Saturday, August 28, 2010

Back to School

Our family is back in the swing of things with school. This year I'm teaching kindergarten and am so excited about it. So far we've only had staggered entry days - a few kids each day...Wed. 5, Thurs. 7, Fri. 7, and Mon. 4 or possibly 5. All the kids come on Tuesday. After a year of teaching Title I, it's good to be back in the trenches again. I'm working on lesson plans this weekend, which is one of my favorite parts of teaching.

The twins started third grade. They have the same teacher they had last year, which we were all very excited about. She is very kind and gentle and they love her so much. Lou Lou has been frustrated because they haven't had any homework - one way that she's just like me:). She is also nervous about the grades in third grade. This is their first year of having A, B, C, etc. Grades are a part of life, but there are so many better ways to determine what children know and can do rather than assigning a grade. This is also their first year of the end of grade tests. The whole setup for this method of assessment and accountability is messed up. American education seems slow to change, even when research supports it.

Bug started ballet and has been to two lessons so far. She is so independent and walks in there with all smiles. She feels so excited because now she knows some actual ballet words and positions. She comes out each week telling me what she learned and how much fun she's having. Lou Lou is taking ballet and jazz. When the twins were small, I considered ballet, jazz lessons, etc. to be a waste of money. I took ballet as a child and where did it ever get me? I certainly don't use first position, battement, tendu, plie now. However, now I consider it more as fun for right now. Now I think there's nothing wrong with having fun and keeping physically active with no lifelong dream or plan attached to it. Fun for the sake of fun. Anyway, they are really enjoying it.

Bear is excited about scouts gearing up again. His room is decorated - I use that term loosely:) - with camping stuff. We need to do some more with that, but we just haven't gotten around to it yet. Anyway, camping is his thing. Jimmy took each twin for a camping trip this summer and is going to take Bug in September. Birdie is still a bit young yet for camping.

Birdie and Bug have both moved up to the next class at daycare. Bug is officially the oldest kid in the daycare. When Bug moved out of Ms. Sharal's class, Birdie moved in. On their first day back, Bug said, "When we get there, I'm going to go hug Ms. Sharal." Birdie protested, "No, you can't do that. She's my teacher now!"

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