ABSTRACT
Each year, in late August or early September, a ritual takes place at the entrance to America’s elementary schools. Mixed in with confident and casual first, second, and third graders streaming toward the school building are sets of both eager and anxious 5-year-olds approaching their first day of kindergarten. Some stride off to their designated classrooms without a backward glance. Some smile tentatively at their parents and hesitate before stepping into the unknown. Several cling tightly to mother’s hand or father’s leg. A closer look suggests that it is not only the children who are experiencing anxiety. Some parents’ memories of their own passage into the world of elementary school make it difficult for them to let their children go easily. The school bell rings. The older children begin to form lines and move into their classrooms. As most of the kindergartners get the idea, they form a ragged not-quite-line, and with guidance from a teacher, they too disappear into the building. Their parents stand around in small clusters. Some mothers and fathers look lost, not quite ready to leave the school grounds, and a few surreptitiously brush away a tear as they begin to move on to the rest of their morning.
