School

Back to School!  To be honest, I really wasn't quite ready for school to start again this year.  I did not reach the point of fatigue of having my kiddos around all the time.  I enjoyed to slower starts to the morning, not having to make school lunches, the freedom to decide to just pick up and go swimming, not having a deadline to have to have the laundry done by...  But I was ready to go to the grocery store without 3 kids in tow.  And the bickering started to increase the last week or so.  Regardless, August 26th arrived and the big kids were back again.

Bubba is in 3rd grade this year.  His teacher in Miss Looney.  She is a first year teacher but seems very organized and eager.  She has some creative ideas and the kids like her.  She says she has a really sweet group of kids.  I believe right now he has 19 or 20 kids in his class.  2 or 3 kids had to move to another school because there is not enough room for their younger siblings in 1st grade.  He already has 1200 minutes of reading in the first 3 weeks, thanks to the Percy Jackson series.  To put that into perspective, the school strives for each kid to have at least 600 minutes in 6 weeks.  He finished all 5 Percy Jackson books since school started.  Now we need to find another series as he really prefers to read a series of books as opposed to a single novel.  He has several of The Guardians of Ga'Hoole books so I think we will try those. I am room mom for his class again.

 

 

 He is doing ballet again and they started several weeks ago.  It is getting serious!  Last week they started learning to do pirouettes!  And they stretch with their legs up on the barre!  He has said the girls are less silly and don't goof around with him as much, which is a good thing. 

Duchess started 1st grade.  Her teacher is Mrs. Edwards and she has been teaching at Wallace for 15 years.  She really seems like she wants to meet the individual needs of each student to the best of her ability.  Duchess's class started out with 27 students!  I think they are down to 25 now and supposedly will get down to the state mandated 22.  Apparently there are tons of first graders in the Lake Highlands areas and all of the area first grades are full!  One school added an entire section of first grade and that is still not enough room.  These "overflow" students are having to go to other elementary schools in the district and the older siblings are going with them.  They are deciding who stays and who goes based on when the enrollment forms were turned in, so we are safe!  She insists that she does not have homework- that the packet of papers she brings home which are to be completed at home and returned to school is not homework.  It is just papers to do at home and take back.  Not sure why she is so resistant to calling it "homework"... 

Ballet is also going well for her.  She gets to use the barre for the first time this year, which is Very Exciting. 

Huck started Mother's Day Out at a little church just down the road.  I was not able to take him his first day because I had a meeting at work.  Daddy took him the first day.  He dutifully took lots of pictures for me.  It started out okay as you can see...

 

 

 

 

 

 

All smiles, even when he went into the classroom... 

Until he realized Daddy was leaving and he was staying...

Then the pout came out.  Then the tears. Then an escape attempt...  But his teacher reported that he calmed down and was mostly happy during the day.  His teachers are Miss Bridget and Miss Eunice.  He is going 3 days a week, Tues, Wed and Thurs, from 9-2:30.  They have rest time from 12-2 and Huck has actually slept.  He does not like being dropped off AT ALL.  He starts saying "Me no want to go school" or "No like school" or "Mommy stay with me" in a very sad voice.  I dropped him off yesterday and it was a little bit better.  We sang a Going to School song all the way there, singing about the fun things he would do at school and I think it may have helped.  He says he likes school when he is at home.  He is able to talk about what he did that day and proudly shows off his art work.  So we'll stick with it and see how he adjusts.

You would think that I have been very productive with all this "free time" without kids, but not so much...  I'll get there, too, I'm sure.  Right now I am enjoying even slower mornings after drop offs are complete!