Howdy,
Today was Jasper’s first day of first grade, that is to say, it was our first day of first grade.
It’s Jasper’s life, his experience, his education.
But we are his parents. And we support him. We are there for him and are a part of his experience.
And Jasper’s brothers—his younger brothers—are his brothers. And they—Titus and Riah—experience his going to school with him. They will miss Jasper when he is away at school. And their younger-brother experience is affected today and throughout the year with this being Jasper’s first day of first grade.
Our first day of first grade.
It was a good first day of first grade today.
I dropped Jasper off this morning, walking him to his new classroom and into his new classroom, seeing his desk with his name on it and meeting his teacher, Señora Rivas.
Sarah picked him up, one day down. A full day to start. But a minimum day already tomorrow: Friday. And then the weekend to reflect and recover, and restructure for the flow of a new school year.
In-between being taken to school and picked up, (I’m speculating some but have a pretty good feel, from who he is and what I saw while there and after he got home, because when I was there it looked like this …) Jasper nervously approached the school year, warming up to the routine again after a summer off and away, I imagine a little reassured to be greeted by his last year kindergarten teacher, Señora Hurtado, at the gate passing onto campus. We made our way to his new classroom and immediately saw the parents of a friend of his, another boy now in his class (who wasn’t last year, so it’s fun—a blessing—that they’re together this year) and the friend was waiting by the classroom door. Then the teacher came and directed Jasper and the few students against the wall by the door to a longer line of students (and first-day-of-school-parents[-of-first-graders]) queuing further back. I say all this because it was neat; it demonstrated the difference between first grade and kindergarten (first experience): we knew people, recognized friendly folks.
And I say we because I enjoyed that part, too. I’m sure it was another settling thing for Jasper approaching this big day, but I admit I was into it as well. I said hello to the first student in line, waving and smiling to his mom, and continued greeting students and parents on down the line: a parent in the back saying she was glad to see that Jasper was in her daughter’s class again this year, and I was able to tell her that we had said the same ourselves about them when we saw the list last night. (I think it helped Jasper prepare that we went by the school yesterday evening to search the posting revealing his teacher’s name, classroom number, and list of fellow classmates. Plus, he really does seem to have a great class, and friends he looks forward to seeing again.)
When the line of students moved to the door, each child received a greeting from Señora Rivas and then found a desk with his or her name on it. Jasper was seated near two well-known and enjoyed friends from last year, as well as another boy he doesn’t know as well—whom I encouraged Jasper to make fell welcome in their group of four desks.
After a quick greeting meeting the teacher, I left Jasper at work with his new crayons and first assignment. Sort of in his element, really. J enjoys school, which makes it work well. Even in a foreign language (Dual Immersion, Spanish), Jasper rolls with it and learns a lot. We’re proud of him for having the courage to go to school in a language previously unknown and not getting overly frustrated—not to mention learning the language and enjoying the process of his education. Great job, Jasper. We are very proud of you. Remember, Jasper, what I told you this morning: “You are good enough. We love you.”
School happens to be a strength for Jasper, even in Spanish, which blows my mind, because Spanish was a struggle of mine (and I don’t mean that like the parents that think their children should be let off the hook in mathematics because “I wasn’t good in math either”—no, I simply mean that I can’t fathom going to school in a foreign language in a childlike attitude and enjoying it, learning through practice, through immersion, with a little less self-consciousness and fear of failure or looking dumb making mistakes), but whether he has a good day or bad day at school, or succeeds or fails in another area of life, we want Jasper—all of our boys—to know, You are good enough and We love you, because God the Father in heaven created Jasper (Titus, and Riah), and he is “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14a).
—Billy
Reading. Writing. Schooling.
P.S. I plan to share some tomorrow about why I didn’t get my writing done the previous two days. Good days, but busy, and I didn’t want to dwell on my missed posts here: today wasn’t about that; today was about Jasper’s first day of first grade.
Word Count: 164,332 / On Pace: 163,900 / Year’s Goal: 200,000
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