About a year ago, Emily and I went to her kindergarten orientation together. Parents and kids all met in the gym initially and then they separated the kids from their parents to take them on a tour of the school and then to do some activities in the classrooms. I had been working in schools for 10 years at that point, but I remember how teary I got as the reality set in that MY kid was really starting school. As I walked down the hall today for Emily's "kindergarten celebration" I got teary again thinking about how fast this past year has gone by.
The Kindergarten Celebration was just that - a celebration of everything that the kids have learned over this past year. They wowed us by counting to 174, the number of days they've been in school so far. They counted by 5s and 10s. They named odd and even numbers and even sang some songs.
They started out by singing "Tootie Ta." This was one of Emily's favorite songs when she first started preschool when she was 3 and I was sad to hear the teacher say that this is probably the last time the kids would be doing it unless they end up teaching kindergarten somewhere down the road. If you're not familiar with the "Tootie Ta" it is a VERY silly dance. You can see her doing it below (I forgot my Flip video camera, but remembered that my camera has a "video" feature, so I pulled that out, but this was actually their second time doing it because some of the parents were late, so Emily wasn't quite as excited this time around...I couldn't figure out how to "flip" the video to vertical when I uploaded it).
The "Tootie Ta" from Melissa White on Vimeo.
The class also sang a "Zippity Do Da" song about moving on to first grade. The picture of her at the top is her saying "We're going to first grade - hip, hip hooray!" while singing the song.
Hip Hip Hooray for 1st grade! from Melissa White on Vimeo.
After showing off their skills, the kids got certificates. They went in alphabetical order, so Emily was the very last kid and the kids were pretty restless at that point (growing up, my last name started with "T" and I always wanted to move up in the alphabet some day....when Jason and I were dating I actually wrote in my journal that I couldn't marry him because his last name started with a "W" and I couldn't go DOWN in the alphabet!)
I thought it was pretty funny because the teacher had asked each of the kids what they wanted to "be" when they grew up. Lots of girls said "teacher" and lots of boys said "policeman" or "firefighter" and there were a few doctors and vets and even a marine biologist along the way, but my Emily in true Emily fashion had declared that she wanted to be a "princess"
Another "teary moment" for me came when her teacher asked her what her favorite thing in kindergarten had been and she said the winter party. When her teacher asked what part of the winter party she liked the best, she said "that my mom was there with me."
We are so proud of Emily - she has learned so much in kindergarten and has done so well. We know she'll do great in 1st grade, too.
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