Av’s kindergarten orientation was Tuesday. This made us feel the following emotions (not necessarily in this order):
anxious, controlling, ecstatic, excited, happy, impatient, nervous, proud, sad, satisfied, serendipitous, surprised, unprepared, welcomed
I mean — this is our kid! This is a milestone for us! True, he’s been at a full-day program since several months after he was born. He grew up with his current pre-school friends while they were all babies, then toddlers, and now kids who can read a bit, do math, and assimilate vocabulary. (Tonight before bedtime he asked us, out of the blue, what a “trial basis” was. Weird…) But this is a different situation: new school, new kids, new environment.
I can imagine this will be a bit nerve-racking for him. None of his pre-school friends will be attending his new school. He knows one kid who will be in his class — a kid whose mom and I were housemates at college for a year. But aside from that? he doesn’t know anyone. (Neither do we — aside from the ones we’ve met through the school).
His current pre-school meets in a church nearby. Av is the only Jewish kid in the school (as far as we know) — and his customs can be a bit different: instead of calling me Dad, I’m Aba (Hebrew for Dad). He also doesn’t celebrate Christmas but explained the customs of Hanukah. During Passover there were quite a few dietary restrictions which we had to explain to the teachers (many of whom, being traditional Muslims, already understand dietary restrictions as they’re used to Halal food). It’s been a wonderful experience for him in a diverse environment, And I’m sure that the friendships we and he have made thus far will continue for quite a while.
His new school is a Jewish private school. It was an important and sometimes tricky decision to make, sending him to a school which is (a) considerably further away from our home than his pre-school and the local public school; (b) considerably more expensive than his pre-school and, of course, the local public school. We decided to go this route, however, based on classroom size (11-12 kids in each class instead of 25) and the curriculum (which includes general and Judaic studies — and contains a language immersion program in Hebrew starting at the kindergarten level) among other factors. It means we’re cutting back on a whole lot of things in order to afford this, but hey — this has been a top priority right from the start. We don’t have a plasma TV, an Acura in the garage (or a garage at all!), an XBOX or a Wii. We have tuition.
I’ve always been intrigued by names — especially the names children are given by their parents. There’s a fascinating chapter about children’s names in Freakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner, correlating certain naming trends to race, parental levels of education, and more. We happened to give our son a unique name (at least in this country, but apparently not in this blogosphere) which stems from his Hebrew name. We weren’t surprised that he was the only Avi in his preschool — a place which had its share of kids named Walker, Paige, David, Abdullah, Margaret, Nayeh, Sophie and Christiana. But what about in a Jewish school? Are the other parents as freaky as we are when it comes to names?
I present you with the names of the kids for the upcoming kindergarten class:
- Abbie
- Alex
- Avi
- Benjamin (x2)
- Daniel
- Gabriel
- Jacob
- Jacqueline
- Liora
- Maya
- Madelyn
- Miriam
- Nathan
- Noa
- Rachel
- Rome
- Sebastian
- Solomon
- Tobbi
So — no other Avis in the class. There are four kids (including Av) whose names are anglicized versions of Hebrew names. Which means we’re not necessarily the only weird ones. 🙂
Nine of the kids — just about half of them — have overtly Biblical names. Some people mistake Avi’s name for being a shortened version of “Abraham.” Nope — Just Avi. I guess it shows a sense of tradition…
Then there’s Jacqueline. I’ve always found that name to be mysterious and sexy — simply because of the “qu” factor. I feel the same way about Monique. And Raquel. And Quincy.
As for Rome? Sebastian? Those sound like prep school names. But who knows? Certainly not I — I don’t know who these kids are or will be. They could end up being Av’s best friends. Or not. Only time will tell.
All I know is that I think we made the right decision for our family. The place felt like home to Avi. And that’s far more important than any name.
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I’m sure he will love. Kids adapt much better than adults do.
Amandas last blog post..This Magic Moment
A Jewish boy named Rome? Why not just name him Pontius and be done with it?
Avitables last blog post..Brrrrinnnnggg
Poor Motley always stood out in school except for the 4th grade and high school. Why? Because she’s a white kid with a non-Hispanic name. In 4th grade she was in a school where the kids were more evenly divided in terms of race. Same for high school. Lots more white kids meant… people still mangled her name. *sigh* Annicka pronounced Ah-nick-uh. It’s tough for kids when they are different and the other kids don’t really like the whole assimilation thing. It’s so cool that Avi likes his new school. It helps immensely for them to feel as if they fit in.
Winters last blog post..Thursday Thirteen the 15th-Post 100
I think your last paragraph summed it up quite nicely. If it feels like home to Avi, then the rest is really just frosting on the cake.
I think this opportunity seems like an amazing one for him and cannot wait to read more blog entries about how it turns out :).
Hillys last blog post..100 Things About Me: The Slackass Chronicles….
I think you are an amazing parent. Foregoing some material things to let your son have the education you feel is right for him makes me think very highly of you. I would give up anything for my kids, and while we don’t send them to private school, we did check out the public school we were planning to send them to just to make sure it was what we wanted and had other options in mind if it didn’t work out. Parenting is hard work, finding what is right for your family is hard work, and people are always so quick to criticise if it isn’t exactly how they would do it. I think it is awesome that you followed your heart with naming him, and with the school stuff.
I remember how scary and emotional it was to send my first daughter to Kindergarten. It seems like only yesterday we went to the orientation and I was terrified to send her to the huge building and let her mingle with all the “gigantic” 6th grade kids. Next year she will be in 5th grade! It goes so fast, which sounds so dumb and overused, but it really is true.
radioactive girl toris last blog post..Help Me Choose a Career
I love reading posts where people analyze names.
I also love kindergarten and wish I was back there today.
Poppys last blog post..Again, Poppy?
Putting the kid first, even over getting a Wii?! Wow, that’s true parental dedication. 😉
I hope Avi loves his new school. He’s such an awesome little guy, I’m sure he’ll make friends fast.
Great for Avi, that you’re sending him to a special school. He’ll get lots more individual attention and if he’s anything like his father, that’s a must-have. The smarties always need more attention, so they don’t grow up to use their powers for evil.
For the record, I ADORE the name Avi. It’s, if you’ll excuse me because your son is five, sexy. And there’s nothing wrong with being the only one. I was the only one with my name for many, many years and now I hate it when someone else has my name!
Finns last blog post..Beneath My Skin
At ripe old age of 4 1/2, The Boy who had been dutifully listening to CBC news in the car asked what binding arbitration was. Turns out that was the easy question. Ack. (I am raising a social activist.)
Nick’s school is multicultural as well, and he was told me he wanted to be Jewish because of Rosh Hashanah (I think) because of the food, which consisted of apples and honey. He thinks that his may be the best meal ever. I am pretty sure he would have thought it even better if had involved bread in water too.
Nats last blog post..Cool enough for CBC
you are such a good dad.
hello haha narfs last blog post..I Want A Monkey
I love that you have such great opportunities for your son. One of the (many) but more important reasons I don’t want to have kids myself: my area is about as diverse as a KKK rally. I wish everyone could be as open-minded and dilligent a parent as you are. No one around here can say Muslim without sneering or spitting. Av is definitely a lucky boy.
Amanda: Thanks — and he’s still been talking about it! So I think this is the right choice all around…
Avitable: Dude — almost a week later and I’m still laughing out loud at that one…
Winter: One of the cool things about his teachers being Muslim and having names that aren’t the typical white bread English ones is that they picked up on the pronunciation of Avi’s name quite easily. Not that he has any problem correcting anyone who says it differently…
Hilly: Thanks! I’m looking forward to this, too. It’s been very cool seeing him just learn new stuff all the time — and seeing his eyes when things click in his head.
Radioactive Girl Tori: Thanks for the words of praise — we, too, looked at the local public school as a possible option — but opted for this instead. (There have been accreditation issues with the local elementary school; it’s a long story.) I’m glad that your investment in doing the best for your kids has paid off in success.
Poppy: First one to the big wooden blocks during indoor recess wins! GO!
Trill: You know? This weekend (which I’ll blog about eventually) was a nice one for all of us — he really started being independent, not needing us around all the time. It was a bit bittersweet, but it showed that he was able and willing to branch out.
We’re just hoping the new friends he makes have their own Wiis. And that they let their friend’s parents come over to play as well.
Karl: Thanks. I try to keep my evil powers bottled up as much as possible…
Finn: Please stay exactly where you are. Child Protective Services is on its way. 😉
Seriously though — I take a look at names the same way. Usually the “sexiness” of a name comes with a memory recall of a person with that name. I don’t think I’ll ever think of a “Lucy” without the image of Charlie Brown’s nemesis popping into my head.
(And, for the record, your real name is one of those that evokes sexiness as well!)
Nat: … wait until he learns that on Hanukkah it’s customary to eat potato pancakes and jelly doughnuts — due to it being a commemoration of oil! (Yes. Really.) And it’s eight days long — which means a lot of trips to the local Tim Hortons… (which I truly miss here in the States…)
Narfer Knows Best: … and you’re welcome to babysit anytime you’d like. 😉
antosocialite: First and foremost — welcome to my new place on the ‘net. Glad you found me. 🙂 You’ve mentioned the issues you and Mr. Antisocialite have had in your area. It’s a shame that some folks are still not as enlightened as you where it comes to open-mindedness.
And thanks — we consider ourselves lucky to have him.
I named my daughter Rhiannon. (nothing to do with the song)
When she was little she came home and asked why I didn’t give her au unusual name. When I asked like what…she got all dreamy eyed and sighed…”Rosebelle Rose” So for the next few weeks she was Rosabelle Rose. Cause Rhiannon just wasn’t unusual enough.
(I did the private gig too…elementary and high school….UC Davis was cheaper by far. I never regretted a single penny….or missed anything I could have bought instead of tuition.)
katherine.s last blog post..sword or shovel……blade as spade
Katherine: I guess we’re getting to an era where Michaels and Jennifers simply don’t appear in kindergarten classes the way they used to. And Rhiannon, by the way, is a beautiful name — despite the fact that it reminds me of Stevie Nicks’ raspy voice…
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