First Day of Preschool

Today was the start of a new year of preschool. I always look forward to meeting my new little ones. There are twenty-five children in the class, thirteen of them are siblings of some of my previous students. This always makes me feel good, that their children enjoyed my class in the past, and they trust me with their precious ones again.

There is such a mixed bag of emotions. The children are excited and a little apprehensive. They are three years old, and this their very first day of school, ever. The parents always look worried. You can tell they are praying that their little boy or little girl won't cry. When the children don't cry it is SO much easier to leave them.

Drop off went very well today. This class is very self confident. They came in, they followed the routine, they had fun. The only hitch? The poor little ones who don't speak any English. There are three of them. I will never understand how parents can take their beautiful children, drop them off with strangers who speak a different language, and just walk out the door.

I can speak some Spanish, enough to get by. I can even say "please listen" and "sit down", in Korean. But I don't speak Vietnamese or Arabic. They don't understand my words of comfort.

They are terrified, and there is not much I can do to help them on this first day of school. I smile, I speak in a soothing voice, and I hold them on my lap. My heart goes out to them. They will learn English so quickly. It is amazing how they learn. But today they were afraid, and I felt helpless.