Busy Day Starts Early As Thousands Head Back To School
Posted September 4, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Get up! Find your lunch! Put on the backpack! Do you have everything? Don’t be late!
If that sounds like your house on Tuesday morning, you’re not alone. About 400,000 Toronto kids waved goodbye to their summer vacation in the morning and faced a yearly reality – the annual return to school. Some came by bus. More than a few were given a lift by their parents. And some did it the old fashioned way, walking to the doors of the building before venturing in.
For parents at the end of all the tumult, it was a strange change from a summer that was otherwise pretty quiet. “He was just telling me that I need to wake him up at three in the morning or four in the morning so that I can get ready for school,” laughs a mom named Vaibhavi.
For most, the early jitters were replaced by the joy of seeing their friends again and sharing their memories of a summer vacation just passed, with the older students asking that eternal question: ‘who’d you get for home room?’
Most schoolyards were abuzz with conversation as the returning kids caught up with each other before the first bell rang. Some were already ahead of the game and knew what they were looking for. “Getting A+ on my test,” one ventured.
“I’ve been learning about the solar system all by myself with my flash cards,” boasted another.
The truth is that while the first day is often the most stressful, it’s generally the least busy. Kids learn about their schedules and their teachers, get assigned a desk, a locker and a reading list, and then go home early. It’s on Wednesday that the real assignment begins – learning everything they need to before that final bell rings again late next June.
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