First Day At A New [Public] School!

As most of you might know, my little Padawan was homeschooled last year for his Kindergarten year. While I truly enjoyed that time and I was on the verge of doing it again this year (see that post HERE), we ultimately decided to put him in public school.

Personally I was extremely anxious as today crept closer and closer, worrying that he wouldn't adjust or would have a hard time, ultimately making him dislike school.


We woke up this morning with a mild wrench in our plan (sore throat), but after a little medicine and positive thinking, we got it together and headed to his first day of first grade. Lunchbox and backpack ready to go, we headed into his school and prepared for his teacher to lead him into his classroom. I cautiously walked beside the line of students - along with other parents - towards his class with a smile. Quick hug and a kiss, then he was in class seated while I walked back to my car.


I will admit, I had panic attacks all day long with the awful fear that I'd get a phone call of my son not doing too well in class, being highly stressed. Luckily that wasn't the case at all!


Once class was over, I picked up my little guy and to my surprise he was absolutely thrilled with his school! Mostly because he got to play on the playground three times, but regardless I'm just ecstatic that he enjoyed himself. He ate lunch, played, went to class, everything with ease. He even told me this evening, "I love school, even more than homeschool!". You can imagine the amount of weight that was lifted off my shoulders the moment I heard that statement. I couldn't believe how happy he was and that made me happy!


Regarding homeschool, I'd like to say this: it truly isn't for everyone. We had loads of fun going out and learning through the world, but having my little guy at home all day long lead to a lot of conflict. He wasn't able to fully switch from home life to school life, making learning a bit difficult. Now that he has an authority figure who's not a relative, he's more likely to pay attention and focus on working hard. I even got a notice today that he was following directions immediately and extremely well behaved.


I'm not saying he misbehaves often, although he does have his moments like the rest of us, but to know he was behaving set my mind at ease further.


I do think homeschool taught us a lot about our family dynamic, along with my little one's learning style, but I truly think that public school is a huge progress for him. I do think spending the night away from me contributed to the fact that he had an easier time integrating, making this Summer a successful preparation.


Honestly I'm exhausted from the roller coaster of emotions today, but I'm happy things ended up working out. This is the first step into our future and thank GOD [literally] everything has worked out positively. Now I'm off to bed for another day of getting ready for school! Except tomorrow I also have to pack up the house, but that's for another post.