First days in school

Last Friday we took our granddaughter to her new school for the first time.  For the past three years she has been attending Sadok or kindergarten or preschool and this fall she will be starting grade one. 
In order to acclimatize the children to the "real" school they have them attend classes for an hour or so once a week for a couple of months.  In this way the children become used to attending classes in the school and also introduces them to a new program as opposed to the play situation in the preschool .  The children sat at a proper desk for the first time where they were introduced to their teacher and their classmates.  This year there will be 105 first graders starting at this school, divided into four classes. In Kolomaya there are 21 preschools and 10 elementary schools.

Meanwhile the parents (and some grandparents) were given a short introduction to the school, it's programs and achievements.  This school has been in existence since 1861 with some famous (at least for Ukraine) graduates.  After an overview by the administration we were presented with a short concert with some of the more talented students preforming on musical instruments as well as dancing and singing. We were also presented with a slide show of some of the past excursions outside Ukraine where they attended various competitions.
The program also includes an analysis of the child by a psychologists to determine if the child had any problems and offer advice on how to correct them before the school year begins.  They also advised the parents on how to help with homework and any other problems the child may need help with and show them how to make school a fun place to be.