Date: Fri 21-Aug-1998

Publication: Bee

Author: MICHEL

Quick Words:

schools-kindergarten-preview

Full Text:

Kindergarteners Get A Preview

(with cuts)

BY MICHELE HOGAN

The first day of school can be a scary experience, especially if you are only

four or five years old, but not for the incoming kindergartners at Sandy Hook

School.

Their trial run on Tuesday was a great success.

The children said that they enjoyed the bus ride. One girl excitedly said that

she saw a real dune buggy on the way.

With warm welcomes from Principal Donna Page, to fun classroom activities, all

the children seemed happy to be starting school.

As the children filed into Debbie Lubin's bright and welcoming kindergarten,

Miss Lubin showed them to their cubbies, and noticed some familiar names.

Miss Lubin, who has taught at Sandy Hook School for several years, said that

she has had "a lot of younger siblings coming round. I love that," she said

"working with the same families."

Welcoming the class, she asked "Does anybody know The Wheels on the Bus song?"

A chorus of "Yeah" and "I've got the book of it!" and "I sang it in my class

in Minnesota!" followed, as the children gathered around their teacher on the

carpet.

Miss Lubin sat in the rocking chair and led the class in singing along with

the book. Afterwards, one boy said "The bus is in India. I can tell because it

is double-decker bus, like we saw in India."

Another boy wanted to know why Miss Lubin skipped "the doors on the bus." Miss

Lubin explained that the book she read was a variation of the song, and that

the class could make up its own variation on Thursday. She said "we'll do the

doors on the bus then." The boy smiled, pleased that his idea would become a

class activity, when school really starts in two days time.

After the singing, children went to their desks to color in a school bus, and

practice writing. Miss Lubin told the children "if you know how to write your

name, you can write it on the back. If you don't, don't worry. This year, we

will teach you." She was answered with a chorus of "I know how to write my

name." "I know how to write my name."

Everybody colored their buses, got help adding wheels, and some raised their

hands for help writing their names on the back.

Miss Lubin noticed the eager smiles, and raised hands and said how happy she

was to have such a great class.

And their bus drivers had the chance to work out any last-minute details for

bus scheduling.