6th grade orientation

We all went to 6th Grade Orientation with Annah last night.  We even took her friend Michaela along, as her mom couldn't get her there.  On our way over, the girls said they were nervous about 6th grade.  They sat very quietly and seemed to be listening intently as the principal and teachers and coaches outlined how junior high would be different than elementary school--different schedule (8 periods of classes), no recess, changing clothes for P.E., 3 minutes between classes, trying out for sports, tougher grading scale, responsibility for keeping lockers organized, using a planner, following syllabi, planning for future high school and college classes...  It was probably a lot of new information for them!  Afterwards, they said they were still nervous about junior high.

When she came home from school today, Annah said kids were complaining about how orientation was boring.  Annah and I laughed and agreed that no one said it was going to be a party!  ;)  Apparently, those kids must think they have it all in the bag, but Annah said she thought it was scary.  She is worried about the extra responsibility, organization and hard work that will be required.  She is thinking hard about whether or not she wants to be involved in basketball, which will start about a week into school.  She realizes it would be harder to keep her grades up and get adjusted to junior high if she is also trying to work hard in basketball.

Jeremy and I are, of course, very confident in her and whatever she chooses to do.  I think we are trying to encourage her to make her own choices and decide what she can handle.  We're allowing her to keep the healthy fear of being overwhelmed with too many activities, but we also know she can completely handle whatever she decides to try.