1st Day of Kindergarten!

Today was an exciting day. It was Julia's 1st day of kindergarten. She came in and woke me up at 7 am and asked she if could start getting ready for school. I told her that we didn't need to get ready until after lunch. I guess she was excited because she never gets up that early.

I decided to let her go to afternoon kindergarten because she normally doesn't even get up in the morning until 8, 8:30am and so I didn't want to have to rush around trying to get her ready and to school on time. She does better if she gets up and has some time to get up and going. Another year of a later start and that's ok with me. That way once she is in school I can give Christian his nap and have some time to get things done around the house.

She has Mrs. Rigby and she is super nice. We went to a family open house where we got to go see her classroom and were able to meet her teacher. She got to see where her little cubby/coat closet is and where she will sit each day. She walked right up to her teacher and answered all her questions. After we took a little tour of the school we went home and Julia said she was excited and couldn't wait to go to school and she said that her teacher was beautiful. It was so sweet. I told Julia that I loved my kindergarten teacher and she was always my favorite one that I can remember having. A few days later we had to go in for Julia's evaluation. I was there filling out paper work while she was being tested. I know the test is suppose to be hard just so they can determine what level each kid is at. She was asked her alphabet and the sounds they make. She had to write her name and sound out and blend some words. She was asked if she knew the sight words she would be learning and had most of those down except a few. She was asked to count and do some adding and subtracting. And then the last thing she had to do was write down a sentence the teacher said to her. I was thinking, geez really? But she did pretty darn good. The teacher asked her what letters she heard in each word and she had to write them down. I asked Julia after the test if that seemed kinda hard and she told me no it was pretty easy. Well, I guess it was hard from my standpoint. I didn't even learn to read or write until like the end of 1st grade and into 2nd grade. Pre-school really helped her and so I think Julia is really ready for school!

Ready to go with her back pack

Well, we ate some lunch and got ready for school. She was having a hard time deciding what she wanted to wear to school but we finally figured something out that she was happy with. I can tell we will need to lay our clothes out the night before. Well, my mom and sister came out to see her off too and stayed with Christian so I could get some pictures. Even daddy drove from work to come see her off on her 1st day. I know that meant a lot to have him come.

Because we live so close to school we have to walk instead of riding the bus. I know Julia was excited to ride the bus but I don't think she will miss out. Eventually she will ride the bus to Jr high and high school. It a 1/2 mile for us to walk her to school. It doesnt' seem that far away but it is. Last week we even practiced walking to school to see how long it would take us to get there. We practiced lining up for class and where Julia would meet me after school. And for me walking to and from school twice a day that's 2 miles for me round trip. I guess I'll get my exercise in. I just hope it cools off soon because today was HOT! Julia said to me as we walked to school that her legs were hurting her and I told her that if we walk this path everyday our bodies will get stronger and they won't be so tired all the time. We just have to get use to walking.

Walking to school

We got to the main cross-walk and met the crossing guard, Rick, who will help us cross the street everyday and he told us the rules so we won't get hurt. Then we walked over to the sign of her school so we could get a picture. Then we went to line up for her class. When Julia saw everyone she got a little nervous. She said she didn't want me to leave and I told her that I wouldn't until she got into her classroom. Her class has 27 kids in it and so that's more than double what her pre-school class was. I know she will do great and she is ready for kindergarten. 

Her new school.



Waiting to go into class!

Her big day! 1st day of kindergarten!

I met Julia after school and she talked to me the whole way home about her day. The first thing she said was that she got to play outside 2 times and she saw a friend from church on the playground but didn't talk to her. She got to sit on the carpet on a purple dot and listen to her teacher read 2 stories to her. They visited the music room and sang a song. I asked if she met anybody at her table but she couldn't remember. She told she forgot to turn in her picture she was suppose to bring the 1st day of school. I told her it was ok and we would just turn it in tomorrow. She was happy and excited which made me happy for her. She told me it was the best day and that's always good to hear! I'm grateful her first day went off without a hitch and that she did a great job. I'm so proud of you Julia! What a big girl!

When we got home we had our 1st day of school cookies. When I asked her what were her favorite cookies she wanted me to make and she told me the chocolate oatmeal kind. So I made her no-bakes this year. She told me they were soooo delicious!

Yummy cookies!