Let’s be honest- when you approach the school gym the day of Kindergarten Registration you will have butterflies in your stomach. You will anticipate the assembled group of experts waiting with pen in hand to judge you- I mean your child- and you will want to turn tail and run before they get a chance to see your nametag and check you off the list.
Wanting to be prepared you attended the Parent Information Night three weeks ago. You read every shred of information they sent you in the Registration Packet five times and then spent one full night organizing a color coded folder with items 1-23 checked off on the front page. You have scoured the Internet for Kindergarten readiness tests and have found no problem areas for your child. You know that at some point during the registration your child will be led down the hallway to a room with the Assessment Team. It is composed of the Occupational Therapist who will test muscle control, the Speech Therapist who will screen out those children who will need Speech Therapy, the Educational Screener who will quiz your child on the letters and numbers and finally the Social Worker who will do something called a Social Adjustment Battery. After hearing that parents will not be allowed to go with them you realize the Social Adjustment test is finding the children who can walk down the hallway with a stranger and not end up as a puddle on the floor.
You gave your child the pep talk last month, last week and again this morning. It goes something like this “I know I always tell you not to talk to strangers honey but it is OK to go with this group of people who I have never met before and answer all the mystery questions they will ask you. I will be in the building, somewhere. If you cry they will just make us go through this again another day so please just answer their questions like a big kid. I’ll take you out for ice cream afterwards if you don’t throw yourself on the ground at any point during the meeting. Smile honey, it won’t be that bad.”
At the building you take one deep breath, smile at your child and are through the door. There is a flurry of activity as you organize reams of paperwork into color-coded boxes and your child is whisked away to jump on one foot and say her ABC’s. Surprised by how easily she leaves you and listening for screams from down the hallway, you continue to deal with the paperwork, a meeting with the Principal about any children you don’t want in the same class as your child and whether you went to the library story hour (for grant purposes). There is then a presentation by the librarian about the reading club, a short presentation by the bus garage on bus safety and a table with flyers to pass through. You take them all just in case you ever need food stamps or hockey camp.
Four other Moms are there and following the presentations you chitchat over coffee and cookies about the amount of paperwork that was needed and which preschool your child attends. Every 30 seconds you find yourself sneaking a peek at the door. One of the other Moms points out that she can always spot the first time Kindergarten parents. You aren’t sure if that is an insult since she is obviously noticing that you are constantly looking past her shoulder, but she smiles sweetly so you don’t feel so bad.
Finally, what seems like hours later, your little one comes skipping into the room with five other children and a smiling lady. The Social Worker introduces herself, shakes your hand and tells your child she will see her in the fall. You give your baby a great big hug and ask her to tell you all about the meetings she had. She tells you she was able to throw a basketball into a bucket on the first try and that she said her R three times.
Then she takes your hand and tells you it is time for ice cream.
