Hi. My name is Katie and I just started jk. And, Wow – is it ever crowded in this classroom!! We can’t all fit on the carpet so some of us have to sit on the cold floor. And wow carpet time needs to be way shorter! There are 29 of us.
I’m actually afraid to go to the washroom because it is way down the hall. I can’t even reach the toilet or the sink…how am I going to wash my hands?
This school idea isn’t anything like my mom said. She said it would be fun and I thought there would be nice kids here but, I’m scared. I thought Day Care was bad but I think this might be worse. At least at day care they gave us a great lunch and I didn’t have to figure out how the heck to open that impossible juice box or get the lid off my sandwich box. I can’t do it! Does anybody get this? I can’t open my lunch box by myself and my knapsack weighs a ton. Have I mentioned the one hour bus ride? How much longer do I have to do this? Oh yeah. 12 years…
I chose the house centre today for my play time and I couldn’t believe how worn out the doll was. I have never seen a doll with such matted hair and dirty arms and of course there is only one ripped, dirty dress that is impossible to put on her. There was one plate, one cup, three knives and a teapot, without a lid, that we are supposed to somehow turn into a game. There are five of us in the house centre. I don’t think this is gonna work especially if we have Roy in here because he seems to be really upset!….. and I am definitely afraid of him…..except, sometimes he is the only one who can help me with my lunch box. ( Funny how these kids always have so much more life experience….) His mom is pretty mean and yells at him at the end of every day. He is always late. I’d feel sorry for him if I wasn’t so scared of him. I’m definitely afraid of his mother and I think Mrs. K is, too.
Later I went to try and find a puzzle – there weren’t any. Mrs. K said, “Don’t worry. Once I get my pay cheque I’m gonna buy a bunch of new toys.” The next day she showed up with puzzles and boxes of books from her house. They were fun and she brought puppets from home that were pretty cool. Everyday the back of her truck seems to have a lot of stuff in it.
Then there’s this kid named Simon who hits everyone in whatever centre he is in – Mrs. K tried to be nice to him but he was really bad. She had to sit him on the “quiet chair” and she didn’t look too happy. In fact, she looks pretty exhausted……
I made a new friend today and he also likes to play in the woods. We have the greatest playground and our teacher lets us explore it and build forts with sticks. The teacher loves the woods and says that we are so lucky to be in the country. It is really beautiful.
She brings a huge box into the classroom and we are allowed to sleep in it if we feel sick or tired. Roy spent the whole afternoon in there after Mrs. K. patted his back. She really likes Roy. I hope she doesn’t like him more than she likes me. She spends a LOT of time with him.
Anyway, I guess that’s jk for you – the first year of school for me and I know it is going to fun. Pretty soon it’s gonna be fun. I hope.
**Remember when schools all had proper sk rooms with built in toddler toilets and lowered sinks? Sure, some exist – but plenty do not. That is a fact.
** limit to class size with 4 and 5 year olds is supposed to be around 18. I had 29.
** for sure there would be jk/sk classrooms with numbers that are way off. This needs to stop.
Kathryn Kastner 