The first half term at school for our eldest is over...and it’s been emotional. There have been highs, there have been lows and there has been a lot of learning. Since September I've been absolutely amazed at how different life is for all of us.
Learning
It astounds me how quickly little kids learn. When you put them in an actual learning environment, they are like sponges. reading, writing, numbers, the lot - it’s amazing to see how quickly his little brain is growing...it’s also terrifying. He corrected me when we were reading his phonics book the other day because my pronunciation of a sound was too accentuated. Soz pal, I’ll forget my degree in linguistics, oh and my Masters while we are at it. Cheeky shit. Thing is, he was right.
I won’t lie, the amount they learn is also so intense. We have had some significantly longer sleeps and a lot more need for weekends to be planned with rest. There is no doubt that school really wipes them out in this first half term.
Routine
The whole house has a different routine now one of them is at school. Everything we do (or don’t do) centres around what is happening with school. It’s good to have constant rigidity, but I think it has taken a fair bit of adjustment. It’s incredible how quickly that time at school disappears when you factor in the school run and a few other bits and bobs.
Behaviour
When it comes to social interaction we’ve had a huge leap in positive behaviour. Not only have we noticed he is more confident (more to come on that) I have found that he is more willing to express how he is feeling as well as his opinions on rights and wrong. It’s good that he’s showing positives.
Sometimes though, I feel like he bottles it all up at school and behaves and then goes nuts when he gets home. We try to get out after school to burn off some energy and that works so well...with the nights drawing in, we’ll see how the next half term goes!!
Confidence
I can’t believe how confident the boy has gotten in these two months at school. Everyone says to expect it, but my goodness, he’s a right lad now. He just gets on with things and that is such a novelty for us.
It’s funny, I totally get the saying now, “They’re ready for school!!”
