Kindergarten Visit

Will's final helper day for preschool was scheduled for Friday, May 4th with the hopes that the Kindergarten field trip (that's always planned for the graduating preschool class) would be able to fall on the same day and I could come along for that visit.  Unfortunately, it didn't work out well with scheduling between the elementary and the preschool so they had to schedule the field trip on Wednesday the 2nd instead. 

In and effort to still make it to the Kindergarten visit, I asked my grandma (Will's Great Grandma Verna) if she'd like to be his special helper on Friday instead of me so that I wasn't taking two mornings off of work in one week.  She agreed and Will was thrilled that she'd be coming to his school.  My grandma's been to preschool before.  Each year, she goes in to make homemade applesauce with the kids before the Thanksgiving program/feast and she's always helping my mom out for various events.  But special helper day is, well... special.

So on Wednesday morning, I joined Will in his classroom all through the typical beginning of their day.  It occurred to me that this was the last time I would do this with Will in this school!  That my little boy was finishing his preschool years and moving on to another new chapter of schooling.  He, of course, has loved it here!  And I just don't feel ready for him to move on yet!  It wasn't exactly a difficult adjustment for me to send him off to learn with his "Nana" every week, as well as the wonderful Mrs. C, whom I have known for many years.  But next year he's going to ride a bus, walk into (and navigate!) an enormous new building, meet TONS of new friends and be guided by a teacher I do not know well.    Oh my goodness!

Will, of course, can't wait.  :-)

I'm just so thankful that my mom can be a part of that "transition" into schooling... for them AND for me!  That my kids can find familiarity in a new experience and be prepared for the classroom in a comfortable way.  It really puts my mind at ease.  But now she can go back to just being called "Nana" - instead of "Nana" outside of school and "Mrs. Skees" during the school day.  :)

Pledge of Allegiance

After the normal morning routine, Will and all his classmates carpooled to the elementary school (many of the parents attended to drive their own child).  Walking up to the building, the children paired up and held hands with a friend.  This is Will's friend Luke (not the same Luke from last year), who didn't want to smile at my camera because the sun (which was behind him) was "too bright".  Haha!

Will practically dragged Luke up to the main entrance telling him:  "This is the awesomest school ever!  And that is not a lie!"

Upon entering, we gathered in the main office and met the office staff and principal - Mrs. Murphy (far right).  We toured through the office hallways and into the nurses room.

Down the painted tile hallway...

Mrs. Murphy took Will's and another child's hand and they walked beside her for most of the tour.

I love these showcase-style bookcases on either corner of the hallway intersections.  What a great way to show off and display student art work and successes or themed things.

On our tour, we saw several of Will's friends!

We found Griffin in art class.  (Nana's neighbor who gives us lots of hand-me-down clothes for Will.)

We saw Katelyn in gym class... and the recognition on the two of their faces was just adorable.  They both waved so excitedly and Will tried to run out and join their game.

We passed through the awesome library.

And then into a couple of the Kindergarten classrooms, where we found our buddy Jagger!

All of the current elementary students were very sweet and welcoming.

Following the classroom tours, we walked briefly out to the playground...

...and then into the cafeteria and through the (empty) lunch line.

Will and his classmates all gathered onto the edge of the stage in the cafeteria for a photo op.

This school is really, really beautiful.  All the details, the wood work, the state-of-the-art equipment, the BATHROOMS!  (The bathrooms are set up so cool!)  We are so lucky to have such a nice, new school in our district!

Following our warm and welcome tour by Mrs. Murphy, all the students got to take a special trip on a real school bus and learn important school bus etiquette - like how to follow bus driver directions and when/how to enter and exit the bus.  The bus drove the students and two teachers into town (all the parents caravaned behind) where we all met up at the local ice cream shop for a frozen treat and a lesson on the history of ice cream!

Oh my goodness.  My heart can't take this!  He's getting too big!!!

Our local ice cream expert, Marty, used to be our neighbor when I was a kid and we frequent his shop quite often in the summers!

After the ice cream explanation, each of the kids got to choose a cone of their choice.  Nice!

Will picked "blue goo" - his fave.  Oh... and p.s. - can you see the blotchy red spots on his forehead?  Remember the door slamming incident that earned him a new forehead scar?  Well, as it was healing, we left the band aids on for almost 48 hours and his skin seemed to react to the sticky parts of the band aids!  The patchy, red skin looked even worse than the cut for a day or so!  So weird, 'cause he's worn band aids plenty of times before and nothing like this ever resulted.

So that was our fun field trip morning!  I was happy to be a part of it and to spend one more day with Will and his classmates in preschool.  He is looking so forward to Kindergarten and I know he is going to transition perfectly.  It's going to be ME that needs the reassurance!

Now we have preschool graduation coming up this Wednesday!  Wow.  Two years flew by!