Transition to kinder: It's over

Today marked the start of the full kindergarten timetable.

For our family, it meant being very very precise in our routine. No hiccups were permissible.

8 am - leave the house

8.15 am - drop off Miss J at kinder

8.25 am - drop off Miss B, sign in and do reading with class from 8.30-9.30

Was glad and relieved that Miss B didn't have a meltdown when I had to go. I hardened my heart, handed her to the kinder teacher - and left.

When I returned at 12.15, Miss B saw me on her way to her pigeonhole to get her bag, and waved cheerfully.

In the car, she told me she has three new friends: Miss S, Miss O and Mr M.

"Now I like boys," she declared.

A complete 180-degree reversal of her earlier position that she will only like girls and have friends who are girls.

Lovely.

Kindergarten Transition

On Miss J's first day at kinder, she was clingy and teary and wouldn't let go of me.

On Day 2, she told me, with the air of someone who has thought long and hard about the matter, that I could stay with her for a bit, then I could go.

So I was politely but firmly dismissed after about 20 min, and went on my way, slightly bemused and bewildered by the seeming effortlessness of the kinder transition.

I managed to fit in a quick visit to the hairdresser and the post office before it was time to pick up Miss J.

Her first words on seeing me: "You took a long time. You said you were only going to be gone for a short time but you took a long time!"

It won't be long before I have to turn my thoughts to my own schedule and responsibilities, which have been blissfully cast aside so I could give my full attention to settling her in at kinder.

First Day at Kinder

Miss J is going through her kinder transition.

In AUS, the educational system is extremely child-friendly.

To cater to kids who may never have been in a school environment, there is a transition programme where kids come in 2, then 3, then 3+ hours each session, with the sessions spaced out (2 a week at first instead of 3) and the class divided into 2 groups. So they get an extremely gentle introduction to school.

From a parent's perspective, it feels like the kids are doing nothing at all.

They wander from station to station, doing play cooking, puzzles, painting, working with playdough, constructing wonderful contraptions with Magnetic Polydron, flipping through books.

No one tells them what to do, but if they run into a spot of difficulty, the teacher or assistant is always on hand to help.

Kinder is also where kids get introduced to routines like where to hang their backpacks, where to place their water bottles and lunch boxes, what to do before sitting down on the mat together (wash your hands!).

There's also an intro to social etiquette - if you want to say something, put up your hand and wait to be called (no calling out); don't be a "space invader" (no sitting too close to another person and touching them or annoying them).

Miss J is familiar with some of these things, having been a daycare kid since 18 m.o. And she does seem able to restrain herself and to act with the required propriety, which is good.

I had thought she would be okay on her own at the first session, since kinder is like daycare.

But she thought otherwise, and wouldn't let go of me.

I ended up staying the whole 2 hours.

Tomorrow she's got a 12.30-3.00 pm session.

Am hopeful she will be more confident by the end of Feb when she's met the rest of the kids and knows the layout of the room and all the routines.

The kinder teacher already has a "job" for me. During the interview, she asked if I know music and play an instrument, and before I knew it, I'd said yes to playing the piano so the kids can sing to nursery rhymes!