Ria's first day in school

We've registered Ria at the local Waldorf preschool, which goes up to age seven. It's quite nearby, about a ten-minute drive. We took Ria to school Thursday morning, and the school was almost empty. Because the other schools are still on Easter vacation until Monday, many families are still traveling, and very few children were there.

When we got there, only the caretaker for the much younger children was there, with three little kids. Ria immediately felt comfortable, taking off her shoes and putting on her slippers, as she does at the Waldorf school at home. She first headed to the seasonal nature table, and straightened up the pieces on it, gently chiding a small boy who tried to moved them around, instructing him that that's not allowed. Then she started a drawing of an underwater scene using the same German crayons she is used to, and sharing them with a tiny little girl who was very sweet to Ria.

Ria's teacher, Helene, arrived shortly after we did, and welcomed Ria to the classroom for the older children. Thom and I chose to leave then, and this was the only time we saw any hesitation in Ria -- she had a moment where her face showed that she was worried about us leaving, but she bucked up, gave us a hug and kiss good-bye, and went back to her drawing.

We had planned to fetch her at three, but couldn't wait to see how her day went, so arrived at 1:30. She was a little dismayed that we were taking her away before the day was over, but was happy to show us around ... the toy garden, the roosters, the swings, the hammock. Helene told us that there had been three children total, and three teachers -- Helene (who speaks almost no English at all), Isabella (who speaks reasonably good English), and Jonas (a German student-teacher volunteer, who speaks very good English). Helene seemed very concerned that Ria would be at the school for too long each day, what with it being a new school, a new group, and a new language. But Ria left a bit unwillingly, which is a great sign.

In the car she chattered away about the two other children, Leo and Michel (who mostly followed her and Leo around and watched them play), and complained that it "wasn't very Waldorfy" because they have pretend swords the boys played with, and because they didn't make Ria wear a sweater or a coat when she went outside. She ate the organic lunch they provided (couscous with vegetables, and a vegetable pie) and apparently liked it. Overall, it was a successful day, and she spent the evening practicing the new French words she learned.