It quickly settled down during his 2nd week. He only cried for the first 15 minutes after I left, then 10 minutes, then 5. Now he would attempt to not letting me go, and then get on w/ his normal routine in about 30 seconds. Mondays are exceptions, where he would cry for about one minute before he resumes.
Third week was uneventful.
Then this morning when I took Jasper to school he didn’t cry at all. He finished his breakfast (we forgot to bring Jasper’s indoor trainers so had to wait for the maid to bring them, and I got to be w/ Jasper while he was having breakfast) then went for stories and we said goodbye to each other then I left. Cool.
We are a little concerned about his appetite. He nearly always go for second servings during lunch and afternoon tea. Reminds me of Oliver Twist—I want some more!
Sometimes we get to peek thru the windows and see the kids play or listen to stories. The Lady saw Jasper concentrating to a teacher’s story once, and I saw him deeply involved in some toys. The kids are not interacting among themselves a lot yet, but considering that half of the class can’t speak yet, this is okay I suppose.
BTW, Jasper is physically quite big. Althou he is the youngest in his class, he is also one of the tallest.
I also wish to comment on the dedication of the hardworking staff. The hours are certainly long! The kindergarten is open from around 0800 and closes at 1800, and althou I believe the teachers practise flextime there, I think everybody do at least 9 hours. Everyday we also receive a daily class report for the previous day at around 2000, so for some it is close to 11 hours of work. I was there for four days, and I can testify that it was hard work. The kids demand constant attention. The teachers do have a small rest during nap time, but that includes their own lunch time, and it is less than 2 hours. Looking after Jasper is hard enough, now multiple that by about 10 (a class of over 20 shared among two teachers). Whatever the teachers are being paid, they deserve more.
1 response so far ↓
1 James // Oct 25, 2004 at 12:38 pm
Absolutely. Kindergarten teachers can’t yell and punish kids like Primary school teachers do, otherwise it would just create even more work for themselves as the kids would not take it too well. So they would have to be much more patient. Fortunately the kids are confined in a relatively safe place. If they were out on the streets, I think my head would explode if I were a K teacher.