Thursday is the first day of school for in-class school for Emily. We are making our way through the list of materials she needs, including her own little hygiene kit with hand sanitizer, and extra mask, wipeys and kleenex. There is no sharing of materials allowed and I think it will be quite a taks to get every last pencil and crayon labled with her name. Today was a meeting with parents to fill us in on the COVID protocol: separate entry points, separated (color-coded) toilets by grade-level, separated designated areas on the playground and specific times to use the toilets. We are encouraged to take our child's temperature at home before school and the slightest sign of fever means staying home. The same is true of other symptoms: cough, sneezing, diarrhea, etc. And of course all elementary students are to wear masks 100% of the time.
I don't know how long school will last. The posibility of going online is very real. It seems that in most places where schools have already opened, many have been forced to shut down again after only a few weeks. I am hopeful that we'll have at least two solid weeks of class before that may have to happen here though. I really hope that Emily has a chance to bond with her teachers and classmates before they get sent online again, if that is what ends up happening.
The first grade teachers have split the subjects between them so that each has both groups at different times. One teacher will give Natural and Social Scieneces and English, while the other gives Math and Language. This way there are fewer teachers going in and out of classes. Still, P.E., Music and Religion are taught by other teachers. Emily's teacher is one that I worked with when I was an Auxiliar in La Roda, and used to be our neighbor when Angelines and I lived in the piso. I like her very much and I am happy that Emily is in her class. Besides, there are several friends in that class, so Em won't be enitrely alone in before she meets and makes friends with more of the children in class.
Because my brother-in-law is the school handy-man, we arranged to have a sneek peek of the school a week ago (once we'd got news of Emily's negative test results!). She was very curious, and I think understandably nervous about her new school. She wanted to know what her classroom looked like and what the playground was like, etc. It was really wonderful that we had that possibility and I think it did a lot to make Emily feel a little more comfortable about starting school. So far she has expressed only excitement and interest...we shall see what happens Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
Some of my fears of her potential unpreparedness were assuaged at today's meeting, and so I am also feeling better about the start of school. The teachers assured us that they would not be using their books for the first week and a half at least and that class would mostly be focused on social and emotional stability and group bonding. As they put it, they'll be spending these frist weeks getting them out of "pre-school mode and into elementary". I think that this is probably the case always, but I am sure that especially this year, all of the first graders are behind what is normally expected of them given the way last school year ended.
As a family we are also enjoying these last few days together. It will be strange to have Emily in school again after so much time. Last week we took one last camping trip to a nearby reservoir. They had peddle-boats and paddle boards for rent. We did both on separate days and had a nice time. Thankfully the weather cooperated, too and it wasn't terribly hot.
As always, my girls are dealing with what they're dealt with panache!!
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