nervous/ scared mommies???

[meowee]

Am I the only nervous, scared mommy around here?

I have registered DD 7 for school after homeschooling her since she was 4. DS 9 is still homeschooled.

I am sooooo scared for her. My mind is running the gamut between realistic things that might happen (she is homesick, doesn't like school, is bullied) to really wild things that might happen.

I am soooooo nervous! Please tell me I am not the only one!

[kay4]

My 5 yods is starting Kindergarten this year and I am nervous for him. He has never been in any school before (I am a sahm) and we have a loose routine here. I don't know how he will do with the structure of school.

[udonandbroth]

Joining the gang here. My oldest baby is starting Kindergarten on Tuesday. I know that he will be fine but I am wondering what they will be doing all morning long. It's cool thought because on the first day I get to ride the bus with him and be there the whole day (three hrs.) and ride back with him. Sooo I guess I will find out soon. I am having visions of him taking his paper and pencils/crayons and drawing trains/elevators/whatever his is obsessed with at the moment instead of writing what he is supposed to

[flyingspaghettimama]

Yes, here too. She's been in a very (relatively) sheltered Montessori. I personally believe more in an unschooling/Alfie Kohn sort of approach. But she's been so bored during her brother's quiet naptime, and misses kids, so she wants to try 1st grade. We'll try it. But I'm not sure we'll like it. She is very sensitive, so we'll see how the teacher personality and room setup works out. We can move schools in the first month or so too, if things aren't working out well. She's fairly direct in her criticisms.

Hmm....but anyhow, you're not alone!

[wildmonkeys]

My son is returning to the school he went to last year. It was a very good experience for him and I was able to spend a bunch of time volunteering in his classroom and was very happy with what I saw, but I am still always a little nervous when my kids aren't with me. I am afraid that someone will not be kind to him or that he will get in an accident or something. I find that I answer the phone on the first ring when he is at school!

BJ
Barney & Ben

[sarahmae1]

My oldest just finished his first full week of K, and before he started I was totally FREAKING out! Just nervous, worried, etc. all the time, about anything and everything. Now that he has gone for a week, and things went okay, I am less so... but of course there is always some concern there because I am not with him.

[raksmama]

Originally Posted by meowee

Am I the only nervous, scared mommy around here?
I am soooooo nervous! Please tell me I am not the only one!

WOW! I just found my thread! I was going to start one my self but now I don't have t!
No you are not the only one!
Can't offer any help but I am there with you.
My son starts Catholic school in 2 days and I AM FREAKING OUT!
Why? Because this will be the first time in a traditional school. He was in Waldorf first and had a bad experience (which I won't go into here but have in the Waldorf Safe Haven thread and Comparisons threads) and for this reason he will be behind academically. After he was in Montessori for a year. The first school was great but we moved and in the new Town I am not impressed with the Montessori schools in our new town. Anyway we chose the Catholic school because it is near our house,allot of our neighbours kids,my sons friends go there and the School has a very good reputaion.
Nevertheless I am worried mostly because I know my son will be "behind" and I don't want his self esteem to suffer. We considered putting him back a grade. He would be flying in second grade however long term we feel it would not be good for him to always be the oldest one in class.
Hope we are doing the right thing.
Good luck nervous scared Mama's! I'll be thinking of all of you and wishing the best!

[meowee]

Tomorrow is her first day... we are excited, and less scared! She looks adorable in her uniform.

[DQMama]

My son starts next Tuesday. He is only 3 and he'll be in preschool two days a week, 2 hrs and 45 mins each time. I am very scared and nervous, and happy to find this thread.

If it was totally up to me we would wait one more year but dh is very gung ho and I figure it's only a few hours a week. I have not expressed my reservations because I want him to have a positive attitude.

But I'm wondering if there are any books I should get or anything else to prepare him. His preschool is in the same building where he goes to Sunday school (about once a month for an hour and 15 mins). So he is somewhat used to going there but I know preschool will be different and longer.

Glad to hear I'm not the only one reluctant to send my baby off--all my "mainstream" friends can't wait, they're counting the days!!!

[menudo]

DS starts Kindergarten on Thursday and I am a wreck. After the horrid Headstart experience I am leery of all and worried about what he may do and say. He still says innapropriate thigns when not getting his way or upset "you hate me/wanna kill me/are hurting me". His old "teacher' taught him this stuff. (he has told us that too!) He then tells others we are mad at him, angry, etc. My favorite is "Why do you punish me for telling the truth!" WTF? We are sure he was taught that! I have to stop people from making "normal" sarcastic jokes around him. Like when an Aunt said "oh don't worry if he is too wild we will duct tape him!" laughing and openly kidding. An average kid would giggle and find it funny, kwim? I had to explain he already claimed this was done to him "all the time". Yep. It is ridiculous and awful. I hope to have a sit down with his teacher but how do I explain it w/o sounding defensive? crazy? angry? etc. And what will a teacher think if I say he was coerced and more by a former teacher (albeit this Headstart has a bad reputation, I never made my story public-others were). He is very sensitive and when he gets embarrassed this stuff comes out. He says we hate him (sometimes adds "teacher said you XXXX"). I agree it is unreal, we have to worry about everything said and even that is not enough!

I wish I could keep him home but I work and DH needs work NOW or we may lose our home. He has been home since we took him out of HS. And he loves a school setting. This horrible place just "damaged" him. I hope the new school washes the bad memories away. I plan to call often, but I did that at Headstart too-got me nowhere.

[vtgirl]

i'm not so much nervous about her while she is in school (one room school house in sleepy VT) BUT there are planned outings that i will be taking time off to help chaperone.
the first one is is next week. it is a state fair - farmy type stuff i gather, and the whole school (50 kids K-6) will be going on busses. i can't imagine the scenario of 5 or 6 teachers keping track of all those kids at a very crowded outdoor event. maybe they have ways of handling these things(obviously!!) but since my dd is in K and this is her first field trip - i'm going. i thought about skipping it but i realized i just couldn't- i'd be too nervous!!

[udonandbroth]

ok, we went to school today and it went ok. ds says he loves Kindergarten I, on the other hand, was not impressed. While it's not bebesho2's Headstart (!!?), our president has certainly made his mark. Kindergarten it is not. It's like a mini academy: all math and reading and writing. They're not kidding. I asked the teacher at the end of her presentation, 'how bout art and music?' and I know she wanted to say 'because of NCLB we had to cut those classes' but she gave me somekind of very long excuse that wasnt' too direct. Sigh. At least it's only 1/2 a day.

[kissykoko]

my five year old dd starts in the morning and I am freaking out! We went today to the orientation and the assistant was taking all the kids to feed the goats and the parents were supposed to stay for a meeting and she started to cry. My dd wouldn't go without me Tommorrow Daddy is going to do the big drop off. The teacher suggested that maybe that would help her. I don't know. I just got finished gluing a picture of me and a picture of her in a little locket for her to wear. My 2yr old on the other hand would be like"later mama, don't let the door hit you on your way out"

[Thalia the Muse]

Udona, maybe you'll be pleasantly surprised? My daughter started kindergarten last month, and yeah they're working on reading and math and printing neatly -- but most of the instruction is in the form of drawing pictures to show that you know that "more" and "less" mean, drawing pictures in your journal and writing a little sentence, drawing pictures to illustrate the story the teacher read ... the skills they're learning are math/reading skills, but they're expressing them in fun, creative ways. And they have "family projects" once a month or so, where the kids go home and do some kind of art project with their parents (theoretically; DD wouldn't let us touch hers!) and bring it back to hang in the class. And they're learning little songs about the colors and so forth.

They aren't getting formal instruction in music and art, but music and art are a big part of the day.