Madilyn's 1st Week of Kindergarten

Madilyn started kindergarten this past Monday.  It has been an emotional, but very exciting week for all of us.  Madi is loving school and starting to make friends.  She loves her nightly homework assignments and was excited to have her first test on Friday.  We are so proud of her and cannot wait to see how well she will progress throughout the school year.

The night before the first day of Kindergarten, Madilyn was so excited.  She wanted to get everything prepared for her first big day.  She laid out the clothes she was going to wear on her first day. She helped pack her lunch.  We read books about Kindergarten.  She even went to bed without any issues or excuses.  It was an exciting night.

Monday morning, Madilyn woke up and got dressed without any problems.  She was so excited.  If she was nervous, she didn't show it.  We took tons of "First Day" photos and headed out the door to drop her off at Lookout Mountain Elementary School in Moon Valley.  The entire family walked Madilyn to her kindergarten classroom.  Aiden wanted to see where Madi was going to be going to school.  When we arrived at her classroom, she walked in the room, hung up her backpack in the designated area, and sat on the letter "M" on the rug in the middle of the classroom as instructed by Mrs. Lillie. Madi was so brave -- no tears, no sadness.  Just a big smile letting her parents know that she was ready to learn, grow and play.  Josh and I couldn't help fight back our tears as we watched our little girl mature that morning into an independent kindergarten student.

After dropping Aiden off at preschool, I headed into the office for what ended up being a very long, crazy day. At 9:27am on Monday morning, about an hour or so after Madilyn started her first day at Lookout, I received an email from BASIS that stated the following:

Dear BASIS Applicant,

Congratulations! Madilyn Landers is being offered 2015-16 enrollment for grade K at BASIS Phoenix Central.

I couldn't believe it!?!  Madi has been on several charter school waiting lists all year, but hadn't been offered a spot yet.  Of course, it had to be on her first day of kindergarten at Lookout Mountain Elementary School. Now what are we to do?  Well, after discussing it with Josh, we both agreed that it was best for Madi to accept the offer from BASIS and enroll her in that school as soon as possible. So, I spent Monday afternoon enrolling our daughter at BASIS.  Madi finished out her day at Lookout Mountain, but as soon as school ended Josh picked her up and drove to BASIS so that she could have the opportunity to check out her new school and classroom.  Madi tends to be a little apprehensive about new situations, so we wanted make her feel as comfortable with this decision as much as we could.  She seemed to be really excited to try out her new school on Tuesday and meet her new teacher, Miss Arnold.

I, on the other hand, was a wreck.  I continued to second guess our decision, even though I knew it was a great educational opportunity for Madi.    BASIS is one of the best charter schools in the state. But, as with all learning institutions, their are pluses and minuses, so I just hoped that we were making the right decision for our daughter.  I, especially, wanted to make sure that she was going to be happy and that we weren't disrupting her world too much already.

Tuesday morning arrived and Madilyn, once again, was excited to try out her new school.  We did the whole first day of school experience all over again.  We took "First Day of BASIS" pictures.  And then, she grabbed her backpack and lunch, and off to school we went.  Madilyn's first day of kindergarten at BASIS was actually the school's fifth day of school.  We arrived at school and I walked Madi into the office so that an administrator could escort Madi up to her classroom on the second floor.  Before she walked away that morning, she gave me an extra long hug, but didn't shed a tear.  She was so brave.  I think that she was trying to stay strong for her mom, who was in tears as soon as I got back into my car.  I hoped she would have fun and enjoy her second first day of school as much as she did her first.

Around lunch time, I received this email from Madi's new BASIS teacher:

I just wanted to let you know Madilyn is doing great on her first day!!!

She had a few tears this morning but quickly rebounded and is happy as can be!!!

--Ms. Arnold

It made me feel so much better about everything.  Plus, when I picked up Madi from school, she said she had so much fun.  She was so excited about having math homework, about having a test on her sight words on Friday and about building with LEGOs during Engineering.  It looks like we have one happy student!

Here is what a typical day in kindergarten looks like for Madi:

8:05-8:20AM	Attendance & Morning Math Meeting
8:20-9:05AM	Math
9:05-9:15AM	Snack & Recess
9:15-10:30AM	Language & Literacy
10:30-11:00AM	PE & Sports
11:00-11:20AM	Lunch
11:20-11:40AM	Recess
11:40-12:10PM	Knowledge Acquisition: Civics, History & Science Discovery
12:10-12:40PM	Language & Literacy
12:40-1:05PM	Snack & Recess
1:05-1:55PM	Enrichment: Project Based Learning
1:55-2:10PM	Snack & Recess
2:10-2:40PM	Mandarin (M/W/F) or Engineering (T/TH)
2:40-3:10PM	Art (M) or Drama (W) or Music (F) or Engineering (T/TH)
3:10-3:20PM	Prepare for Dismissal

It is a pretty packed schedule, but so far Madi comes home loving school more and more each day. We are so proud of how well she adjusted to the entire situation this week.  Kids are so resilient.  She reminded me that change can be fun and exciting. I cannot wait to see what else I learn and explore through the eyes of a kindergartner.