3 January 2007 was Kelvin's first day in Primary 1. We were all very excited for him. We had him sleep early the night before because he needs to wake up at 530am. The school bus pick up time is at 6:20am. I think I was more excited than he was because I was waking up every hour or so. I was afraid I would miss the 530am wake up time - although we set the alarm at 530, take note 2 alarms! When the alarm sounded off, I got up and prepared breakfast, then woke Kelvin up so he can take his breakfast and take a bath after. The Montfort disciplinary officer emphasized that the boys should eat heavy breakfast because sometimes they don't eat well in school.
While eating breakfast, Daddy got up and took the video cam to record Kelvin's first day in primary school. We also took pictures of him dressed up in his uniform. At 6:15am we were ready to go down and wait for the school bus. Kelvin was pretty excited. We didn't see any hesitation or nervousness or any negative feelings. He was just eager to ride the bus and get to school.
I took his photo again before riding the school bus and reminded him of the things that he should do in school - like remembering to eat his packed lunch, washing his hands after eating and going to the toilet, listening to the teacher, always following the teacher, remember his bus number and dismissal group, and all the other things he must not forget.
Around 10am, Ira and I followed him to school to attend another orientation. We missed his recess but a filipino mom said she saw him without food so she just gave him a biscuit. It turned out that her son and Kelvin are in the same class. There were 2 other Filipino students in his class.
The school has a buddy system wherein higher primary students will be assigned to P1 students so they can guide them on the first few weeks in school.
During dismissal time I saw Kelvin tagging along with another boy in his class who is taking the same bus. He looked happy. He seemed to be comfortable in school on his first day. So I was happy too!
