Category Archives: School Time

Aug 31

The Waiting Game

Mornings have become a bit of a rush. No matter how early I get up, or what time we manage to get out of the door. the morning drop-off is a bit time consuming. On a good day I can make it to both schools in twenty minutes, most days it is twenty five. Today it was ridiculous, and it took thirty five minutes.

The afternoon wait is a bit tougher. We are having to leave earlier and earlier to get a decent spot in line. That means an extra long wait for the little gal and me.

You can see her little grumpy face in the rear-view mirror. Some days are better than others. She brings along a toy or two for the wait, and I have a big bin of books in the car for her too. Some days she naps, most days she just gripes at me for about forty minutes.

I bring along a few magazines, or a book to read. It can be a little warm though. I can’t wait for Autumn weather to arrive.

The long wait gives me time to clean out my messy bag.

I hope that in a month we will have all adjusted to the new routine, and the long wait. Right now, I’m ready for a long weekend.

Aug 21

The First Day Of School

Yesterday evening the boys and I went to two different open houses at the boy’s attendance centers. Dylan was anxious to get to kindergarten, Thade was a bit apprehensive when it came to moving to his new school. It was a long evening, we spent an hour at each school.

After the open houses, I was exhausted, and overwhelmed with all of the new information, and the new routine too. I started to worry a bit in the evening about the day ahead.I packed their lunches the night before, and filled their water bottles too. My mind was racing, and I went to sleep way too late.

The kids were up extra early, by 6:15 a.m., all three of them. I was shocked. I thought the boys would try to sleep in, and I would have a tough time getting Agnes up for the day. They were all anxious to get going.

I had planned on leaving the house at 7:30 a.m., but we ended up leaving at 7:20 a.m., and I was glad we did. Between traffic, parking, walking everybody in, and saying good-bye, it took almost an hour between both schools.

We went to Thade’s school first. I walked him in, even though he didn’t want me too. The little ones were in tow too, so that probably added to the first day grumpies. He was ready to get to class, and for me to go. This little third grader is growing up fast.

We loaded back into the van, and headed across town to Dylan’s school.

He was so excited! He seriously could not wait for his first day at kindergarten. He already knew his way around the school, and he smiled and said hi to everyone that he passed.

I got Dylan to his classroom, and at his table just before the bell rang. He was so happy to be there, he started working on a little worksheet right away, and he wasn’t even a bit upset when I waved good-bye. My little man is growing up.

Agnes wasn’t too happy at all. She didn’t want to leave her brothers at school. She cried on the walk to the van, and then when I got her in her car-seat, she bawled when she didn’t see her boys. She cried on the drive home, and she cried walking into the house. At 9:30 a.m. she begged to go and get Dylan, and said that I was mean when I told her it wasn’t time yet. It has been a long day already. She misses Thade and Dylan so much.

I know this first week is going to be tough, but it is good too. I hope that the boys have a great day at school, and a fantastic school-year.

 

Jul 24

Back To School Shopping

James finally has a day off, so we took the boys back to school supply shopping.

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Agnes wasn’t too happy that she wasn’t getting school supplies. She is convinced that she is going to preschool this year, but she is still too little.

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Dylan was extra excited though. He can’t wait to go to Kindergarten. He found a new backpack and a green water-bottle to take along to school.

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Thade wasn’t too happy. He is in no hurry to go back to school. He was a little cheerier when he found a new favorite backpack though.

It is hard to believe that the Summer is almost over. I’m not ready for early mornings at all.

May 29

Sneaky Summer Reading

After the school year was finished, and all of the required reading programs had ended, Thade was burned out… I want to keep him reading this Summer, but to keep him interested, I have to be a bit creative.

I have a few tips that have worked for me so far.

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I’ve started reading more… This is good for both of us. When he catches me reading, he has a million questions about what I’m reading, what characters are involved, how many more chapters I have, and so on. It usually peaks his interest, and he’ll go choose a book to read too. Right now he is reading through the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series at night, and I’m reading the Hunger Games.

I have stashed books all over the house. I have bins of books all over the living room, and shelves covered in their room. I’ve started a collection for Agnes too. I encourage him to take a minute and read a quick book to his siblings. He’ll pick a short one, but it doesn’t matter. His brother and sister love to listen, and seeing a cool big kid read encourages them to want to read too.

I also encourage him to read beyond his school grade… Thade is an advanced reader, and I’m really proud of him for his accomplishment. This also leads him to become bored easily when he is assigned something that he can breeze through. Last school year he would get in trouble with the librarian for trying to check out a book that was above his grade level. I say read what is required at school, and read what you love on you own free time. This rebellious attitude towards reading makes him want to read longer chapter books, and he keeps pushing himself to jump up another level in reading too.

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One of my favorites is to let him read all of the menus, junk mail, magazines, coupons, and fliers that come our way. He loves to properly enunciate the punctuation marks, and scream when it is in all caps. It is hilarious, but his enthusiasm is adorable. The local fliers are much more entertaining when you have an eight year old reading them to you. It sneaks in everyday reading and understanding too, and he thinks it is just fun.

Do you have any tips to help keep kids motivated with their Summer reading?

Feb 3

School @ Home

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I know he doesn’t start for awhile, and trust me I’m not ready for him to go. Even though it makes me a little sad, I’m doing what I can to get Dylan ready to go to kindergarten.

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Dylan goes to preschool three times a week, and on the days he isn’t there, we work on school @ home. We practice writing his name, letters, and numbers too. Dylan is really interested in math, so I need to work that in too. He also colors lots of pictures, and we read books too. It is really fun.

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We also tour his soon-to-be school whenever we get the chance. Right now it is the attendance center that  Thade attends, and we go about once a month when we need to load Thade’s lunch account. I take Dylan for a little walk around the school, and we look for all the different rooms. We find the lunch room, the gym, the library, and then the kindergarten hall.

It is fun for him too, he has met a lot of the teachers, and on our last visit he met the principal too. He made her laugh too. We were introducing ourselves, and Dylan said he would be attending school soon. The principal introduced herself, and asked Dylan if he had any questions about school. He quickly retorted “I’m very concerned about homework”. She and another teacher giggled a bit, and the principal reassured Dylan that he didn’t have anything to worry about, his teacher would be there to help. He then said “but, what about math…” I think he is just about ready to go.

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Kindergarten will be here before I’m ready for it…