First day of school!!!

The 23^rd of August came pretty quick. During the couple weeks we were back and before school started, we hung out with friends, enjoyed the sun and moved Reggie in to the “office”. It was a mellow couple weeks, but went way too fast.

The week before school started, we found out who Reggie’s teacher was. To my surprise, it was one of the Kindergarten teachers from last year. She is teaching the combo class (1/2 1^st graders, 1/2 kindergarteners). I was a bit surprised and a little disappointed that he would be in the same place (there is a separate building/play structure for the kinders). Reggie was super excited because he knew the teacher and would be in the same classroom setting (he is very reserved in new settings, so we got to skip those nervous feelings this year!). This option had never even crossed my mind, but, once I started thinking about it, I realized it will be a really good thing. The kinders go home half-way through the day, so he has only 12 children in his class for part of the day! He has absolutely loved it so far and has ventured out to the big playground to find his friends on recess and at lunch. For me, it has been a little adjustment. Last year, we were overloaded with information and this year, we don’t get much, just drop the kids and go. I'll be volunteering in his class this year, so I'll get to see how it all works :o). Reggie’s friends are scattered in other classes, so it is more difficult to hang out and visit with mom’s, but we are figuring it out.

We’ve been exploring with lunches…today, I sent teriyaki chicken and rice. Those thermos’s really keep things warm. I made a deal with him that if he eats his vegetable, he can have a small treat and so far, he's mostly been eating them after school. I don’t think his friends will be wanting to steal his lunch anytime soon….they probably wonder why he is eating a spinach salad with croutons! It is always interesting to see what is left at the end of the day. He is a good eater :o).

There are 2 boys in his class from last year and they have an interesting dynamic, so we are learning about bullying and how to pick your friends wisely. Some of the conversations we are having seem crazy for 1^st grade, but Reggie is doing the right thing and being more confident in standing up for what is right. Reggie asked if we could call one of the boys mother’s to explain something that had happened in the classroom, so we did and she was very appreciative.

We haven’t been doing much extra activites because we’re still trying to get into a routine, but we’ve had fun biking to school and playing with friends on the playground after school (except the the several days that were over 100 degrees!).

The 12 first graders:

Ainsley and I have been very productive while Reggie is at school. We’ve been grocery shopping several days, thrift store shopping, cleaning, doing laundry, etc. Ainsley is very good about playing by herself, so I’ve been able to get caught up on a lot of stuff (she is having a tea party as I write). We did take one day last week to do something fun and it about killed me. We went to pump it up and I was her friend, so I ran around with her for an hour and 15 minutes! I finally had to ask her if she was getting tired or hungry, but her response was no!!! We went down one more big slide and she decided she was hungry :o). It will be nice to have some time with her to work on letters and play babies.

Ainsley started school on Sept. 8th and is having a bit of an adjustment period. I think she has a bit of social anxiety. I’ve been noticing it more and more, starting at her birthday party, now church, gymnastics and school. It is pretty obvious she’s nervous because she puts her hands together under her chin. As time goes on, she relaxes, so I’m hoping this is just a phase. Reggie was very similar, if not worse and he is much different now. I just don’t understand how both of them are like this. I’ve asked myself if it is something I am doing and her teacher assured me that they are the way they are, but it is hard to watch her struggle :o(. Time will tell….I’ve seen just how far kids can go in just one year :o).

Signing in:

We just started homework this week and so far both kids love it! I have several workbooks that I was hoping to use someday and I’m finally using them! It is a bit tricky for me to work with both of them, especially keeping Reggie on track because he loves to “help” Ainsley. She is doing great with her writing and starting to learn letters/sounds. If we keep this up all year, she’ll be reading by Kindergarten! Reggie has already noticed an improvement in his reading and that is giving him a desire to read more!!!!! Cross your fingers that this lasts more than a week......