth have been part of a natural progression that has taken place in the comfortable worlds of play and home. As I think about this huge transition that my son is facing, instead of just learning how to slide down a pole at the playground, now he has deal with how well he did, get a grade on it, or how long it may take him to accomplish it. Now that Bruce is in the 1st grade, I'm sure he will begin to acquire skills in areas that he may not be comfortable in, he'll probably be asked to work with more difficult materials and may feel like he is struggling for the first time in his life. I just hope with all the extra time that we have invested at home in his academics that he will maintain his confidence and not feel unsure about his abilities because of the exposure of new materials. Being the oldest child of our small family, I know my Brucey has always considered himself as "master" at whatever he did, but now he may feel pressure to learn to read and to grasp more complicated math and science concepts and thats the one thing that I fear. In the public school system, I've noticed that alot of attention is concentrated on what a child lacks instead of what a child knows. Which is what I made sure to emphasize in my meeting with Bruce's teacher. I told her I don't want him to be pressured into anything. I want his education to have a natural progression and as a mother I believe that the only way my childre can become true learners of this world, is if we focus on their strengths. By focusing on our children's strengths and praising them for that provides the positive reinforcement they need to move forward and execute more difficult things. I'm all about my kids experiencing success so they can apply the same principles to any situation. I know I've only been a mother for 6 years, but within this short time I've learned just how importatn is is for our children to be surrounded with excitement and encouragement, and given examples of how we learn from mistakes. Okay let me get off my soap box! I'm so excited for my son, and although I'm sure we'll have some trials along the way, Bruce is on his way to building his future as we speak.