Kindergarten is first step for youngster

Kenny Griffin is ready and eager to go to school.

By:Amanda Bok
   Elizabeth Griffin sits on a bench in front of her house and reads to her children.
   It’s late in the morning and warm. Crickets and birds are noisy in the background. A game of jacks sits abandoned on the floor nearby.
   Ms. Griffin’s selection is "Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten," by Joseph Slate. It’s an appropriate book because Ms. Griffin’s son Kenny, 5, is preparing to go to kindergarten in a few days.
   Kenny is energetic and curious. He sits on his mother’s lap and drinks in the story. His sister Katie, 2, sits beside them and listens in.
   To Ms. Griffin’s relief, Kenny is ready and eager to go to school.
   "He really hasn’t shown any anxiety, I think he’s ready," she said, adding she’s not nervous at all for her son.
   Kenny nods energetically when asked if he’s excited about kindergarten. He smiles and his brown eyes sparkle with anticipation. Mostly, he looks forward to learning how to read. Because he already knows how to spell, he says proudly.
   And when asked if he’s just a little nervous about school, he replies a smooth "no," like it is the furthest of his emotions.
   "Because," he says when asked why not, "my friends will be there."
   According to his mother, he made friends during two years of preschool at Montessori Corner in Plainsboro, and because he participated in various play groups and community activities.
   "Kenny knows some kids in the class. He knows his teacher, (Barbara Adams), I think that helps," Ms. Griffin said.
   For a parent, it’s a proud moment to see her firstborn go to school, she said.
   "I know he’s going to do really well, I’m excited," she said. "It’s just amazing that it’s already time for him to go to kindergarten."
   For Kenny, school comes not a moment too soon. He says he counted the days and holds up six fingers to prove it. School starts Sept. 4.
   But he also admits he will miss his sister, with whom he plays, runs and races.
   When asked if she would miss him, Katie offered a quiet, "Yes." Going into the house, she carried a zip-lock bag with jacks in it: "Kenny’s toys," she called them.