Oh The Places You'll Go!

There has been a delay between the time I wrote most of this to the time it was posted.  My blogging days have been far and few between, I'm afraid.  Yikes! 

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You're off to Great Places!
You're off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
You're on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who'll decide where to go...

~ from Oh, the Places You'll Go by Dr. Seuss

I know its only Kindergarten, but its the end of her first year of school and now she'll be moving on, getting bigger as she grows and matures, yet feeling smaller as she discovers the world that surrounds her.  

I am so proud of my Kindergarten graduate.  Its true that what she learned in Kindergarten, really has provided her a strong foundation in life.  Of most interest to her was reading and story writing.  I knew she was keen to read, but its amazing how all her effort has resulted in a book worm!  Yesterday, when I asked her what her favourite part of Kindergarten was she said, "Daily Five."  Daily Five in her words is, "when we write, and read and listen to reading."  It happens ever morning in her classroom.  And according to her final report card, "Kamille is a self-motivated writer and would benefit from keeping a journal about her summer adventures."  Yes please!  I have always loved journalling and keeping travel logs.  I am so excited to encourage this in her!  

It doesn't seem like that long ago that I was taking my girl to her first orientation day.....

 

and then her very first day of Kindergarten.....

and now my Sassy Pants graduated.....

Kindergarten has taught both her and I a lot.
I wasn't prepared for the emotional roller coaster that can result from being in Kindergarten.  Holding it together all day long in school sometimes meant that she was bursting at the seams by the time we got home.  There were days when I dreaded the 3pm pick up the most because it just all seeped out on me on our walk home.  Patience and attend to her distress, I reminded myself.

And the "girl drama," was also something that took me by surprise.  At such a young age, she has experienced peer conflicts that were more intense than the pre-school level, yet more like what I might expect in later grades.  Negotiating peers relationships that were often awesome and joyful, yet also included feelings of being bullied, jealousy and disappointment was a task that we both had to to learn to do skillfully.  Truthfully, I found myself getting frustrated with all the "then she hurt my feelings" whining or "she told me she would never be my friend again" comments.  I'd be like, "Come on, get over it, you know that's not true" or "Why would you be hurt over that?" but geez, as if that's the right response.

My 37 year old ability to think about these circumstances and situations that she found herself in, certainly did not match the response that was required.  So we learned.  I learned to be patient and understanding and new ways to explain things to her.  She learned how to feel more confident and to express herself in appropriate ways.

I found myself now understanding that we never really know how our child affects others, but we certainly learn about how other's affect our own children through the stories that come home after school.

What feedback that I was able to get from Kamille's teachers is that she tattle tales.  Not a huge deal, but something to consider.  I still have yet to look into what this all means, but I have found a way to redirect her at home when that pattern shows up at times when it does seem inappropriate or unnecessary.

Oh my Kamille.
She developed a love for music and was always impressed by her amazing, energetic and inspiring music teacher.  I love hearing her talk about the different musical instruments that she learned about and tried and she definitely loved their cup stomping unit.  Her school is one of six BC schools that received funding to infuse the arts into every aspect of learning.  Inspired by Infusion: Arts in Education, Kamille was able to participate in some really neat experiences, such as participating in a Nation wide online singing event with Canadian Astronaut Christ Hadfield and Barenaked Ladies lead singer, Ed Robertson.   The whole school practiced the song Is Someone Singing for the event.   Kamille loved it!

And not only was she introduced to different topics like space, but also she sprouted a love for learning about dinosaurs, the moon phases, measurement and drawing. 

My sweet girl was definitely a social butterfly.  I loved seeing her say hello to kids that we passed in the school hallways and then asking her how she knew them.  She seemed to have acquaintances of all ages with the opportunity to be matched up with other grades and different school activities that joined the littles with the bigger kiddos.   Yesterday she said she was sad to say goodbye to some of the grade seven girls that she knew and would be moving on to high school.  Awe.  

I really am amazed by how much growth that happens in Kindergarten.  This little one has matured, grown inches and has expanded her mind in so many ways.  What a proud parent I am.

Now with that said, how the heck did my first born baby grow up so fast?  That's a whole other set of emotions that I worked through on that last day of Kindergarten.  ; )