We’ve been busy these past couple of weeks since school started. Dylan is still adjusting, but now that he’s met a sweet friend (Marlon, Jr.), it seems like it is getting better.
To be honest, we thought the kinder transition would be a lot smoother–he’s been in daycare since he was 11 months and he’s been so used to socializing and being with a group of friends. At pre-school, he got along easily with everyone and charmed every teacher he had with his generally good behavior.
So, it was hard to see him suddenly be so shy (and without anyone even feeding those words to him, he described himself as “too shy”) and utterly overwhelmed by the sheer number of kids around him. He didn’t have fun at recess because there were too many kids and he thought the same thing of eating in the cafeteria!
So, while Dylan has been adjusting to being around hundreds more kids (literally), I was adjusting to not exactly knowing how he was doing–in preschool, we could always just ask the teacher (and we did, pretty much everyday), how did the kids do today? And, we got a general report of disposition and participation. Now that we only saw his teacher at the beginning of the day, we were pretty much in the dark (excepting for Dylan’s own report) on how he did after drop-off….
But, I have to say, I am so impressed by his teacher…who actually noticed Dylan’s sadness, and came up to us on the third day (or 4th?) and let me know that Dylan sometimes gets “woozy” during the day and so does Marlon, Jr. (who happened to come up just then looking for Dylan) and then turned to Dylan and told him that if he ever got sad, he could always look for Marlon, Jr. (who he also told me Dylan had been been playing and eating lunch with) or himself.
Dylan’s own reports of his day had been pretty mixed. Some days, he comes back with “gooood” and other days, it’s “bad. Too Many kids.” In general, he’s liked the after-school program better because there aren’t as many kids…! But this week, everyday was “good” and he actually started riding the bus home with Taliana!
We owe oodles of thanks to Heather and Taliana who were so patient in encouraging him to try (so he could leave the after-school program early). They took the time to introduce him to the bus driver and Taliana repeatedly checked in on him at CKC (the after-school program) to see if he wanted to go with her (she is set up to sign him out!). She didn’t give up and never took his “no” personally during that whole first full week of school when he was still too intimidated by the prospect….The first few days, he was too worried about being pushed by other kids in the bus line (our boy seriously does not have an aggressive bone in his body!), despite Taliana’s reassurances that she would protect him and despite the reassurance of the bus driver that she’d save him a seat right behind her….And, there was another sweet gal, Violet, from Taliana’s neighborhood who remembered Dylan and joined Taliana in her pledge to protect Dylan from pushers! Finally, on Monday, he decided to try–Taliana and Violet held his hand, the bus driver reserved the front seat for him, and Heather followed the bus in her own car!! After that day, he’s been all good just riding with the girls and he’s been loving the after-school time with Taliana. One day, Violet stayed to play, and another day, Melia, a very shy girl in Dylan’s class (and Taliana’s next door neighbor) also came to play (which was great because Melia and Dylan got to know each other better).
I have to say, I’m so happy Marlon Jr. has taken to Dylan. There are a couple of boys who are pretty aggressive and rough, but Marlon is not one of them (in fact, we’ve met a couple of Taliana’s neighbors who have daughters in Dylan’s class–including Melia–and both girls have remarked that the boys are ‘mean’, except for Marlon Jr. and Dylan!! Neither of these girls knows one another well, so their reports were independent of one another!)! He looks for Dylan every morning. It’s super sweet. I hope it’s the beginning of a lasting friendship!
Incidentally, we love Juan’s curriculum–so much song and movement and so much creativity. Dylan has already made a beautiful wooden picture frame and a name plate spelling his name with pebbles and sticks (one for home and one for school). Dylan comes home singing new songs about counting and the alphabet. There isn’t a lot of written work, but I can’t imagine a better way for Dylan to be learning (and, it seems, teacher Juan and his ultra-cool classroom are legendary…so many parents we’ve talked to have heard about him and everything is positive…the kids learn).
Overall, I’d say this transition has been more difficult than we’d anticipated, but we’re happy that his teacher is so warm and caring and nurturing and that he’s beginning to form a community with the kinder and more supportive kids.
