"I am going to school today..."

Merrit's journal entry this morning.

I woke up Merrit at 6:30 this morning for his first day of school. He pulled on the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles bathrobe that his Great Aunt Frances made for him for Christmas and said, as we were walking down the stairs to breakfast, "Remember when I went to preschool? Well one time in preschool, we dressed up like clowns. All the kids put on different colored noses. My nose was brown. Some of the kids who had red noses said, 'You can't play with us because you don't have a red nose.'" 

And then he paused. I was multi-tasking and rendered speechless by the toothpaste and toothbrush in my mouth so I just looked at him, waiting to see what he'd say next.

He goes, "I don't have to worry about that at school today because this is school for big boys." And he kept heading down the steps to the kitchen.

I have never heard that story. I am so surprised that he woke up thinking about it. What does it mean? Is there a part of him that's worried about today? About fitting in? About being different?

It's only normal to feel that way, but I was surprised by this story because he's normally so transparent about his feelings and this seemed to come from left field.

That was the end of it, though. After toast and eggs, he was revved up and literally counting the minutes till we needed to head out the door. 

Mike on his way out to get the Metro at about 8:30.

We left for school about 10 minutes after Mike. Drop-off time is 8:50. School starts at 9:00.
Merrit ran ahead the whole way, very worried about being late!
It's a three-block walk from our house to the school.

Getting ready to go in for his first day! This is an elementary, or first, school.
They have 3- and 4-year old nursery school (free for siblings of enrolled students),
kindergarten (which they call Year One), and Grades 1 through 3 (which they call
Years Two through Four). Merrit is in Year Three.

Here he is at the front entrance, getting ready to go in for his Big Day!

Here's his classroom. He immediately noticed the big aluminum-foiled robot
in the corner.

His teacher, left, is taking off her coat from bringing her class in from the playground.
This little boy, named Hammish, was kind enough to take Merrit to show him where
to put his packed lunch and coat and hat. 

When I picked Merrit up today (he only stayed for a half-day
today since the afternoon on Friday is swimming and we don't have
his bathing suit yet), Hammish was playing with him on the playground,
keeping an arm around his shoulder the whole time. I could have
cried to see the kindness of this little boy.

Merrit said he thought Hammish
had hair like Ollie and that's how he could find him in a crowd.

Ollie and I said goodbye to Merrit and headed out. I snapped a couple of pictures of
the playground on our way out. Here's the vegetable garden and natural area and pond.

The side of the school, overlooking the playground.

The school has a large Astroturf field with a playground next to it. This
picture is cool because you can see how close the ocean-front is.

I should be getting information about the upcoming term's curriculum next week. For now, I know that the kids do gymnastics once a week, dance once a week, swimming once a week, and outdoor P.E. twice a week. Outside playtime for an hour each day. Every student learns French. (I was hoping they would be teaching a second language!) Art classes. ICT classes (information and computer technology). Music once or maybe twice a week. I saw a number of students bringing in violin cases, so, I don't know...maybe that's available as an extracurricular activity...? I can't wait to learn more about what they'll teach and what his daily schedule will be like. 

I'm so charmed by the idea of uniforms, but here everyone takes it as a given. We have to order a few more uniforms on Monday. He can wear either a light blue or white golf-style shirt with an emblemed navy, royal blue, or red sweatshirt, grey trousers, and black shoes. There are also extras you can purchase, like emblemed anoraks, cardigans, and sweaters. Today, the school sent him home with a cute little Marine Park First School book satchel. It looks like a little soft-sided royal blue briefcase and it has the school logo embroidered on the front. Adorable. He looks like such a little man.

To celebrate Ollie-and-me time, I took my boy out for scones. He
had a raisin scone and I had a cherry and almond scone. 

Two fresh baked scones and a small pot of tea cost me 3 pounds, about
4 dollars and 80 cents.

We stopped by Sainsbury's grocery for milk and eggs.
Outside, Ollie rode the horse for 50 pence.

Ollie and I went to the bank and stopped by a dentist and a doctor's office to register
(you have to register with them--if they are even accepting new patients--before
you can make an appointment to be seen).

Last stop before home and lunch: The guitar shop. This has quickly become
Ollie's favorite place in town. Second favorite: The pet supply store, where
he likes to look at all the pictures of dogs and cats on the bags of food in
the window.

I love the big windows on the store fronts and the window-displays. Such
creativity and time go into them. I've noticed that many of the stores
put out a new window display every few days. It definitely makes it fun
to walk by and see what's new at each store.

So that's how we spent Merrit's first day of school. We picked him up at 1:15, after recess (which they call playtime). He said he had an "excellent" time. He met new friends, but couldn't remember anyone's name except for Hammish (pronounced Irmish). No homework tonight, but we can expect it come Monday, his teacher said. I am glad for it because I can't imagine not being in touch with what he's learning. It is going to be a strange transition for me.

Ending homeschooling is a bit like weaning, I think. On the one hand, you're a bit sad and sentimental that this particular chapter is coming to an end. On the other hand, you know that you're about to experience newfound freedom and fewer demands and that's exciting. So, mixed feelings. But all good.