Transitions: Part One

Fall
Photo by Kaisha S. Goring
All Rights Reserved.

Winter (Blizzard '10)
Photo by Kaisha S. Goring
All Rights Reserved.

Like fall to winter, winter to spring, spring to summer, and summer to fall, we all transition like the seasons. To transition, means to change from one condition, form, or place to another. Somethings are easy to transition to, while other things are going to take some time. Take for instance, it is back to school season for just about everyone. Whether your child is going to daycare for the first time, pre-school, kindergarten, middle school, high school, college (which also pertains to adults going back to school), you and your child(ren) are transitioning. No matter what stage of the transition you are in, the question is: how do you handle it?

Life Rewind

Spring
Photo by Kaisha S. Goring
All Rights Reserved.

I finally came to the realization that I was in a transition earlier this year when we got the news that my girl's school would close its doors in June. This was in February at the height of winter. So my husband and I had to make a mad dash to find the next school for our girls (along with other parents). But before I could do that, I would spend time in the parking lot (after taking the kids in of course!) of the soon to be old school having mad discussions with other parents about our situation! We all had to vent about what we as parents were going to do next, because our lives were about to rewind. We would have to start the process all over again with calling, interviewing, and scheduling school visits with new schools. For the next few months, we would ask each other: "where is your child going?" The challenge for each parent was how we were going to help our kids transition to a new setting, a new group of friends, a new school. Like my eldest daughter, many of her classmates had started at the school together from pre-k3-k4 to kindergarten. She had six years, in which she had formed special friendships and relationships with teachers and administration. My youngest had one year to form her new kindergarten relationships after transitioning from her "old school" as she likes to say. Now they had to say good-bye to the old and prepare for the new. Transitions.

Summer (Great Falls-Maryland)
Photo by Kaisha S. Goring
All Rights Reserved.

Good-bye and Hello

So spring came with graduations (kindergarten for my youngest), hugs, kisses, promises to keep in touch and schedule play dates, and the doors to the old school closed. Summer camp and vacation time is here!!! Oh Yeah!! Rewind! Yeah school is out, but don't think you will not be doing any school work this summer. It is time for mama's school, because tennis camp starts in two weeks! Awwww........ Okay it wasn't all doom and gloom for my babies (they will tell you it was), for we did other activities. See my Great Falls-Maryland side photo?!!!  Anyway doom and gloom did show up after we received the summer packets from the new school. My new six grader got most of the gloom when she saw the following: 

3 book reports from the Reader's Workshop, which includes a work cite page, a cover page, a summary page, and a reflection/recommendation page.

10 prompt essays from the Writer's Workshop (no specification on how long each should be).

1 music essay on the Folklife Festival

1 research paper on Discovering Ancient Africa, which includes a poster of your choice of either the Ghana, Mali or Songhai Empires, 2 sentences on religion, society, government, art, importance of the Trans-Saharan trade routes, then 5 sentences or more of at least one object explaining what it was used for and why it was important, then answer the 3 refection questions at the bottom of the paper that must be attached to your poster.

1 religion paper on the Christian Denomination and History, which is the last page of the packet labeled for the 7th grade.

1 religion packet

1 math packet

1 science packet

1 music packet

1 Spanish packet

1 Reading Challenge Contest log

The rest of her summer was doomed. Was this the sixth grade or was this an entrance requirement for high school/college? My new first grader got a mixed packet of math, writing, spelling, reading, and one Spanish packet. Yeah?!! So mama had to put aside her little assignments, in which I thought was helping the girls transition. I (aka mama) was going back to school for the rest of the summer with my first and sixth graders, because all that work listed above had to be turned in on the first day of the new school. My life has just been rewinded back to the first and sixth grade, and now I must figure out how to press forward.

So What is Your Life Rewind?

Do you ever feel like your life is rewinding? How do you press forward? How are you dealing with your children's back to school transitions? Feel free to comment. Tune in next time on Life Rewinds, Now Press Forward.

Blog post by Kaisha S. Goring

Copyright September 20, 2014

All Rights Reserved.