Do you remember being afraid to enter first grade?
First grade.
For some of us, it was the first time we would be away for a full day.
Were you afraid to go? Or excited?
Click below to see what each of us felt.
First grade did not start off great for me.
For the year previous, I had attended a private “kindergarten” and loved it. There was no transportation provided so I rode to school with my Dad. However, I was going to have to take a bus on this new adventure called “First grade”.
Here are my childhood memories of that tear producing morning.
Mom and I went out to the end of the driveway to wait for my bus to arrive. I remember being nervous and Mom patiently assuring me that it was all going to be fine. A bus arrived and stopped across the street. The bus driver opened her window and helped Mom explain how to cross after making eye contact with the driver first. We rounded the front of the bus and the first look of those giant steps I was going to have to climb with my little legs was a bit intimidating.
Once I got to the top and turned to check out the seats, a friend of mine from Brownies stood up and started waving at me – “Pam! Pam! Come sit with me!!!!”, she yelled.
I can remember feeling relief, there was someone else that I knew on this big yellow contraption. I turned around to say goodbye to my Mom and she was looking at me with a funny look on her face.
It was then that she told me that we were on the wrong bus – this bus was not going to my school, we had to go back to the driveway to wait.
I can remember the relief that I had felt just seconds ago turn to sadness, and fear as I turned to wave goodbye to my friend who was still jumping up and down, waving at me. Following my Mom back off the bus and across the street, I couldn’t hold my tears and by the time we were back in place scanning the street for the bus that was meant for me, I was full blown sobbing.
We waited FOREVER for my bus to arrive and it never did. Back up the driveway we went and after some discussion between Mom and Dad, I found myself in the backseat of Dad’s car headed to my new school. Mom and I climbed up a different set of stairs, these much easier for me, and into the office where my Mother explained what had happened to us.
I can remember following my Mom and a secretary to my class and when we entered, ALL the other kids were already sitting at their desks staring at little old ME.
YIKES!
My lip started to quiver and no matter how hard I tried not to, I started to cry again. I scooched in behind my Mom and was planning to head back out to the car with her. It didn’t work that way – Mom squatted down to my eye level and told me I was going to have to stay, that she loved me very much and that she would be there when I got home that afternoon waiting to hear all about my day.
I don’t remember another thing about that day. Just the fear, sadness and wishing that I could just be back at my beloved kindergarten with all the people I knew and loved.
Looking back, I feel sorry for my Mom. As a mom myself, I know how I would have spent those hours until she saw me again, agonizing for her I am sure.
Did you have a great first day or one of tears like mine?
Kindergarten was not mandatory when I was a child, but I did go to a privately run school. I have fond memories of those four walls, the games we played, the lessons we learned, and even some friendships that were born out of those early days.
One of the more wise moves the educators made – in connection with the public school system, I’m sure – was to take those of us moving up to first grade on a tour of our new school. I have no recollection of how we got there (since there were not school buses involved in my kindergarten days) but get there we did. Somehow, there were no other children in the school that day (possibly it was a Saturday?) – and I can remember thinking how quiet it was. Going from a one-room schoolhouse to a larger brick building with multiple classrooms could have been overwhelming, but it was made to feel like an easy transition for us.
I believe we met many of the teachers that day, and possibly even some administration. We were invited to sit in a classroom to try out the desks and treated to some milk and cookies in the basement cafeteria. My subsequent memories of heading off to school are therefore filled with excitement. I remember being so happy that I’d be taking a bus to school, since my sister had already been doing just that for four years; and recall my mother being proud that I jumped up on the bus the first day, gave a quick wave and excitedly found my seat.
I loved school from Day One – and have very few memories of ever being afraid of going or of not wanting to head out and explore the latest new adventure I’d be treated to in the classroom. That sound so damn Pollyanna – but I still love to learn something new…..I guess it’s just part of who I was and who I continue to be.
Do you remember the first day you rode a bus to school? Was it a good experience or bad?
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