The Big K! (First day 2012)

ON TO AUTUMN...

The school year is well under way now of course. And Josie is officially a kindergartener! And even though she didn't take the big yellow bus, or walk into new unfamiliar classroom territory, it was a big day. School. All day. Every day.  It's official. We're officially the parents of a school-aged child.

Here are some photos from her first day of kindergarten. You'll notice that her first day was actually from our old house. Interestingly, her first day of kindergarten was actually our last day in East Walnut Hills before moving.  (How's that for an insane amount of transition at once. EEK!)

So, here's Josie, for the last time, posing on the first day of school in front of what used to be Our "Peace Tree."  (Uh-oh, feeling a little nostalgic for the old house, but more on that in another post.)

Seriously Mom? Another pic? 

And, she's off!

Just for fun, Take a look back at her first year in pre-school and second year in pre-school.

I should mention, there are some special things about Josie's Kindergarten experience. For one, she's with the same two teachers and in the same classroom that she's been in for the past two years. She's finishing her three year montessori cycle in the "Pre-Primary" classroom, where she is now a part of the important eldest group of the classroom community.  In the morning she's with the whole 3-6 classroom and in the afternoons, it's just Josie and her teachers and the Kindergarten students. Here is her class (her whole class) making a cake entirely out of fruit the first week (courtesy of her teacher).

That's right. There are only sixth of them! 

Here's the work she brought home from the first day of school!

And the big hug from one of her favorite adults on the planet - the extended day teacher Donna!

We are unbelievably grateful for Josie's Kindergarten experience, and the two years leading up to it. A lot of the kind, loving person that she is can be attributed to the classroom values and montessori philosophy. Already she is exhibiting such a boom in independence, and while it's hard to let go of some of the things she's always need us for, it's absolutely amazing to watch her blossom.