Off To School We Go!
It's be a long time since I hear any new words coming from Ethan's mouth so I finally decided to put him in a daily playgroup class. I reckoned that in a class without mummy, nobody will understand him and that may force him to speak up.
Not forgetting that Ethan has stranger anxiety, I put him in the same school and class as his Royce gor gor. Before Ethan started class, I spoke to Royce about him looking after Ethan in the class for him. And Royce told me, "I will look after Ethan" in a very big-brother voice. It was with the assurance from this small boy that we started Ethan off on his first day of school last Wednesday.
First Day of School, 5 May 2004, Wednesday
Ethan went into his classroom without suspecting a thing. The classroom is the SAME classroom as the weekly playgroup that he was attending. The difference - the teachers, the classmates and no mummy! Soon, it was 9 am and the teacher closed the classroom door. That was when Ethan realised that mummy was gone and he started wailing loudly. As for me, I wasn't experiencing too much heartache as, firstly, I had expected this; and secondly, we could see what was going on in the classroom through the CCTV.
One of the teacher started pacifying Ethan but to no avail. Eventually, she had no choice but to seek Royce's help. She sat Ethan in-between Royce's legs and Ethan stopped crying immediately. By then, it was 9.22am. Throughout the entire session, it was really heartwarming seeing how Royce would take care of Ethan. He would pat him on his back to assure him; take water for Ethan to drink as well as clean his tears for him.
THEN, Royce went to the toilet. The teachers did not allow Ethan to go along for fear that he would run away. Of course, Ethan started wailing loudly again! It was only when Royce returned that Ethan stopped crying. He cried again when it was time to go home ~ manja time!
Second Day of School, 6 May 2004, Thursday
Ethan struggled and resisted going to school. This was expected so I tucked him under my arm and whisked him off to school. He wailed loudly again but this time it was better. He stopped at 9.04am - definitely a big improvement over the day before. He basically did nothing in class except to sit around when he stopped crying. Royce would bring him something to do, then go off to do his stuff and returned to keep the stuff for Ethan.
Again, it was wailing time for Ethan when it was toilet time for Royce. And again, going home time was manja time!
Third Day of School, 7 May 2004, Friday
I got hubby to talk to Ethan and Ethan was slightly more willing to go to school. Still, he was worried. Just before I left the classroom, I told him that it was really up to him to join in the class activities. If he joins in, he will love it. I wasn't too sure whether he understood my words at that time but it was no harm trying. Well, evidently he understood. He stopped crying at 9.01am and joined in all the activities. He DID NOT CRY when Royce went to the toilet. However, he still manja when it was time to go home.
Fourth Day of School - Today
We were all wondering whether Ethan would resist going to school after the weekend break. Well, he did not. Over the weekend, I had dug out Timmy's old school bag for Ethan to use and Ethan was simply elated. This boy has this thing about using gor gor's things. All gor gor's things are better than new stuff! Anyway, he has this look of pride when he carried the school bag to where we waited for Royce's daddy to fetch us to school. The day lesson went without any crying at all!
All these would not have been possible if there was no Royce in the class to help assure Ethan. And Ethan simply loves this gor gor of his.
And the good news??? Some new words over the weekend!!!
Not forgetting that Ethan has stranger anxiety, I put him in the same school and class as his Royce gor gor. Before Ethan started class, I spoke to Royce about him looking after Ethan in the class for him. And Royce told me, "I will look after Ethan" in a very big-brother voice. It was with the assurance from this small boy that we started Ethan off on his first day of school last Wednesday.
First Day of School, 5 May 2004, Wednesday
Ethan went into his classroom without suspecting a thing. The classroom is the SAME classroom as the weekly playgroup that he was attending. The difference - the teachers, the classmates and no mummy! Soon, it was 9 am and the teacher closed the classroom door. That was when Ethan realised that mummy was gone and he started wailing loudly. As for me, I wasn't experiencing too much heartache as, firstly, I had expected this; and secondly, we could see what was going on in the classroom through the CCTV.
One of the teacher started pacifying Ethan but to no avail. Eventually, she had no choice but to seek Royce's help. She sat Ethan in-between Royce's legs and Ethan stopped crying immediately. By then, it was 9.22am. Throughout the entire session, it was really heartwarming seeing how Royce would take care of Ethan. He would pat him on his back to assure him; take water for Ethan to drink as well as clean his tears for him.
THEN, Royce went to the toilet. The teachers did not allow Ethan to go along for fear that he would run away. Of course, Ethan started wailing loudly again! It was only when Royce returned that Ethan stopped crying. He cried again when it was time to go home ~ manja time!
Second Day of School, 6 May 2004, Thursday
Ethan struggled and resisted going to school. This was expected so I tucked him under my arm and whisked him off to school. He wailed loudly again but this time it was better. He stopped at 9.04am - definitely a big improvement over the day before. He basically did nothing in class except to sit around when he stopped crying. Royce would bring him something to do, then go off to do his stuff and returned to keep the stuff for Ethan.
Again, it was wailing time for Ethan when it was toilet time for Royce. And again, going home time was manja time!
Third Day of School, 7 May 2004, Friday
I got hubby to talk to Ethan and Ethan was slightly more willing to go to school. Still, he was worried. Just before I left the classroom, I told him that it was really up to him to join in the class activities. If he joins in, he will love it. I wasn't too sure whether he understood my words at that time but it was no harm trying. Well, evidently he understood. He stopped crying at 9.01am and joined in all the activities. He DID NOT CRY when Royce went to the toilet. However, he still manja when it was time to go home.
Fourth Day of School - Today
We were all wondering whether Ethan would resist going to school after the weekend break. Well, he did not. Over the weekend, I had dug out Timmy's old school bag for Ethan to use and Ethan was simply elated. This boy has this thing about using gor gor's things. All gor gor's things are better than new stuff! Anyway, he has this look of pride when he carried the school bag to where we waited for Royce's daddy to fetch us to school. The day lesson went without any crying at all!
All these would not have been possible if there was no Royce in the class to help assure Ethan. And Ethan simply loves this gor gor of his.
And the good news??? Some new words over the weekend!!!