Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Graduating...sort of

Today Will graduated from pre-K. In the fall, he’ll be starting the same pre-k program (but with a different teacher) at Wynnton United Methodist Preschool all over again, so he’ll be doing an encore graduation performance this time next year. (With his August 31 birthday, we're figuring giving him an extra year to be a carefree kid can't hurt.) So for this graduation ceremony, I figured I didn’t need to get too weepy. But then -- after the kids sang a cute marathon medley of about 11 songs spanning the months of their school year -- one of the children’s father’s sang “Let Them Be Little,” and as soon as I spotted another mother near me crying quietly, I got all teary-eyed too. Tears are contagious for me.

And even if I’ve got another year with Will before he starts all-day elementary school, I’m still nostalgic about the little boy who’s growing up in front of me. We’re hoping we’re making the right decision for Will – giving him one more year of just half days at a largely play-based pre-school with plenty of time left over for creative play, reading, art and park adventures at home. Will, for his part, seems happy with the idea of another year at Wynnton. When I asked him today how he felt about school ending and summer starting today, he said: “I’m nervous about going to kindergarten.”
When I reminded him he’d be doing pre-k again in the fall so that he can be one of the oldest kids instead of the youngest this time around, he said, “Oh yeah,” and smiled in relief. We’d visited a kindergarten classroom earlier in the spring and he was troubled by the lack of toys there.
Now I’m looking forward to a summer without much of a set schedule. We’ll see how we enjoy our freedom.

Here’s Will with his beloved teacher and a couple of his fellow graduates.



2 comments:

Carol Wingard said...

Hi Annie, I just discovered your blog and spent an enjoyable 40 minutes meandering through what sounds quite a bit like my life almost 30 years ago. I was the first director at Wynnton when it became a preschool. Carson and Brent were 3 and 2 when I started there. (I have known Kecia for a long time--from grad school and Wynnton.) I wanted to tell you that I kept Caroline (my youngest) in pre-K two years. She believed for years it truly was because the other teacher wanted to have her in her class. It was a good decision. She was the oldest--she was always a leader. She did very well academically.

Annie Addington said...

So good to hear from you Carol. I had no idea you were the director at Wynnton once upon a time. Thanks for sharing your story of Caroline.

I hope you have a nice relaxing summer break. I miss all of you at Columbus High!