It’s official—I have a kindergartner.

This is my first year with a child in the Wake County school system. For the last 4 and a half years I’ve been inside daycare, live-in nannies, childcare, grandmas, etc. The first year sending your child to school is very different. But I can honestly say, from 2 months ago to now as I’m writing this, I’m so proud of Kingston. There have been some things that caught me off guard about kindergarten and I wanted to share them with you.

First of all, Kingston is going to school downtown at a charter school that is very different from your typical school. They focus a lot on interpersonal skills, leadership,  and on not just being aware of what’s going on in their own neighborhood, but also world issues. I’m used to A, B, Cs and learning to read, not putting together campaigns for water consumption and looking at global warming. Not only does Kingston work on his reading and writing, but he comes home talking about things that really matter. It’s really amazing to hear.

They also do a lot of affirmations and talk about goal setting and being a good human being. All things that you know I love. To hear these things coming out of my 5 year olds mouth kind of blew my mind. I didn’t expect that kindergarten would be like this at all. I’m really shocked and amazed to have him in a school that has such a different philosophy. I’m also super thankful and really excited that he was able to get in. I had no idea that Charter schools are set up on a lottery system. You have to apply, and are selected solely based on the lottery. Kingston originally didn’t get in, but a month and a half later we got the call that he had been accepted! It’s been really special to see him thriving and coming home with stories and meeting friends.

A perfect example of this is a conversation we shared recently. He said, “Mom I’m a big boy, I’m going to fill up Houston’s bucket.” And I asked him, “What do you mean?” He said, “Well, I want to fill her up with good things and love so that she can give that to the next person that she talks to.” Talk about an amazing thing to hear from your 5 year old!

With all of that goodness, there had to be at least one hiccup. For us, that’s the morning routine. So far it’s been a little bumpy—trying to get him downtown—there’s no transportation and no lunch so we’re having to pack everything and drop him off. The biggest battle is having Kingston going to one school and Houston going to another school.

Thankfully, my friend Amber just moved into my neighborhood. Since then she has been taking Kingston to school with her daughter because she goes to the same school. It’s been a huge blessing and I’m so grateful.

Kindergarten has certainly been a new experience, but a very rewarding one so far. If you have any specific questions about the school, feel free to reach out and I’ll give you the information.