April 12, 2013 - The Geneva School

The Weaving of a Beautiful TapestryBy Leigh O’Donoghue, First Grade TeacherEach grammar school year at The Geneva School has its piècede résistance. From the parents’ perspective, it’s the item ontheir calendar with an asterix—the can’t-miss-event of theschool year. For the student, it’s the day s/he’s worked towardall year, and probably anticipated for years before—the daythat makes each child’s heart beat faster with anticipationand, perhaps even, apprehension. For the teacher, it’s the daythat all the multicolored and variously textured threads of abeautiful tapestry finally are woven together. The teacher, asweaver, knows that she needs calming blue to balance the brilliantyellow, and that flaming reds are given substance throughearthy browns. For now though, she has only loose threadsand a plan. In a classroom of students as diverse and uniquelygifted as a rainbow of threads, only the teacher understandsthe countless daily activities and disciplines that prepare herstudents for their special day. In first grade, our productionof The Tale of Peter Rabbit is the culmination of so much thatwe’ve studied and learned in the first three-quarters of our yeartogether. For now, though, please allow me to step back....The move from kindergarten to first grade is a big one. Itmay not quite rival Neil Armstrong’s first steps on the moon,but in the heart of a kindergartner it is a giant leap into theunknown. One need only step a few feet into the early childhoodcampus (ECC) building to know that it is a place of exceptionalwarmth and safety, despite its somewhat industrialexterior. The loving and gifted faculty and staff draw theircharges to them as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings.Every feature of the ECC is designed with a young child inmind. There’s nowhere to get lost, no getting in the way of“big kids,” and everything is just the right size. Their time atthe ECC is precious, yet each of our ECC students knowsthat every day is another step toward the exciting, daunting,thrilling, grown-up “big Geneva School.”This year I had the privilege of joining my kindergartners asthey journeyed to the main campus for their first grade year.Just like my kindergarten friends, I was excited and a littlescared to teach first grade after eight years working in kindergarten.Leaving the comfortable known for the unknown isdaunting. Speaking not to a memory of being five years oldbut as an adult who just made the journey, trust me when Isay the move from kindergarten to first is huge. The wideeyedchild who faced me on the first day of kindergarten isan entirely different creature than the young scholar readyto tackle first grade. We begin kindergarten with alphabetbasics—each of the 26 letters has a shape and sound(s). Webegin first grade with the 70 phonograms that make up theEnglish language. Did you know that /ough/ has six distinctsounds? Ask a TGS first grader if you’d like to hear them. Thechild who starts kindergarten at the ECC is a whole new versionof herself when she walks into her first grade classroomfor the very first time. This year my sweet class and I venturedout to tackle first grade together. The Peter Rabbit play, whichas a kindergarten class we had attended last spring, loomedlike a distant beacon.Page 16