Hello, Kids, Educators, and Families–
Are you happy that school’s back in session once again?
The answer probably depends on who you are!
Kids might be sad that summer is over but thrilled to be back with their friends, meeting their new teachers for a fresh crack at learning in the next higher grade.
Parents and grandparents are likely breathing a sigh of relief! Though perhaps looming are the challenges that their children’s homework, classrooms, classmates, and stringent routines can bring.
Teachers are probably putting into play what they’ve thought about all summer; namely, working backwards from next June to now, and creating lessons for a successful journey. And there are those bulletin boards to tackle . . .
As a long-time, now retired teacher, I felt like those kids: reluctant to give up the carefree days of summer, but glad to return to children and adults who made me feel happy, rewarded, and grateful. It was the start of another year practicing and honing my craft for which I spent years in college (plus in all grades!) and on the job preparing.
Every year around this time, I can’t help but reminisce about getting ready for school to begin when I was a child. Here in San Diego, California, back in the 1960s, the public schools opened in mid-September. So, in mid-August, my mother would trot my fraternal twin sister and me uptown to the neighborhood J. C. Penney’s store. It was time to load up on five brand new, starched plaid cotton dresses apiece–one for each day, Monday through Friday. Girls weren’t allowed to wear pants or shorts to school until the rules changed in what was then called Junior High (Grades 7 – 9).
My mother insisted that her twin daughters dress alike. (Ugh!) This was often problematic from a practical standpoint: Not only did my sister and I have to find dress styles we both liked, but we also had to find them in our respective sizes. Occasionally, Mom would fudge on her twin dress code and let us get the same style, but in different colors. (Whoohoo! Individuality.)
After hours selecting and trying on dresses, we headed to the checkout counter, often with smiles on our faces, and arms loaded with our new, albeit lookalike, clothes. My mom would take advantage of the store’s “Layaway Plan,” paying half of the bill that day with the balance due when we picked up the dresses one month later on the Saturday before the big day. Oh, the anticipation!
The night before school started, butterflies flitted in my stomach. Would I get the teacher I wanted? Would she or he be nice? Would I be smart enough to be in a new grade? Would my BFF be in my room? What would we have to do on the first day?
And wouldn’t you know it? Some of those were also the reactions and similar questions I had every year as a teacher! Except as the adult, I was the one calling the shots. My indelible nervousness as a child informed how I approached my new students yearly–with empathy, caring, concern, lots of smiles, and a true story about myself. The kids were always surprised and relieved to learn that we teachers were human and had butterflies on the first day, too!
So, get a clue, all Readers. Do you like returning to school? Do you get nervous in the lead up to the first day? How do you prepare for the big day? And how do you cope as you head to school and enter the new classroom? Whatever you do, kids, educators, and families, have a wonderful new school year. Teachers rock! Please appreciate them. And kids, be sure to read every day. Reading makes you smarter.
(Photos from pexels.com)
(Photos from pexels.com)
