Kindergarten Prep

Well, Saturday was a busy day.

And it's setting us up for a busy summer. First stop was the sports store in town, to buy Sonwun the mandatory equipment for his journey through his first season with the Thompson Junior Soccer Association. Cleats, shin pads and soccer socks are all apparently necessary for a four-year-old. All righty then.

Next stop was the pool. Signed the boy up for more swimming lessons. He's still a Salamander but we are confident that he will be, at the very least, a Sunfish by the end of the season. Who knows, maybe he's even Crocodile material. Only time will tell.

Final stop was the school, where I picked up registration forms for Kindergarten. A few surprises here.

First off, at this school, Kindergarten is an all-day thing. When I attended, it was a half-day thing and, apparently, it's a half-day thing at most schools here in Thompson. But the school in our neighbourhood, is part of a "pilot project" that I assume is designed to see if teachers can squeeze another half-day's pay out of the system.

For Sonwun, I don't foresee any problems with this. He loves preschool and I'm sure he's gonna love the big K as well.

Now, the application form. Interesting piece of paper. Clearly, it's been designed to attempt to cover all of the parental/guardianship colours in the ever-growing rainbow of child rearing fun.

I'm not going to get into all of the questions, but I'm, I don't know, perplexed, saddened I guess, that this reality is so clearly reflected in a Kindergarten registration form. Not saying it shouldn't be. Just saying that things like:
"In care of Child and Family Services— Yes No" is sad to see. Sad because apparently it is sufficiently prevalent to warrant inclusion on the Kindergarten entry form.

Anyhoo, in addition to the paperwork for Neomom and me to fill out, there is The School District of Mystery Lake Readiness Package for Kindergarten. That's for Sonwun to fill out.

It includes counting exercises, colour recognition, letter recognition, social development suggestions and exercises designed to teach him to write letters and put them together while writing his name.

And while I think that's great and all, I kinda thought that was what Kindergarten was for. I mean, you're getting him every day, all day, for a school year. And it's Kindergarten. If I teach him all of these things, what are YOU going to teach him? Calculus?

I know, I know. Wait and see. Don't jump to conclusions. But I guess I worry about him being bored with school. I was and it was reflected in my grades and general attitude I suppose.

As he begins his educational career, I want him to have fun, I want him to be challenged and rise to that challenge. I want him to learn and enjoy learning. I want him to play sports, to win, to lose— all that good stuff.

Okay, getting ahead of myself. For now, we're gonna crack The School District of Mystery Lake Readiness Package for Kindergarten and we're gonna count teddy bears, help the bunny find the carrot and match the two gorillas.

Have a great day.