Our first year of elementary school is in the books! My oldest little has one of those weird birthdays, so he started his public school career in Transitional Kindergarten. It’s pretty much regular kindergarten but you gotta do it again next year. Hahaha
On top of that, he was part of the Spanish Dual Immersion program (DI). DI is a program where your child is taught 90% of the time in a different language. Eventually, lessons are taught 50/50 when they reach the upper grades. You can read more about it HERE.
Since I’m not a fluent Spanish-speaking parent, it’s been a struggle. But Learning to help him (thanks Google!) has taught me a ton. Wanna talk colors or numbers? I’m your girl! My husband of course has been a huge help. But it’s hard to tag team homework when dad has to explain everything (to both of us! Haha).
The other day my son said something in Spanish. I asked him what it meant and he told me to go back to school because he doesn’t feel like telling me. Goodness. Good news is he’s picking up Spanish. Bad news is I need to catch up, stat.
Other than that, it’s been great! I was seriously scared out of my mind before he started. I didn’t think he would make any friends. Or that he would want to quit and go to an English-speaking class. I worried he would struggle and start to hate school.
But my little guy literally loves school. He adapted well to his new classroom environment. He has done really well for not having tons of Spanish spoken at home. Best of all, he still has a love and hunger to learn.
It’s pretty crazy how well children can adapt to situations. They tend to take things s lot better than us parents.
So for mamas sending their kiddos of to elementary school this coming school year – I want to share my 5 tips for preparing for the new year – summer edition.
FALL FASHION
It may be getting warmer, but now is the time to stock up on those fall/winter essentials. Basics and staples (especially jackets!) are usually on sale to make way for all the cute summer stuff. Remember to size up.
PRACTICE THE BASICS
Start early. Start with colors, numbers, the alphabet and even their name! Learning to tie shoes is also a plus. Fun activity: We like to play the ‘color game’ in the car. Each of us would take turns picking a color then we would have to find that color car on the road. First one to 10 wins! Bonus: we did this a lot to get the colors in Spanish down.
TALK IT OUT
As the start date gets closer, you both may begin to feel anxious. Be sure to talk about your child’s emotions and feelings with them. I believe we tend to not take their emotions as seriously since we know (now as adults) elementary school isn’t so bad. But this is such a new and sometimes scary experience for them. Validate their feelings and let them know they are strong, brave and they can do anything.
PREPARE FOR THE FIRST DAY
Summer vacation goes by quickly. Long nights and late mornings start to become a habit. Be sure to break that before the first day. Start your school routine (sleep time and wake up time) a week or two before the first day. Trust me… life will SUCK that first day if you don’t get them in their school routine prior.
CREATE A FAMILY WORD & TEACH AWARENESS
Unfortunately we live in a crazy world. Teaching your newly minted Kindergartner the importance of not talking to strangers or going with someone they do not know, should be a priority. We created a family word that is shared with only those we trust. This word is used in case he’s ever unsure of someone picking him up. I believe we used the word once so far when my mom started to pick him up (haha) but it’s there just in case. In the future, if someone can’t provide the word he knows to go to the office or back into the gates with his teacher.
Are your littles still in school? Share below!
Cheers to the summer and cheers to Kindergarten part II!
First day of TK!
No Comments