Ready or not, it's time to go

After 59 days of homeschooling, the school officially opened today in Nerima.  It wasn't what we originally envisioned, but happened nonetheless.

The kids in each class were broken up into 2 groups.  Typically, Japanese school children walk to school in small groups of children.  Parents don't take their kids to school - even first graders.  Older children are paired with younger kids to escort them a few times until the younger child gets the hang of the route.  Since school has not be in session, the older kids were never assigned a charge.  So, yesterday, we received an email from the school telling parents they could walk their first graders to school for a while.

Our son was perfectly fine to have us walk him to school.  I think he wanted us there in case his randoseru got too heavy!  I couldn't believe how much it weighed!  I actually filled it up yesterday with all the required items and had him practice walking around with it on to get used to the weight on his shoulders.

All three of us successfully made it through the rain to the school.  Our son was so excited to get in there and start learning, that he quickly waved goodbye and headed inside.  No drama whatsoever.  Sniff, sniff.  That's fine.

Instead of heading home, I took the opportunity to go to the grocery store.  I then read a book (Michelle Obama's Becoming) while lounging on my couch, with only periodic disturbances from my husband.  (He LOVES to try to talk to me when I'm reading.  It's been a family joke for years.)

The two hours passed very quickly.  It was soon time for me to go pick up our son.  He must have been let out of class early because he was waiting for me at the gate when I arrived.  I was the only parent there to pick up their kid.

As we walked home, I peppered him with questions.  What was it like?  How was his teacher?  Did he make a new friend?  What exactly did he do? 

He tried answering my questions for a bit.  It was fun, but hard to sit in his desk for 2 hours straight.  He only got out of his seat twice in the two hours, once to bow when they started class and the second time to take something to the front of the room.  He washed his hands and used sanitizer when he arrived at school and right before he left.  His teacher was nice.

Soon, he stopped and looked right at me.  "Mom.  I am tired from my first day at school.  It feels like you are interviewing me.  Can you please ask all your questions later?"  His honesty made me laugh.  I really was interrogating him.  I could at least wait until after lunch to do so.  As the day progressed, he gave me several more little tidbits of information and I felt satisfied.

Overall, he had a great day.  He's excited to go back tomorrow.  I guess the details don't matter so much.  It is just that I've never gone to school in Japan and the more I talk with my husband, the more I realize just how different the school systems really are.  I hope my son will be eager to shed more light on the subject as he builds up his stamina and gets used to the new environment.