It seems like only yesterday

A striped shirt, with snap closures on the bottom. A little backpack that held his change in diaper and clothes. A nervous tummy. Silly hair and a huge grin. Seems like only yesterday...

The striped onesey has been replaced by a dapper uniform, complete with belt and laced-up shoes. The nervous tummy remains. The silly hair has been temporarily contained by a fresh haircut, and the smile is still that of my little boy.

Brady entered Kindergarten at St. Benedict's Episcopal Day School this week with equal amounts trepidation and excitement. No tears were let loose (from Brady anyway - only Mommy!) despite feeling queasy and nauseous the entire 7-minute drive to school.

When I picked him up at 2:30 on that first day, he skipped across the parking lot holding hands with a teacher and yelled, "I don't want to leave! I want to stay! I want to come back tomorrow!" Lucky for him, state law dictates that he gets to come back tomorrow, and the day after, and the day, and the day after. Lucky for me, he wants to.

Wednesday is Chapel Day at St. B's, and I stopped in to see how the first one would go. While it was a little noisy and some of the kids were clearly lost, most of the kids lit up with some of the familiar routines. Led by Reverends Lang and Stuart the kids sang "This Little Light of Mine" (a favorite of Brady's), they listened to a Gospel story, they recited the Lord's Prayer, they sang "Jesus Loves Me" and they had a ceremonial Blessing of the Backpacks. Lang told the children that just as they bring their backpacks each day to school, God brings them love in their lives each day. They held up their packs for Lang and Stuart to bless, "zapping the love into them like a fire bolt," as Brady would later recount at the dinner table.

Brady's highlights from Week One of Kindergarten:

1. He gets to eat lunch in a real cafeteria! (Also known as a multi-purpose room in the basement of the church.)
2. He gets to have PE everyday except Wednesday with "Coach" and her helper Mr. Charlie, who is really a tennis ball with a face drawn on it! (When asked what PE stands for, Brady answered, "Exercise!")
3. He gets to be a real scientist and do experiments with Mrs. Ahmed! (She is extra cool because she has a hanging mobile of the solar system in her room.)
4. He gets to play on the new playground that was installed the weekend before school started!
5. He has lots of new friends!

St. B's follows a non-traditional style of learning, where kids are broken into small groups that physically move in pods throughout the day. He has a half dozen teachers each day, and he is taught in a combination of both English and Spanish, so as to further envelope kids in a multi-language environment without complete sink-or-swim immersion.

I will post more details on how his day works, and what he's learning soon. On Friday we received a folder full of papers and information, including a welcome letter from all his teachers, his phonics paperwork from the week, a weekly teacher newsletter recap/reminder sheet and his weekend homework.

While the school is brand new this year and growing pains are certainly being felt, Brady is clearly being nurtured, loved, protected, and most of all engaged with new ideas, new friends, new learning and lots of fun.

He believes he belongs there, and I believe he's right.

Also in his Friday Folder was a poem that reminded me to stop looking for his day in his backpack each afternoon. His day didn't occur on paper that fits in his pack. It occurred in his mind, in his heart and through his experiences. For posterity, I have copied the poem below:

There's Nothing in My Bag Today

Today I did my math and science. I toasted bread.

I halved and quartered.

I counted, measured, used my eyes and ears and head.

I added and subtracted on the way,

I used a magnet, blocks and memory tray.

I learnt about a rainbow and how to weigh.

So please don't say, "Anything in your bag today?"

You see I'm sharing as I play.

I learned to listen and speak clearly when I talk,

to wait my turn and when inside to walk.

To put my thoughts into a phrase, to guide my crayon through a maze.

To find my name and write it down,

to do it with a smile and not a frown.

To put my pasting brush away,

So please don't say, "What, nothing in your bag today?"

I've learnt about a snail and a worm,

remembering how to take my turn.

I helped a friend when he was stuck,

learnt that water runs off a duck.

I looked at words from left to right,

agreed to differ, not to fight.

So please don't say, "Did you only play today?"