being a first grader means...

1. lots more writing than you are used to.

you're going to have to write for EVERYTHING.  if you can still get away with dictating a few things and letting your mom write it for you, DO IT.  because, i gotta tell you, writing is hard.

but you'll always have enough hand strength to play video games after lessons.  every. time.

2.  lots more subjects than you had last year.

oh, you had science and history last year?  did you also have copywork, spelling, geography, and math?  did you maybe have a subject in kindergarten that was COMPLETELY TO DO WITH COLORS?  OR SHAPES?

psh.  kindergarteners have all the luck.

kindergarteners can suck it.  first grade stuff is WAY HARDER.

3.  not as much coloring.

in kindergarten, everything has to do with coloring.  are you learning about the number seven?  you get to color seven birds.  are you learning about the letter "m"?  you get to color a moon and a moose and a mule and a mammoth.  are you learning about the statue of zeus because you're studying the seven wonders?  you get to color it.  (okay, so sometimes first graders get to color statues of zeus, too.  however...)

in first grade, if you're learning how to add two numbers together, guess what?  you have to write them.  if you're learning about electricity in science, you have to write about it when you do the worksheet.  if you're learning about globes in geography, you have to write the stinkin' word "globe" like fifty times.

4.  it takes you longer than your brother (who is in kindergarten, the lucky kid) to do seatwork.

while he is over there scribbling to color in six red radishes, you are toiling over about fifteen different worksheets of first grade math.  (note: may be a slight exaggeration.)

while he is learning about the sound the letter "a" makes, you are writing the letter "a" over and over again as you do your spelling and/or copywork.

while he gets to color in the squares he finds in the pictures, you are, guess what, doing more writing for the love of pete as you finish your geography worksheet.

and while he gets to run off and watch spongebob when he finishes his measly three worksheets, you are only halfway through with yours. 

punk.

5. learning new stuff.



not everything is bad about being a first grader.  having more subjects means you get to learn about more interesting things, like how the aztecs grew their food and how chemical energy gets changed to kinetic energy.

still.  you have to write about all of it.

and finally,

6.  being a first grader means getting to tell everyone you're in the first grade.

because "i'm in the first grade," sounds way better than "i'm in kindergarten."

'nuff said.