It finally happened. Alexandra is old enough for Kindergarten. No more kids at home in the morning. Every morning. I was so excited I could hardly stand it. I would spontaneously burst out into giggles whenever I thought about it. I even did a little happy jig on a number of occasions. But I had to be sure and do it when she wasn’t looking. Because even though I was thrilled that she was heading off to school, Alexandra was not so sure it would be as awesome.
She was looking forward to riding the bus with the big kids, and she loved wearing her reflector shield. But was she really going to have to speak German? And why did she need to go every single day? Still, she really liked what she saw on visiting day back in June, so she was pretty excited for the first day of school.
She had her outfit picked out and waiting on the stairs for a couple of days.
She has her gym clothes and her painting apron in the plastic bag, along with her Finken (special slippers all the kids wear while inside). Doesn’t she look adorable?
I rode the bus with all the kids, since it was the very first day. 
You can see Sarah’s shorter hair a bit in this picture as well. There were lots of other mommies and daddies on the bus, so I didn’t stand out at all.
We walked up the hill together, and the older kids said hello to all the friends they hadn’t seen over the summer.
I am glad she has so many older siblings to help take care of her and make sure she knows the way. Poor Nick had to do it all alone.
When we got to school, there was a bit of time to play around, and then all the kids separated to their own classrooms. Sarah and Noah were both going back to the same teacher they had last year, but Sophie had a new teacher, since she was now in the fourth grade. With the way the school is set up, all the other kids will all have the same teachers, but Sophie is on a different track. She really liked Frau Goeldi, and I am sure Frau Berendts will turn out to be just as good. It’s just a bit scary since we don’t know them like we know Frau Nicollier and Herr Trinkler. Oh, excuse me, it’s Frau Wolfer now, since she got married. 🙂
Alexandra and I found her hook and cubby for her toothbrush and cup, and hung up her coat and reflector as well. We put her gym clothes in the basket with her name on it, and then went to find her chair. I knew she was nervous, but at least she wasn’t crying like a couple of the other kids. Poor things.
Her teacher is well known to us, since she is also the German as a second language teacher. Sophie loved her and told Alexandra lots of good things about her.
Here Frau Meier is taking Findus the puppet around to each child to say hello. He is also new in Kindergarten and is a little bit nervous about all the children. They are trying to help him feel more comfortable. She sang some songs with them, explained the few rules, and let them look around at all the toys with their parents.
Then we went over to the main school building for the welcoming ceremony.
That is all the kids and most of the teachers in the entire school. One row for each grade, and two for the kindergarten classes. I love the smallness and family atmosphere of a country school!
That is Sophie’s teacher, Frau Berendts playing the piano, and Herr Geiger on the violin. He teaches French and Geometry to the kids in Herr Trinkler’s class. So both Nick and Sarah had him as well. Very nice man, rides his bike from his home in Bonstetten through the forest to Aeugst every day. Says he has the prettiest commute in the world. 🙂
All the children who were new to the school were called up one by one to be greeted and welcomed by the principal. First up in her class was Alexandra.
And then slowly all the other kids joined her.
They were greeted with cheers and applause by all the other kids, and then they went outside to release balloons into the air. Each balloon had a postcard attached to it with the name of a child on it, and the address of the school. Whoever found the balloon is supposed to write their name and address on the other side and send it back to the school. On the last day of school they give out prizes to the kids whose balloons went the farthest. One year Sophie won, she was super excited!
The first day must not have been so bad, since she came home looking like this.
Of course, a little later in the week the tears started. Every night she would cry when I would tell her she had to go to Kindergarten the next day. “But I already went to Kindergarten!” She didn’t quite grasp that she had to go every single day. 🙁 But then it got a bit better, and the crying stopped, although she still wasn’t thrilled. However, now that the boy who was hitting her every.single.day is no longer in kindergarten, she is doing much better. Funny how that works.
Yay for Alexandra!