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No Baby Steps As Students Start Educational Odyssey

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By KLINT LOWRY

The Suncoast News

Published: August 23, 2008

TRINITY - Monday was the first day of school for thousands of children across Pasco County. It was a day to reunite with chums, size up the teachers and enjoy some of those cafeteria flavors you just can't get at home.

For many kindergartners, though, Monday was more than the first day of the school year - it was their first day of school, ever, the launch of a 13-year educational odyssey that will conclude in 2022 when they are graduating high school seniors.

Chances are, for many, that day will have something in common with this one: tearful parent-child embraces.

"There's tears that first day," Seven Springs Elementary School kindergarten teacher Shannon Grove said a few days before the start of the 2008-09 school year.

"They're pretty attached. For some of them, it's a huge change."

Was she referring to the kids or the parents?

"Both," she said with a smile.

"There are some children who've been to preschool that may know a little more about it, but a lot of these kids are new to this," Grove said.

For stay-at-home moms and their kids, the first day of kindergarten marks a sudden shift from a way of life they have known for the past five years. It's usually easy to spot those families, Grove said, at that final moment at the classroom door.

It's funny, Grove added, how quickly parents and children get over that separation anxiety, how soon before the drop-off at the door will barely rate a "see ya."

Part of Grove's job is to usher the young students into the world of education. The children are pretty much blank slates who have to learn, along with the academic basics, how to be in school.

"They have rules they have to follow," she said. "They have to understand there is work to do, that they are not just here to play, that the teacher is in charge."

It is so important, Grove said, to make sure that this introduction is a positive experience for the students. For her, part of the fun is seeing how as the weeks and months pass, each child starts to develop their school identity.

"By the end of kindergarten you can definitely see different roles they're going to take on as they get older," she said. "You can see who's going to be the clown, who's going to be the artist, who wants to be the teacher."

Whatever the personalities, another important aspect of kindergarten is that this is where the learning begins, Grove said. When you think about it, here on Day One, some of these children don't even know the alphabet. By the end of this year, they will be able to read sentences.

"All kindergartners love to learn," she said "It's a new experience; they're excited about it."

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