20 things about kindergarten!

1. Braden loves it!
2. He told me today that he wanted to be a kindergarten teacher when he grows up.
3. He started the Spanish part of the dual language program today. They do one day in Spanish and one day in English. He told me tonight that he understood everything in the Spanish classroom, but that he couldn't speak it very well. Then, as the bathtub water was draining, he told me, "the agua is going rapido." I was proud of him for attempting!
4. He thinks the school cafeteria is about the coolest thing ever. He REALLY wants to see the kitchen. The day he got to have pizza AND chocolate milk AND an apple was probably the best day of his life.
5. The kindergarten teachers send home the "Monday Folder" everyday, and I can't figure out why it is called "Monday Folder," but I think it would be rude of me to ask.
6. Braden has some new friends including one named Darren who he met in the butterfly garden. They are not, however, in the same class. They became friends when Darren asked him, "hey, do you want to be friends?" And then they were.
7. Kindergarten has a sandbox. I really, really, really hoped that we were through with sand.
8. Unifix cubes must be just the most incredible thing ever. He talks about them all the time. I don't know what they are.
9. I'm so very pleased that he really loves the library and that he is sad that he only gets to go once a week.
10. PE is his favorite part of kindergarten. There is something called a "home grey square" that he talks about.
11. He knows a song about tigers, but he keeps forgetting the words. He thinks it is pretty cool that his school is the tigers AND my school is the tigers.
12. On the third day of school, he said, "mom, just drop me off. You don't have to come in." So I did. I had tears in my eyes, and I wanted to watch my little man walk all the way into the building, but the teacher on duty was frantically waving me to move on.
13. He doesn't like to wear shorts with buttons to kindergarten. Apparently, he has a hard time unbuttoning them, and it is so not cool to ask for help.
14. He already knew 22 of the 25 sight words that he is supposed to know by the end of the year. I taught him the other three (my, he, she) last night, so we are ready for first grade!
15. He is supposed to be able to count to 20 by Thanksgiving. He's been doing that for at least two years in English AND in Spanish.
16. One of my former student's sons is in the Spanish half of his class, and I'm really excited about that! She invited us to come hang out when her family has gatherings so that he can be more immersed in the language and culture.
17. His teachers use a classroom management strategy called "conscious discipline." As part of that, the kids get to choose how they want to be greeted by the teacher each day. Braden always chooses a hug.
18. He really, really likes Kids Klub, the after school program. He whines when I pick him up because he wants to stay and play. His face is usually bright red, and his hair is all sweaty because he's been playing so hard.
19. They have snack everyday. He likes it when they have goldfish for snack. They get to eat outside under a big oak tree near the butterfly garden.
20. I only teared up once when we dropped him off on the first day, and that was when I realized that my mom wouldn't be seeing the pictures that we took of him. People say that Mom knows and she was there and all that, but I think Mom is too busy in heaven to be worried about us down here. She would be incredibly proud of him, though!!!