Our Little Ones: First Day at School!

Today marks the first day of school for Janine who starts Kindergarten (ie. Big School) this year. It is also my very first "child-free" day as all 3 kids are in school! Josiah started attending daycare 2 days a week (Wed & Thurs) this year, while Janelle who started school yesterday is now in Year 2. Surprisingly, today was a tear-free day for ALL of us!

It is an exciting time of the year and we are all very thankful that our 3 kids are settling in well into their classes. Josiah, for a start, was distraught at the thought of going to school (he started 3 weeks' back) and would have to be wrenched from my arms at school. But today is the first time he left for school tear-free and even saying "bye bye mummy!" cheerfully! His teachers were very proud of him and happy to be able to take care of the younger brother of Janelle and Janine, as they were the ones who watched Janelle and Janine grow.

Janelle and Janine are in classes with their good friends from last year, so all is well and they are happy. I cannot believe I have just sent off my second child to big school already! It is a surreal feeling, but I suppose it will be even more surreal when Josiah, the youngest, goes off to school in a few years' time. For now, I am just so glad that Janine had already done one year in Prep last year so it really made the transition to Kindy so much easier and smoother.

Recently I have realised why it is tough to send off your child to Kindergarten here - because they are only 5 years of age and starting primary school which is 6 hours of school, 5 days a week! On the other hand, in Singapore, children start Primary 1 only at about 6 or 7 years of age which is quite a bit older than the children here in Australia. Well in either case, I think the most important thing is that children grow up enjoying the learning process and enjoying school. We are looking forward to a great year ahead and here are some photos of our children taken today.