Kaitlyn's Teacher

I didn't want to steal CJ's thunder since yesterday was his first day of school so I waited to post this one. I met with Kaitlyn's teacher after school yesterday. It was just my way of introducing my smart, enthusiastic, amazing daughter to him and finding out how her IEP (Individual Education Plan) will be incorporated into her day. First I just have to say I am so optimistic about what Kaitlyn's year is going to bring for her. In just three days of school her teacher this year has a better understanding of just how amazing, sweet, and capable my little girl is than her teacher from last year managed to learn about her. He has made her feel so special and welcome in a brand new school and this whole transition has gone so smoothly so far.

Now, even though Kaitlyn has 3 hours of special ed pull out in reading a week she will not feel that it is a punishment or that she is missing out on anything. She will start her reading time with the class where they will discuss what he wants to see from them that day. Then everyone will split up into their groups and numerous groups will be leaving to go to other parts of the building or the classroom. Kaitlyn will go off with the special ed teacher for her group time with her. And in special ed part of the things they are trying to incorporate with her is teaching her the different sounds vowels make since she has zero grasp on that. When she comes back from her half an hour or so with the special ed teacher she will then do a small group with her teacher where she will read with him. She will not be coming back in the middle of snack or missing anything at all that the other kids are doing like what would happen with her last year.

Her teacher believes that the reason you can't read her handwriting is because she's just so excited and wants to get so much information out on the paper and her head is working faster than she can actually write. They are going to work on that with her so she can organize her thoughts and take her time. She has a good base of how to write a story with a beginning, middle, and end. I must say no one has ever said this to me before that I can remember. I mean I know she can tell one heck of a story, but it usually gets lost in translation when she puts it down on paper. I don't understand why it has taken this long for someone to find out that she can write.

Her day is extremely structured with a schedule written on the board that they follow to a T every day. There doesn't seem to be any if you can't transition properly as a class we will then miss out on that activity all together like would happen last year. Her teacher last year just seemed so frazzled and lost most of the time not knowing what time it was. That does not seem to be the case this year.

I am so far extremely impressed with Kaitlyn's teacher. He's equally impressed with Kaitlyn and I think just the fact that she knows he is really on her side will just do wonders for her. Her teacher last year had some clear favorites and it was obvious that Kaitlyn wasn't it. All of that is completely different this year. She has a teacher who truly gets Kaitlyn and finds so much good in her. There wasn't much I could tell him about her and what a wonderful little girl she is because he already saw it.

So I just have to say I truly appreciate this wonderful teacher who has taken such a shine to my little girl. The feelings are clearly mutual I must say. Kaitlyn can't help but gush and there is a twinkle in her eye when she talks about school this year. So I just know she's going to have the best year ever!

CJ's a Preschooler

Today was CJ's very first day of school. Hard to believe he's ready for school. Well, and maybe he's not entirely ready, but this is such a great program the town has. I believe this is the 3rd year they've had a program for 3 year olds. It's only a couple of hours a day, but it's every day. So it gives them a nice taste of school. I must admit he did not start his day off on the best foot. He was woken up by his sisters before 7 this morning so he was crabby. He woke up quickly though. After getting the girls off on their buses we got CJ ready for school. And since pictures are worth a thousand words I'll let the pictures do the talking here a little...

Making a silly face

Doesn't want that backpack on

Going out the door

Walking to the car

Getting in the car


Lined up to go in

Found his cubby

That was where I left him. He began to pout and cry as I was leaving, but I knew I had to keep going. I ran home to make sure I didn't get any phone calls to come get him and I didn't. Then before I knew it it was time to go get him. We pulled into the parking lot and the little ones were all outside. I instantly spotted CJ playing basketball with a few other boys. He was having so much fun. I stayed out of sight though so he wouldn't run to the fence. When they got their backpacks on and went to sit on the side to be dismissed we went in there. Here he is sitting with his friends...


His teacher said he cried for a while after we left, but didn't specify what a while was. But he did stop obviously and had a good day after that. He was telling us all about the playing ball. Clearly his favorite part of the day. He said he had crackers and water for snack. And he seems to have picked up a new word. He now responds to all questions with the cutest little "Yup!" In the past it has always been a yeah so I think he must have heard Yup a lot today. I asked him if he wants to come back tomorrow to play and he said, "Yup!" So we will see how tomorrow goes. Hopefully he won't cry as much tomorrow.

All ready to go home

Pre-K Orientation

Today we went to CJ's Pre-K Orientation. The classroom is very nice. CJ found tons of trucks and planes to play with which are right up his alley. And he loved the little reading corner too. Got quite comfy in there and kept yelling: "Hi mom!" while I was trying to listen to the teacher. Love that boy! He's so cute. He seems excited about starting on Tuesday. We will see how it goes when he realizes mom and dad don't get to stay. I am worried about how he's going to handle it since at the screening all he did was cry. But he's had 3 months since then to grow up a little so maybe he'll be okay.

I have to send him to school in pull ups. I hate pull ups. I don't think they are a very good potty training tool, but he can't wear a diaper and he's no where's near ready for underwear for even a few hours at school. They will help with the potty training process. I was looking forward to the peer influence in helping him because really he's just not all that interested right now. He observes what other kids do so much though and there is that curiosity so maybe we'll get there sooner than I think, but for now I have to break down and get pull ups.

But we are looking forward to his first day of school on Tuesday.

The Grass is Always Greener...

on the other side. That is the saying. It's funny how when the kids are in school you can't wait until they are out for vacation. Then once the kids are home they are driving you crazy and you can't wait for them to go back. Then they go back and you remember all over again why you wanted them home.

It has been an exhausting day. Our issues with the bus this morning carried over into this afternoon.

Natalie's bus dropped her off down the street instead of at the corner as was stated where her bus stop would be. I asked the bus driver about it and she said it's illegal to stop at the corner. Uhhh, what? That makes no sense. Kaitlyn's bus stopped there. So I called the bus company. I was on hold forever and they were supposed to look into the issue. Seriously, I want her bus stop at the corner. Then I can see her.

Then Kaitlyn's bus was super late dropping her off. Ugh, and it was so hot out there. She was not on the bus I put her on this morning. I asked the bus driver if maybe she was put on bus 2 instead. There were a lot of missing kids so it took her a while to get through. She said she wasn't on that bus. I had sent Joe to the other corner though to wait. I was about to go call the school to find out where she was when the other bus pulled up and she was on that one. Phew what a relief. Her teacher said she was supposed to be on that bus. I had talked to the bus drivers and there is room on both buses for her so I asked her which one she wants. She wants the one she came home on so that's the bus I'll put her on.

So now I've got homework and they don't. Everyone's telling me about their day at once. For the most part they had a good day. Natalie got to school with only a few minutes left of homeroom. Sigh, if her bus is that late again tomorrow I'll have Joe bring her in so she's not that late. She couldn't work her locker and her homeroom teacher wouldn't help her so she had to carry her backpack around with her all day. She had some issues I guess getting her lunch. She's got a mean girl in her Science and Math class so far. She knew this girl in 1st grade and she was mean to her then and she's still mean to her; pushing her apparently. We gave her extra money to get french fries today and she said they were awesome. She loves her computers class best so far.

Then Kaitlyn got a cute little note from her teacher saying he can't wait to see her tomorrow and hopes she had a good 1st day and that he too changed schools in the 3rd grade just like her. She really really likes him even though she thought she wouldn't. He gave her a bag of candy ;). She hasn't made any new friends yet. She has to share her locker with a bossy boy she said. But it sounds like all in all she had a good day.

Now the girls are back to getting on each others nerves. And CJ had continued with his disobedient 2 year old ways all day today. That has been escalating since the girls got home. He has Pre-K orientation tomorrow and then starts school on Tuesday. And I just want to go back to bed.

1st Day of School 2010

Well, this was it. The much anticipated and nerve wracking day for two of my children. Going off to new schools. A middle schooler and a 3rd grader now. Both riding a bus for the first time in a very long time. Both anxious. Both nervous. Both ready well before they had to leave...

Natalie and Kaitlyn

Natalie at the door

Natalie got her backpack

Walking out the door

Going down the stairs

Heading to the bus stop

Almost there

So Natalie waited 40 minutes for her bus to come. It finally arrived at 8:00 when school starts. Great, so first day at a new school with new things to learn and she's already very late. I know they were giving them extra time, but she was going to be very rushed. Poor kid. I'm anxious to hear how everything goes. No phone calls yet so I guess she's okay.


Kaitlyn all ready for school

She has her backpack

Ready to go out the door

Her bus arrived on time

Getting on the bus

So when I walked out the door I noticed that up the street from us there was another bus stop. I thought that's strange, but we walked down the street to the same stop Natalie was at. We waited for maybe a minute before the bus showed up. She got on the bus and was on her way. I walked back home with CJ and the children were still standing at the other bus stop. Hmmm, I wonder if Kaitlyn should be on that bus. It got picked up maybe five minutes later. Well, at least I know if she's ever running late she has other options. I went in the house and checked out the bus routes and discovered that other stop was a completely different bus. I wonder which one they will put her on coming home. We are literally in the middle of these two bus stops.

So even though we were ready on time I felt rushed this morning. Hopefully as the weeks go on we get a better idea of when these buses will arrive. Hopefully Natalie's bus won't be so late the rest of the year. Because I really only had five or ten minutes after she got on the bus to get Kaitlyn all ready for her bus. So I was a little frazzled with these buses. But everyone's in school and no phone calls so far so all must be good. Can't wait to hear how their day goes.

Happy September

Wow, I am really doing bad with my blog. It's September and I can count on one hand how many blog posts I've done over the summer. I can't believe it's September already. So tomorrow is the girls first day of school. Natalie starts middle school and Kaitlyn starts a new elementary school. We had Natalie's middle school orientation last night. I had hoped some of her fears would be put to rest, but I think it just made her more anxious. She has her schedule, her homeroom, her locker, and combination. She got to try out her locker. She does already have her locker number and combo memorized, but she's not all that confident in the use of her locker. She has a tendency to go slightly past the number and then tries to correct it by turning it back which is what messes her up. Sometimes I hate that I can't be there to help her. She'll get the hang of it though. She is definitely nervous though and by the end of the evening you could tell she was just exhausted with it all. I was trying to give her every opportunity to try to find her way around, but she was just not interested. I keep telling her that if she has any questions she just has to find an adult. They kept stressing to the kids that all they need to know is their name and their team color and they are fine. If they know those two things then they can get them where they need to be. So Natalie's ahead of the game there.

So Natalie's green team is the split 6th/7th grade team. What does this mean? It means Natalie will be walking the hall with 7th graders. They shouldn't be in class with her. I'm not crazy about that, but then again I guess she'll be on the bus with the 7th and 8th graders anyways. I'm sure she'll be fine, but I'm her mom and I worry about her ;). Her best friend is NOT on her team. So this is very disappointing for her. As a matter of fact she didn't see anyone she's friends with on her team. So she's very upset about that. I told her there will be other kids with the same situation that she can make friends with. She says she is not making any friends this year. That will change quickly I'm sure.

So anyways, here it is September 1st. Tomorrow the girls will go to the bus stop and ride the bus for the very first time and leave me and CJ home by ourselves. Then Friday CJ and I will go to his Pre-K orientation at his school. He starts on Tuesday. My kids are getting so big. Watch out for pictures from the 1st day of school. Sorry, I won't be able to get any pictures of them with their teacher this year like I have in the past because we are no longer in walking distance.

Monica's Musings #7

Just a few random thoughts from me...

I never realized how many birthdays there are in my family in the month of August. Aunts, cousins, nephews, it's really a crazy month for birthdays. Probably didn't really realize it since most of that family is in FL. See how Facebook reminds us of these things?

Sprint and Comcast are ticking me off. Sprint because of all the dropped calls I have and now that they send me something that's supposed to fix that problem it turns out it's refurbished. I did not pay for a refurbished item thank you very much. And Comcast because my modem keeps going on the fritz. Not sure what the deal is with it. I'm going to have to call Comcast, but somehow I have the feeling whatever the problem is it's going to end up costing me. Or at least making me get into a fight.

I am having a Pampered Chef party in a week. My cousin just became a consultant so to help her out I'm going to be her first party. I hope it goes well.

The kids go back to school in a little less than a month. Natalie already doesn't like middle school. She had a summer reading assignment that is proving to be too difficult for her. Well, it's not really difficult for her, but she doubts herself. I know she knows how to do this. I have begun their back to school shopping and we are waiting to see what team Natalie will be on and who Kaitlyn's teacher is. Hopefully we'll get that information in the mail soon.

I really can't believe it's August already. This summer is going by pretty fast.