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Lars (emphatically): ‘I think there's no need for that. He can manage on his own.’
Headmistress: ‘Again, it's up to you. You are his father. We are only giving advice. As the boy will have to face a new society, hitherto unfamiliar to him. Therefore, certain changes may occur. Both psychological and…’
Lars: ‘Do you have psychologists?’
Headmistress: ‘Yes, of course.’
Lars: ‘Well, there you go. Then they will do their job in case of such changes.’
The headmistress looked regretfully at Theodore, who was sitting on a chair next to his father and wiggling his legs back and forth, looking at the books.
Headmistress: ‘Okay, I understand you. Then sign here and here. And you are free to go. We'll be expecting you tomorrow at 9:00.
Lars signed the papers handed to him by the headmistress and lifted his son from his chair and said goodbye. The boy paused for a moment and turned to the woman sitting at the table and waved his little hand at her. She smiled and waved back at him. The father tugged his son's hand and they walked away from the room.
The next day came. Early in the morning, the parents took the children to the Children's Education Centre. Some on foot, some by car. Every now and then the transport stopped near the entrance to the educational institution, dropping off the little passengers with their mothers and fathers at its doors. The Davels approached the building of the CEC. The door was swinging open as back and forth parents entered and exited. Theodore's father was in a remarkably good mood, believing he was finally rid of the cursed child for most of the day. The Davels equalled the other boy and the man. The child looked fearfully towards the CEC, unsure of what to expect from this new place. His father held his back as if to encourage him to take that step forward. The man bent down and whispered in the baby's ear, ‘It's going to be okay. We're going to go in there together and see what's going on!’
The child smiled in response to his words and moved forward confidently, scrambling up the small ladder leading to the entrance with eagerness and unintelligible sounds. Theodore smiled as he saw the way his peer was rushing to get into the building. Lars pulled his hand out of his son's small palm. So much so that he lost his balance from surprise and fell to the pavement. After which the man said: ‘That's it, go. You know the way. We were here yesterday.’ Lars turned his back on his son and silently headed in the opposite direction, leaving the child alone. Theodore, dressed in a grey summer jumpsuit at first, didn't understand what had happened and looked at his father with bewilderment, who soon disappeared from sight. Parents of other children passing by him began to pay attention to the child and stop with questions: ‘Whose boy are you? Where are your parents? Are you here alone?’
One of the mothers helped Theodore up off the ground and took him inside the centre, where the group assignment and introduction to the teachers had already begun.
Right in front of the entrance, not far from the principal's office, were happy parents waving to their children, who had already been assigned to groups and assigned to specific teachers. A couple of metres away from the parents were three rows of newly formed children's groups, headed by teachers. Between the parents and children, on a small step, the headmistress of the centre stood on a small step, solemnly announcing the names of the newly arrived students and then assigning them to a teacher.
The mother who had brought Theodore inside the building squeezed through the crowd of adults and turned to the director, pointing her finger at the child and explaining that she had found him near the entrance to the CEC. The director descended from her low stepladder and bending over the lost boy said: ‘Say, what's your name? Remember, we saw you yesterday. And we were sitting in this office.’ She pointed her finger at the door leading into her small office. Theodore turned his head in the direction she pointed. He wasn't frightened or agitated. He just couldn't understand what was wanted of him. The headmistress straightened to her full height and began to glance cursorily at the long piece of paper from which she had previously sounded out the list of enrolled kids.
Headmistress: ‘’Let's find you by the method of elimination. Who I haven't had time to allocate yet…’
An indignant whisper ran through the crowd, saying ‘how can this be?’, ‘where are his parents?’. ‘how can this be?’
The headmistress went over the entire list again, from beginning to end. She spoke loudly and clearly, pausing for long pauses between words, ‘I will ask for silence! There are still a few students left unassigned. When I call out their names, I will ask their parents for feedback. And so, let's begin! Derek Wanger!’
Almost instantly, a waving mum and her son appeared from the crowd. She shouted loudly: ‘That's us!’
Headmistress: ‘The boy is assigned to Mrs Donova's group.’ The mother led the boy to his assigned group. The headmistress made a note on her sheet.
Headmistress: ‘Susie Rauktree!’
A large man stepped forward from the crowd, holding his daughter by the legs on his shoulders. He pronounced: ‘She's here!’
Headmistress: ‘The girl is being assigned to a group in Mrs Santerini.’ The man gently and lovingly lowered his daughter to the ground and took her by the hand to the teacher's group.
Headmistress: ‘Theodore Davel!’ There was silence, and for a while there was silence in the air. The headmistress repeated the boy's first and last name twice. Theodore raised his head and took a couple of steps towards the headmistress. The crowd erupted, ‘That's him! That boy!’
The headmistress shifted her gaze to the child and smiled back at him: ‘Found you… So, your name is Theodore…’
Getting to know the CEC
The first day at the children's educational centre started with an introduction, which took a week, maybe a week and a half in total. Familiarisation with his peers, new teachers, unusual rooms filled with all sorts of thematic subjects. For him, as for the overwhelming majority of kids, all this was strange. Children at that age have a lot of energy, which they gladly spend on lessons. There was not a single child in Theodore's group who was eager to go back home to his parents. On the contrary. When the children crossed the threshold of the centre, it was as if they had forgotten about their existence. And when the time came to return home, many of them did not want to do so. After all, here, in a gigantic entertainment complex (as the children saw the centre), all attention was directed only at them. A lot of different entertainments, games and adventures.
After distribution on groups, educators conducted some demonstration classes with participation of parents of kids. Many of them, as it was recommended earlier by the headmistress, supported the children showing them that everything was fine and they were there for them. The classes were more like the first lessons of communication and familiarisation. First with the tutors, then with the classmates. The parents also got to know each other at this meeting and watched their children's behaviour with smiles.
Each group was in its own room. The children were seated in a circle on small stools. At the head of this circle at twelve o'clock level, sitting on the floor was the tutor Theodora. He was assigned to Mrs Donova. She was about forty-five years of age. The woman's black coloured hair was, tied in a small ponytail at her back. Dressed in an elegant bright blue business suit, consisting of a jacket and a long skirt, she looked at her pupils with a smile, radiating only positivity and warmth. Her experience in educating preschoolers totalled about twenty years. This woman knew exactly what good upbringing was, having trained and graduated seven groups. The age of the educator allowed her to apply previously studied methods of education, which have become classics, but also to improve their qualifications, quietly mastering new ones, not lagging behind the progress.
At first, the children fussed, getting up from their chairs, running around the room, crawling on the floor, not paying any attention to their new yet unfamiliar teacher. She chatted patiently