Kaylie's First Day of School

On Wednesday we had a meeting with the other school we thought Kaylie would attend. They recommended her starting right away, and so on Thursday we packed a lunch, loaded up on the bikes, and rode across town to her school. Let me tell you, there were more than a few tears shed, and I'm not sure who cried more, me or Kaylie. There are 16 other kids in her class who are all there to learn Dutch, but none of the others spoke English (there was one Thai girl who spoke a little bit of English, and I think she made Kaylie kind of her pet). The school still teaches with immersion programs, so they are instructed completely in Dutch, but with the smaller class size and an additional aid, the kids quickly pick it up. I know that Kaylie will learn it very quickly, but it has been a very emotional few days as we have had to peel her away from us and into class. When we picked her up after school, she said that she did well and her teacher was pleased with her progress. She is definitely motivated by praise, so I hope that this helps to ease her transition. Because we were SO proud of her, we let her pick out dessert last night from anything in the store. It was so funny - she asked, "But what if its expensive?" and I told her she could have whatever she wanted even if it wasn't on sale. Her eyes got huge and her mouth dropped open - you could tell - that was definitely a treat. So, armed with a box of (you guessed it) princess popsicles, we headed home. This morning, though, we again had a tear fest (more hers than mine this time) as we walked to the bus stop. Because we live more than 4 kilometers from the school, the city has arranged a special transportation for her. At first she was very happy about this, in Arizona they do not have a bus for the school she goes to near our house and so I have to take her. She was envious of the kids in her class that were able to ride it, so I thought this morning would be easy. However, the moment the motorcoach (because I cannot compare this transportation with the smelly and hot yellow school buses I had to ride) she again became a second skin to me, and I pried her off and into the arms of the bus attendant who put her into the seat and buckled her in. Of course, I then had to jump on my bike with Keiric and bike to the school so we would be there when she arrived at school and we could make sure everything was OK. She still seemed a bit scared coming off the bus, but we talked a bit and when it was time for class she seemed OK.

Kaylie is the type of girl who needs to know exactly what is expected and what is going to happen; it is the unknown which makes her crawl into her shell -so since we have had a lot of unknowns - this has been harder. However, we are VERY proud of our girl, and though we've had to make her do some hard things (like walking into a class with no one to talk to and a teacher teaching in a strange and foreign language), she has done great. Also, now that she has done it, we shouldn't have too many problems since she knows what to expect. That is, of course, until next Wednesday when we have to drop her off at another school and do it all over again.