Hello Kindergarten!

It’s official! We have a Kindergartener! Last week Ben had his first day of Kindergarten at his new school.

Ben will be going to our neighborhood school, classified as a “remote but necessary” schoolhouse. Literally it’s a two-room schoolhouse! The school has two teachers and two classrooms, one for K-1 and the other for 2-5, though there are only second and third graders there.

This school is quite unique and very, very special we have come to realize. They pride themselves on teaching in a rather hands-on, nature-based way. Ben’s first field trip will be going on a hike! That said, this will be our second year sending our child to school amidst a global pandemic. Covid cases are extremely high in our area right now and we’re so grateful that the school is requiring masks on kiddos and teachers, regardless of vaccination status. The school is working to mitigate some risk by spending as much time outside as possible, especially while the weather is nice.

We’re so fortunate we can walk {or bike!} through our field + our next-door neighbor’s, then about two more blocks. Easy peasy! I love hearing the school bell dinging during the day.

All of us ran through the gamut of emotions about Ben beginning Kindergarten. It happened so fast. How did he go from a 3 pound preemie to a Kindergartener already!?

He was so ready. SO ready. In so many ways. It’s the beginning of the rest of his life right now. In my mind, he just transitioned from a little kid to a big, school-age kid and that is a huge deal.

As a parent, I see everything on the horizon. I’m trying to focus on all of the wonderful, exciting things instead of the crazy scary things. New friendships, the opportunity to play sports {soccer started last week!}, learning to read, widening his mind and continued exploration. All the things.

With any transition there are bound to be challenges, so we’ll take them as they come. I’m just so excited for Ben and what lies ahead.