Life in NOLA: First Day of K

Today Cassidy started Kindergarten! My baby is growing up too fast!

On the way to school, Cassidy asked me if she had to wear "this" everyday. We've talked about uniforms already, so this surprised me. I told her that she had 3 uniform outfits to choose from and she could decide what to wear tomorrow. She's okay with the uniform, but disappointed about the shoes.... specifically that she doesn't get to wear her sparkly/fancy shoes. She has TOMS that she wears most days but also likes to work in her purple and green sneakers or silver zip up high tops. For school it's plain black or plain white, though I noticed that many of the Kindergartners there did not follow this. I'd imagine they give the new parents a bit of time to conform and that the rules are more enforced as the kids get older. She was also very concerned with what she would be eating for lunch. We decided to try the lunch program there for about a month before we decide if we'd like to send her lunch to school with her. At $1.50 for lunch, it seems tough to beat for price and convenience. We do have to send two snacks for her, one for morning and one for aftercare, so I'd imagine a lunch box of some kind will be on the shopping list soon.

I went with her for the first couple of hours. Last week Friday we were at school for state testing to assess the incoming preK and Kindergartners and we met a couple of girls from her class. This morning her new friend Ruby immediately recognized her and they were side by side almost the whole time I was there. During that time, we had a welcome assembly for the preK and Kindergarteners, story time in her class, a brief parent/kid project, PE class,

a bathroom break, and snack time.

After snack time, I decided she was doing fine, said goodbye, and left. She got a little clingy right before I left when she saw me in the hallway where I stopped to sign up for emails, but went willingly into her classroom with her "new friends" without any tears.

Yesterday, half the class was there for orientation and today was the other half. Tomorrow all 26 Kindergartners in her class will be there so there will be some other familiar faces who Cassidy met at a birthday party this summer.

I was sent home with a first grade math workbook that she'll be working from right away. She'll start French class this year too. And each of the kids got a notebook that will serve as their journal which they will be writing in on a daily basis!

Homework will start on Monday!

I'm sure it helps that she's been in a structured classroom setting for as long as she can remember.

Still, I can't believe we are here already!