1st days of school

The first days of school are always an adventure, especially in the kindergarten room.  This year nothing too crazy has happened yet, but I'm sure it will soon.

I forget how little they are when they get to kindergarten and the wide range of abilities and knowledge they have.  Some come knowing all their letters and sounds and reading.  Others come without ever picking up a pencil and quite possibly having never seen a book either.  They all join together ages 5 & 6 bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.

The poor things are absolutely exhausted by 10AM and are STARVING.  Not hungry, the I haven't eaten in a million years starving.  And I'm starving too because we are all used to grazing our way through the summer.  Suddenly we have to eat on a schedule again.  After lunch they are wondering when they get to go home.  Some are rubbing eyes and yawning while others are bouncing off the walls to stay awake. 

Rest time rolls around and you'd swear they should all just go to sleep the second their head hits the mat.  But no, they are WIDE awake now because of the "I might miss something if I shut my eyes" syndrome we all have when we're little (well and some of us when we're big too!).

Attention span is that of a nanosecond, so moving around, singing crazy camp songs, and shaking the ants out of our pants become common place. 

Books are wonderful but questions are answered entirely off topic because of the nanosecond.
 
Imaginations run wild and we all have pet elephants named Edgar by the end of the day.

I'm positive that parents and grandparents think I have completely lost my mind when their child comes home with stories.

The year will progress quickly.  Soon the kids who have never been in school mix in with those spending another year with Mrs. J.  They will learn things lightening fast, and by the end they will be all grown up ready for 1st grade.  It never will cease to amaze me the million miles kindergarteners come in a year.  I am throughly convinced I can never become bored there, and that they are some of the best times ever.