For those with kids (or selves) heading back to school this week: How was the first day?
My son’s first day of preschool was uneventful, although it was a special day of only an hour and I was able to stay with him. He was also somewhat used to it because he did two weeks of summer session in August, albeit with a different group of kids. He was bummed that the short day meant no snack and no recess, though—rituals he had learned quickly this summer. (I did take him out for the rare treat of Dunkin’ Donuts afterwards, though, which assuaged his disappointment.)
(On another note: Don’t you just love the half-size toilets they have in preschools? If I win the lottery before my son grows much bigger, I’m going to install one of those next to each of the full-size ones in my dream home.)
Our kids started yesterday, one in the third grade and one in the first. For us, that means we started, too, because we (gasp!) homeschool.
I always feel compelled to add a mantra of disclaimers whenever I share that with people. We don’t have tremendous problems with public education or our local schools (at least any more serious than other parents in our area have). We aren’t trying to prevent our kids from being influenced by anyone else’s kids. I was on assignment overseas when we started, and we didn’t have any other choices. When we moved back to the States, we decided that it was working well enough that we wanted to continue.
Today is my first day in the teacher’s seat (my partner and I both work part-time and share the schooling duties), and I’m facing the day with equal parts excitement and trepidation. It takes us all a while to get back in the swing of things, and that means I’ll have to do more cajoling to get homework done than I like or want to do. But this is going to be a really fun year for both of our school-age kids. If nothing else, the fact that I get to start teaching Latin to our third grader is keeping my enthusiasm up.
I think we non-homeschooling parents can learn a lot from those of you who do. My philosophy is that my son is only going to get part of his education in the classroom anyway, and the rest from my partner and me. Good luck!