8:00 a.m., 9/5/07, First Day of Nursery School
Owen (in blue) and Kyle (in red)
Today was the First Day of "The New School" (as we've been fondly referring to it in the Johnson-McCormick home for the past few weeks!). Today Kyle and Owen started Nursery School at the River Valley Waldorf School. This is a big deal because it is just a big deal. It is also a big deal for our family because it marks a huge transition for us. This summer Braydon and I made the decision to pull K & O out of the Lehigh University Childcare Center (where they had been in daycare from age 12 months - age 3 years). We spent much of the summer thinking, researching, conversing, and generally obsessing over what to do for childcare/pre-school/daycare for the 2007-2008 school year for our precious boys. I know every parent feels their child is the most precious. We are no exception. These decisions feel huge. On so many levels. We finally (after much agonizing) made the decision to apply to the River Valley Waldorf School for K & O. And they were accepted. The school is 15 minutes from our house. It is on 7 acres of land. It is a beautiful Waldorf school. We like the philosophies. The Nursery School runs from 8:30-1:00 Monday through Friday. Alex will pick them up 3 days a week and I will pick them up the other two. It will mean lots of late nights working for me (but what else is new?!) and a crazy-chaotic schedule for us to all manage (but what else is new?!), but we feel really strongly that this is a good decision for Kyle and Owen. Today they were very excited and a little bit nervous to go to "The New School." We had visited there twice with them recently, but still... it is a lot for a 3 year old (and a lot for parents of TWO 3 year olds!). From all I can gather, the boys had a good first day. The head teacher of the "Acorn Room" (the name of their classroom) reported to me today that K & O had a "good day" and that they were "crazy-- like, kind of all over the place and off the walls" (ha! no surprise there!!!), and that they "ate really well" (ha! no surprise there!!!), and that they "are very, very social" (ha! no surprise there either!). I was pretty impressed-- she's got them pegged after only one day! K & O said school was "good." Owen said he "waited and waited" for me to pick him up, but he also said (when I was there picking him up) that he wanted "to stay at New School." Kyle said he "likes the New School" and that he "helped his teachers cook rice." From what I can tell they spent most of their time there today playing outside. Which is one of the main reasons we decided to go this route: the boys will get to play outside a lot at "The New School." So, the day is ending well. I am emotionally drained. I broke into a hysteric meltdown of tears right outside the door to the Acorn Room after dropping them off this morning. Braydon was hugging me. I'm sure all the other parents thought this was my first time ever leaving my babies --- little do they know that K & O have been in daycare since they were 12 months old!!! LOL! Anyway, a new year has begun. We're off and running and off to a good start. And I know I'm biased, but as the mama I've just got to say that I sincerely believe my bambinos were the cutest little First-Day-of-Schoolers-That-Ever-Lived. God, how I love them.
10 comments:
Oh my gosh...they are so cute!!! I know it was bittersweet to see them go : )
Oh MY! I am so excited for you guys! I love Waldorf schooling theory...WOW!! I am so suprised, you said a post was coming up on education - but I would have never guessed. We would love to send my kidlets to the Waldorf school where we are moving (same thing, an acerage, beautiful setting) but we decided on the public school system as it fit most of what we wanted (very open minded, and quite waldorf like in some ideas).
WOWEE - keep us in the know!!
BTW they DO look so adorable on their first day of school!
Very exciting! Can't wait to hear all about the new school. I think I mentioned Shelli and I are looking into the Friends school for Z. (we'll have to compare notes)
The boys are getting so big!!!
xox
L&S
I'm really curious to hear your take on Waldorf education after the boys have been there for a while. I love a lot of Waldorf philosophy, and may decide to enroll my twins in a Waldorf school, at the very least for preschool, but I have concerns about diversity (both cultural and socioeconomic).
By the way, I love your blog and read often. I think we share a lot of similar philosophies and I've learned so much about raising twins from your heartfelt and honest posts. Your boys are incredible and you and Braydon are a huge inspiration to me! Thanks so much for opening up your lives to the rest of us in blogland.
Jayme,
I read your blog too!!! :)
We too love a lot of the Waldorf philosophy -- and we too share the same concerns as you about diversity (specifically, for us: racial diversity & socioeconomic diversity). K & O are two of only a handful of black kids at the school. There are some bi-racial (black-white) families, but K & O appear to be the darkest kids there. We're really bothered by this. It keeps me awake at night. Socio-economically, the place is a private school -- the people have money- at least enough to send their kids there. Although my guess is that LOTS of them are barely getting by scraping and skimping to be *able* to come up with the tuition (honestly, it seems to be the case - many parents have already actually told me such things). But I'm really concerned about the socio-economic diversity (or lack thereof) nonetheless. Problem is: it is hard to find true diversity anywhere. We spent the whole summer literally scouring the entire area and researching and obsessing over these very issues. We're completely overwhelmed by it all. We feel like we're desperately just trying to do the best we can. And we're TRYING hard to remember that we're going to take it one year at a time and do what feels right during each phase and stage. God knows a year ago I *never* would have imagined we'd be at River Valley Waldorf School... so I'm trying to remember that I *definately* have no clue now where we'll be a year from now- let alone 10 years from now. That helps me to stay sane. But these school decisions are so huge and so incredibly deep on so many levels. This is a major theme of my book (The American Dream and the Power of Wealth) so I feel especially CRAZED being the author of *that* book and being the mother of *my* boys. Keep me posted on your decisions Jayme!!! And let's try to connect via email sometime on a more personal one-on-one level! OK???? Email me anytime: hbj2@lehigh.edu
I am always happy to hear that I am not the only one completely in tears in moments like this! It makes my eyes well up just thinking about this moment for us in a couple years!
What big, big cute boys!
Look how grown-up your two little pupils look! Adorable, too!
Boy we need to discuss this much further when we get together. I'm so torn about what to do. It's huge....We'll chat later in the week. I guess it's alreayd later in the week. That tells you what type of week I've had.. Lol..
I'm so excited to hear about the new school. I know it is difficult to find a school you feel has all you are searching and hoping for for your children. Even when you do find one that seems to fit it is a big leap of faith. I hope to see more posts on how the program is going for all of you.
Your boys are so adorable! Isn't a new school year exciting and heartbreaking at the same time? I bet their teacher is thrilled to have them in class. I always love your posts about school and diversity. An endless topic, right?
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