Linc's first day of school

Well, it wasn't really Lincoln's officially first day of school but it was the only time I will be able to join Linc in his new space.  They had a meet the teacher night last week, and Lincoln was able to finally meet his new teacher, Mrs. Bailey, and take a tour of his classroom. He was super shy when he first walked in (like really awkwardly shy) but then he quickly warmed up when he saw his scavenger hunt challenge.

Such a little guy in a big school!

I also welcomed my Little Jags (3-year-olds) into my classroom this week through an ice cream social event and a small parent teacher conference to start the year. I sent out an email last night to remind everyone of their conference time and included this paragraph at the bottom....it is probably too long but exactly what I feel and how I hope the parents will feel after they leave my classroom.

​Tonight I tucked in my own three-year-old son, Lincoln. He will begin his first school experience at our local elementary this Wednesday. He is excited, nervous, and anxious about the unknown. As I talked to him about his feelings, I also think of my own excited, nervous, and anxious feelings. I remind myself that I am a teacher - I've got this. But even when we know our children are safe and loved, we worry. Even when we know the tears are more for Mommy and Daddy, we feel sad. And even when we know our school choice is the absolute best for our individual child, we second guess ourselves. I will not discredit your emotions because we all are feeling many different things at this point in life (some may be breathing a sigh of relief that the summer is over and the school routine is finally beginning!). I would like to let you know that we are here to not only educate your child but also keep him/her safe and love your child even in the hardest of moments. We are here to help your child learn to write his/her name, learn letters and letter sounds, and count as high as he/she can go, but we are also here to help him/her be a part of a larger community than self and family. We are here to help you navigate the waters of having a child who may be shy, strong and bold, or somewhere in between. And we cannot wait to learn more about every family and form the strong partnerships needed to have a successful school experience.

We are so excited for Linc to begin to form his own stories and learn and grow in his new environment! He told me tonight in bed: "Mama...I might cry, I be brave, I'm a good boy." And he is.