Wee Wildcat Graduation

Big Bear has been going to a little program at the elementary school where she'll be going to kindergarten next year called the Wee Wildcat program. Each month she goes to "classes"...music, P.E., art, science, reading, math...in the classrooms she'll be in and with the teachers that she'll have next year. It's been really neat, not only for her, but for me as well. I got to go to each session with her and see what sorts of things she'll be doing and where she'll be doing them. It's given both of us a great sense of peace to be more familiar with this new important place where she'll be doing a lot of growing up over the next few years. Last week they had a little graduation ceremony for the kids. They graduated from being Wee Wildcats to being KinderCats and were officially welcomed into the school as kindergartners. They got little diplomas and the school put together a slide show of pictures that had been taken throughout all of the sessions we had attended. They played a song called "Let Them Be Little" by Billy Dean that made all of the parents cry. And then the kids could show their parents and grandparents all around the school. I thought this was a neat twist. It gave Big Bear such a feeling of pride and ownership to show off her new school to Grammy and Grampy. You could tell she felt special because she knew her way around the school. We are so blessed to have such a neat program at our school. Many of my friends have commented on how they wished they had something like this for their kindergartners. While I am still struggling with this whole letting go thing...in fact, while writing this post a little voice inside is crying out, "NO!! I can't let her go!!!"...I know she is going to learn and grow so much. And what makes me feel so wonderful is that she'll be in a caring and loving place. This is a public school that doesn't have to put any effort into their students before they are even students! How great does that make me feel as a parent! Lots to come on all of this...lots to come!