On Friday I decided to take a bit of an extended lunch and headed over to the elementary school to have lunch with Harper. Kristen and I had done this before with Riannah and Nolan, so I figured I'd enjoy some lunch time with my big Kindergartener for shoots and googles.
Wow... I can't believe how exciting it is for these children to be in school.
One thing to keep in mind is that starting this year, Minnesota instated full-day Kindergarten as opposed to the previous many, many years of half days. Kristen and I were a little curious about this at first, but we knew Harper would be the best child of ours to test it out. She loves learning and loves doing school-related activities (such as the learning books she had while only 4 years old). The schedule for these full-day Kindergarteners is significantly different than a full-day schedule for 1st grade and beyond. Each snippit of class time is shorter, moving things along nicely throughout the day to keep these little ones from getting bored. They have two occasions of "specials" which consist of P.E., library, art, music, and probably something else. I think they always have PE each day, but I can't remember. This means they always have something fun to look forward to twice a day instead of just once a day like the other grades. They're minds are kept involved and they even have a resting period where they get to relax and have as close to a nap time as they're going to get.
All in all, it's amazing how much Harper loves it. More so, it's amazing how all of these Kindergarteners seem to love it; and this electricity is something I could definitely feel during lunch. I can honestly say that I've never seen a group of grade-school kids (especially Kindergarteners) who not only seemed like they loved being at school, but they all seemed to adore their teacher (which I also attribute to the teacher as he seems like he really enjoys what he's doing). As soon as I sat down, the smiles on these children's faces and the enthusiasm in their voices said it all.
I was first barraged with a story about how there were firemen in the classroom that day. Of course, not only were there firemen, but there were three of them. And then I was told how they wore their firefighter suits and how they were really heavy. And then one of Harper's friends told me about how her dad is a police officer. And then another one of Harper's friends told me how his dad is a policeman, fireman, garbage man, and a stretcher man! (Wow, this guys puts me to shame!) And then I got the round table of "What's my name / What's her name?" This was coupled with the random "Are you Harper's dad?" exclamation.
I was bombarded with so many questions and so many excited statements that I really only got to speak in short bursts before having to move on to the next child's attention. All of this was while keeping some conversation with Harper as she's a really good conversationalist for a 5-year old (and a couple of her friends were too).
It was by far the cutest thing I have ever experienced and I couldn't believe how much excitement radiated from these Kindergarteners. I don't ever remember a Kindergartener (including myself) being so enamored by the excitement of being at school - and these kids are there for the whole day! Maybe that's the trick. Maybe it's the excellent schedule the school district put together that helps keep these children interested and engaged so that they love going to school. Maybe it's the awesome teacher they have. Or maybe it's just the excitement of sitting at the table with one of your friend's parents.
Whatever it is, I sure wish I had that type of energy everyday when I ate lunch at work. These kids sure love being at school and they sure love being a school kid. That makes me very happy and in that one little 20-minute lunch period, I was able to see, for myself, how wonderful our schools are doing at making our little Kindergarteners love school.
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