Four weeks ago we entered into this deal nervous all around. Kaya's never had daycare or preschool but scored well on her roundup tests and plays well with others. But it was worrying her because she didn't want to attend school, didn't want to be away from us and worried about riding a bus and not having Daddy right there with her. We worried about the first day of "big school" as she calls it because other than when I'm at work we are rarely ever without her at our side. And it's scary trusting your precious cargo to another handler. So all 3 of us entered into this a bit nervous and unsure but we put on our happy you can do it face and at 8:35am June 30th Kaya started camp.
Camp consisted of a bus pickup, a small breakfast at the local middle school, recess and a mini school day complete with teachers, assistants,volunteers. They did mini work stations, played and had fun while being tested the first week and the last week to see how well they did. The last half hour they went back to the middle school for lunch (our local school does free lunches all summer long to help offset kids that do not get to eat. The camp program incorporated the meal to teach the kids how to do the cafeteria. And honestly some children in the program would not have received lunch without it.) then the bus ride home...nearly an hour for Kaya. She was one sweaty girl every day lol when she got off that bus.
I can say all four weeks she got right up on time. We had her get up at what would be her normal time for big school so I could do her hair, outline her day and then Steve took over making sure she was dressed, brushed her teeth and had her supplies. He walked her to the bus stop as well. She never missed one day and honestly loved every single day.
At the end of her program she brought home her alphabet book they made and I loved that they had to use items found around their homes. For H she used happiness and for L she used Love. I'm very glad she sees that so much around her home :) They also did a daily journal and it cracked me up. She had interesting thoughts each day. One was her drawing of me breaking beans. One was of her Dad making her laugh. Very neat book. I have kept a folder of all her work she did and I'm going to try my best to keep doing that for her main work and art during her regular school years.
The program is definitely beneficial for children in the community that needs that extra boost due to lack of parental involvement, lack of options for preschool. But it was great for our little family because it gave Kaya the confidence to see she could make friends outside of her cousins, that she could do school, be away from us for a bit and not be worried and scared. That she could master the bus ride, that teachers do care.
Did we answer some hard questions? Yes. She was very worried about a fellow classmate who told her that he had to get rid of his dog and slept in a tent. It's hard at that age to know if he meant they were camping or if he honestly was living in an tent. It was hard to hear the worry in Kaya's voice when she said some of her classmates didn't get a snack when they got off the bus and why would they not? That we have one for her. Why didn't all the kids Moms and Dads help and care for their kids? We answered them as truthful as we could even though it broke our hearts. We all know that out there in our communities families are struggling, some trying hard but just can't make that extra to have enough to have a snack for their kids or extra milk or whatever.
The program showed us that we can let Kaya spread her wings without so much fear. That others do care about our child like we do and even though we can never let our guard down fully....that we can do it and so can she. That even though we run life one way here at the Hacienda and the real world is raw and hard...we can guide Kaya. That our morals, our beliefs and our way of seeing and doing things will still be instilled in our daughter while she spreads her wings.
I will admit I cried when I left that bus stop on the first day and I teared up when she showed me her diploma on the last day. She's my heart walking around, my reason, my life...and I'm so proud of her :)
The 29th we register her officially for Kindergarten. So hard to believe......
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