Wow, I am such a baby

I've been putting the quick little posts on facebook about Malia starting Kindergarten this week, but I figured I'd better update my blog and explain the whole story!

Malia started Kindergarten on Tuesday this week and she has been so excited...she'd ask me every day if she was starting school the next day and had her whole outfit picked out and hair accessories, etc for weeks before she actually started. Last week we had the back to school night and we got to go meet her teacher and see the kids who will be in her class, etc etc.
Another day last week she had her one on on assessment with her teacher to see where she was at, etc. They gave us a list of all the things the kids should know before they start kindergarten, and what they'll start learning mid-way through the year, and what they should know by the end of the year. Yeah, Malia knows 95% of everything NOW that they are supposed to know by the end of the year! I give cudo's to Sunshine Square preschool and Malia's AWESOME teacher Miss Michelle that she had the last 2 years! They did SO great preparing kids for kindergarten and we loved everything about it!

Anyway, when we walked in for Malia's assessment, Malia's teacher said hi, gave me some paperwork to fill out in the back of the room, then took Malia over and sat down at the first little table/station for her assessment, turned to her laptop and basically just started reading off of it. I was a little bugged right away and was hoping for some kind of interacting or something from the teacher with Malia, but it seemed like she was just reading her script like it was a timed test or something. I dunno...maybe it was! But Malia was so excited to meet her teacher and had drawn her a picture and everything and kept trying to give it to her, but the teacher just ignored her and kept going on with her assessment stuff.

The teacher had Malia tell her the alphabet, write her name (only first name is needed by the mid-way point of the year and Malia already does first and last!), count as high as she can go...which Malia went to about 35 when the teacher stopped her (although she did skip 16, which she does occasionally). They had to point out all the shapes they knew and by then Malia was getting a little bored and started trying to just talk to the teacher and was looking around the room and asking the teacher about things. So she got the first few shapes right, then when the teacher pointed to a rectangle, Malia just shrugged her shoulders and then pointed at something else hanging on the wall and asked what that was! I know that Malia knows all her shapes & I was hoping the teacher would just ask her to try again and see if she can remember or something, but she didn't and just went on to the next thing.

They gave us a list of words they have to pass off by the end of the year too, and Malia knew all but like 3 or 4...and they were ones like 'deer & book' where it has the double 'o's or double 'e's and makes a different sound than when it's just one 'e' or 'o'. Make sense? but every other word was a piece of cake! She read her teacher 2 books all the way through and only messed up on one word. I know I am biased because I'm her mom and all, but she was awesome! Even with the couple things she messed up on, I know she really knows those and can do a lot better, but she still did great! But I was kinda disappointed in the teacher and was hoping she would interact with Malia more and get to know her...maybe just say 'Hi! I'm going to be your teacher! I'm so glad you're going to be in my class!" or anything like that, but she didn't say anything like that. She just did her assessment and when it was done, she told me that Malia did good and then showed us where the bathrooms were, walked us to the door, and showed Malia where they line up in the mornings and at recess. That was it.

So I wasn't sure what I thought about her teacher yet, and no one around us has ever had her or knows anything about her because she is fairly new. And not a single person in our neighborhood or ward is in Malia's class =(

I called several times last week trying AGAIN to change her to a different track with no success. It was very frustrating and I really didn't want Malia to have to miss that much school right at the beginning of the school year - because we are going to Lake Powell in a couple days and the track she is on goes off track while we are gone and doesn't come back on track till Mid-September. We are only given 10 days for the whole year for excused absences and we're using more than half of that in the first couple weeks of school. So I was trying to change tracks because I felt like Malia was going to miss all of the important things in the first couple weeks of school...like just getting used to the routine and the teacher and the rules, and the introductions to all the kids, etc etc. And I just felt like that was really important, especially for kindergarten when they are getting used to going to school every day! So anyway, then after the whole assessment with her teacher, I was just that much more upset about not being able to change tracks.

Malia's first day of school was yesterday (Tuesday), and she was so excited getting ready, and Cole was so cute too and he wanted to help take Malia to school! He held her hand almost the whole way there and it was so stinkin' cute! Although, I think he was just as excited to go play on the playground in the little Kindergarten area where Malia lines up! Anyway, I was totally fine and taking pictures and thought that maybe I wouldn't cry...until the bell rang and all the kids ran over to line up. It was like that bell triggered something with my hormones and my eyes started leaking a little bit...good thing it was bright and sunny out so I could hide behind my sunglasses! And when Malia came to hug me goodbye ... it was hard and my eyes still water up just thinking about it! But it was so funny to see all the other parents taking pictures like crazy and crying and wiping their eyes too...so I had to laugh! And there was this other girl next to me that had a little girl in Malia's class and we started talking and making fun of ourselves for crying and it totally helped! I probably would have cried a lot more than just the watery-eyes that I had, if I hadn't had her to talk to! It was really nice! And Cole helped me not cry the whole walk home too cuz he kept wanting to race or ride on my shoulders...then he'd fly his Buzz Light year in my face or ears and laugh! So thanks little man!

When we picked Malia up, Cole was so cute! I didn't realize that he missed her, but he saw her come out the door with her class and he went running over to her and gave her a huge hug and was totally just giggling and was so excited to see her! It was so cute! Malia seemed to have had fun so it made me happy! I would try to get her to tell me about her day and she would say 'We went in and learned, then we played a game, then learned some more, then we went outside for recess, then we came in and learned again, then we went home!' I keep trying to get her to tell me WHAT they learned but she just says she can't remember! Silly girl...she did that all the time at preschool too and would never tell me what they did. She would only remember what they had for snack! So I wasn't too suprised, but I kept trying to dig more out info out of her! I finally got that they played 'Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar' and that they sat at tables with their name on it, and she sat next to a girl. That's about it so far!

Sorry, this is long...but this is my first kid going to kindergarten and I don't want to forget any teeny little detail, so just deal with it. This blog is more for me than anyone else anyway =)
So today was her 2nd day and while they were playing on the playground waiting for the bell to ring, I found the gal that I had talked to yesterday and said hi again, and we introduced Malia and her little girl to each other so that they would know each others names and maybe have a friend in their class that they knew! When the bell rang, I got all teary eyed again ( I know...is it normal to cry on the 2nd day of school too??) and this lady's little girl starts panicking and crying and doesn't want to go in. Malia was in line a couple people in front of her and kept looking back at her, then looked at me like she was asking for permission to get out of line and go back to her, then she walked over and asked the little girl if she wanted to hold her hand and go in together! It was so stinkin' cute and (of course) I cried a little bit more when I saw that! The little girl got up and let go of her mom, she and Malia hugged, and Malia kissed her on the cheek, then they held hands and walked inside together! The girls mom was so sweet and came over to thank me and we laughed again that we were both crying on the 2nd day just as much as yesterday! I am so so so proud of Malia and am so glad that she was able to make a friend too since she didn't know anyone in her class. It was so sweet! And come to find out they live just down the street a little ways - probably out of our ward boundaries, but still pretty close! So they can be friends and have play dates, etc! It will be so nice to know someone! And when Malia came home from school today she told me that her favorite friend in her class was Sienna...the little girl who she helped this morning, and that they sat together on the carpet! That's about all I got out of her again today, oh, and that she learned some more! I am so excited that she has at least one person she is getting to know and will have a friend! It's so scary being a mom and not knowing if your baby has a friend at school and if they are being nice to her, etc so it's really nice when something comes along to help ME not worry as much about her!

Oh, and I was talking to her about maybe still trying to change her class so she wouldn't miss as much school while we're gone, and she freaked out saying that she doesn't want a different teacher, she likes the one she has and she likes her class and the girl that she helped today, etc. So it makes me feel a ton better that at least Malia likes her teacher and is enjoying the class so maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe it's just me not wanting to let go of my baby that is starting kindergarten and making new friends and growing up! Anyway, it's been very emotional but exciting last few days!