Positively positive that this will be another great year!!!

The first weeks of school at Head Start always remind me of that commercial "herding cats".  It looks and sounds like complete chaos, but actually, it's not.  Our teachers and staff always take the time to remember that these beautiful little children have been in this world for 36 months.  A few months longer for some of them, but that's not a lot of time.  Their tears those first few days are their way of saying "mommy, I love you and I want you to know that."  Once those children walk through those classroom doors, they become our children too.  They are now our babies.  It is amazing to me how quickly that happens.  The bond is almost immediate.  There have been home visits and other contacts before that first step inside the school, the first day of school, they are now ours too.

We have had eight days of school with these wonderful, curious 3 year olds.  Most of them can already sit on the floor and listen to a story, walk in a line (on a rope) to get outside to the playground), wash their hands, feed themselves, throw away their trash after they eat, play with manipulatives and so much more.  Considering that some of these children have never been away from home before, this is nothing short of miraculous.

This is the beginning of a fantastic year that had a crazy start.  The teachers missed all their pre-service training thanks to Hurricane Harvey.  We are still trying to catch up on paperwork, but in the long run, we are all about these precious gifts that are trusted to us by their parents.  We take that responsibility very seriously.

I want to end this week's blog with some feedback I received from one of Webb's Pre-K teacher's about a Head Start student from last year.

Teacher:  Let's look at these letters.  Can you tell me any of them?
Student:  Well, let's start at the top. (She proceeded to name all the capital letters)
Teacher:  How did you get so smart?
Student:  Well, I went to Head Start!
(Side note, the teacher said that there was an attitude of self-assurance involved in her responses, I just love it!!!!!)