Starting kindergarten can be nerve-wracking for some young students, but others are excited to meet new friends and take on a new adventure. Sophia Kibala is one of the latter. After attending preschool in her daycare for the past two years, she was ready to take on kindergarten at Good Shepherd School. A child of few words – at least while being interviewed by the Wheel – Kibala said she was looking forward to doing crafts and playing with the toys she spotted during her Meet the Teacher peek at her classroom on Aug. 29. What kinds of crafts does she like? “Kitty cats. Cheetahs. Play dough,” said Kibala. A little more prodding from mom, Jaylene Kibala, revealed the young student was also excited for recess on the GSS playground. “I like climbing up the slides,” she said. The day before her Aug. 31 staggered entrance into Mrs. Dickie’s kindergarten class, Kibala already knew what she was going to wear. “It’s a new dress, and it’s black and pink with flowers on it,” she said. “The flowers are pink.” The new clothes will be paired with a blue backpack with “a lot of ponies on it,” she said. Taking lunch is part of the adventure. Kibala started taking lunch to her summer day program at Knottin’ School Out of School Care Centre, so she already knows her favourite items in the lunch kit. “Carrots and cherries and sandwiches, and a cookie,” she said. Chocolate chip cookies, to be precise. As for learning, Kibala wasn’t really sure what to expect going into kindergarten, but thought she might learn how to write some more, and maybe even read her favourite books in the Scaredy Squirrel series. Some of it she’s already got down pat. “I know how to make a S-O-P-H-I-A,” she said. “Sophia!” Jaylene said her only child was definitely ready to go to school. It’s a day she’s been looking forward to as a mom as well. “So far I’m pretty excited, just for her to learn different things,” said Jaylene. At home, they’ve been talking about school and pumping Kibala up about seeing her classmates and meeting her teacher. They’ve even visited the playground a few times over the summer to get her acquainted with the school grounds and build some of the excitement. What Jaylene is looking forward to most is seeing her daughter grow and expand her education. “I think for her to get that next level of learning, to be with teachers who are really going to be teaching her,” she said. “Up to now it’s been a lot of play and more daycare-type stuff.” There has been a little work on Mom and Dad’s part to prepare Kibala for her first day of kindergarten. “We’re really making her do things more independently,” said Jaylene. “We’ve been kind of bad at doing things for her because she’s our only child. Going into kindergarten we knew she was really going to be on her own more than she has been.” That means picking out her own clothes and pouring her own drinks if she’s craving a cup of milk or water, she said. All the growing up hasn’t fazed Kibala at all. She’s just as eager to start school, said her mom. “She’s not nervous at all actually,” said Jaylene. “I thought she would be. Maybe she will be the day-of, but so far she’s pretty excited.”
