Kindergarten Orientation

We went to Kindergarten Orientation at Coop's new school this week. Oh, I guess I left out the part that we decided to send him to the Crown Street Public School, which is our local school. We really like the school and the fact that we can walk there in 10 minutes (give or take with two kids :) ) And, as a bonus there are two great playgrounds nearby and the neighbourhood is full of coffee shops, restaurants and little stores.

The orientation was about two hours. Cooper played in the classroom while Tucker and I got to listen to all sorts of speeches about the school and the programs it offers. We even got to hear the current kindergarteners sings, "Love is Something if You Give it Away."  I love that song. So cute!

The school offers a great deal aside from the typical academics.  Cooper will have Aboriginal dance classes, weekly library, drama and music instruction and, he will learn Mandarin. Sounds pretty cool.

There are two Kindergarten teachers one male and one female.  We will find out which teacher he has on December 6th when he goes in to meet his teacher and his classmates.   Then he returns again the first week of school for some assessments before the official start of Kindergarten.

I really appreciated the fact that the teachers spoke to us about NOT teaching your kids things so they do better on the assessments. They stated very clearly that it is their job to teach them their reading, writing and maths (yes, they call it maths here) skills.  Phew!  Those of you who really know me, however, know that I am totally teaching Cooper things so he will do well on the assessment. Can't help myself.... :)

When I went back to get Coop in the classroom, he said to me, "This is a great school!"  When asked later, "Did you like your new school?" He, being 4.5 and being Cooper, said "No."

That's our boy for you!