Last week I was obsessing about Isabelle's teacher thinking we were uninvolved, negligent parents. I mean I already told her Isabelle would not be doing homework this year which, to her credit she has said nothing about after the initial email contact. Then when I got an email telling me I had missed turning in some permission slips I made her send me links to them because it was too much work to go searching through the school web site for them. (Really it is a vast abyss to search through.) And finally I realized we have forgotten to send the appropriate show and tell item with Isabelle for the past couple weeks.
Miraculously she has managed to have something for lunch every day and arrive basically on time. I can't vouge (how do you spell this word?) for combed hair or matching clothes though.
But I reason she is happy and bright and certainly not at risk of falling behind so if she does nothing this year she will be just fine. Which is good because we are doing nothing with her this year.
For the past 6 years our life has revolved largely around her. We have given attention to Jake as well as John and my personal whims but it all sort of circled around Isabelle in some way or another. This year everything circles around John and my transition. With any extra effort available we give it to Jake as he spends his final year with us before graduation.
This is not to say she is being neglected. We are just not focused on how to teach her, grow her and help her develop her gifts and skills. She is getting a little less attention than she thinks she needs but otherwise this should be a great year for her because we are putting almost no expectations on her.
It's first grade. I think she will survive.
I imagine next year, with me fully transitioned into working and once again the mother of an only child able to volunteer in the class and focus all my attention on Isabelle, her 1st and 2nd grade teachers talking and Isabelle's parents coming up and after comparing notes wondering if they are talking about the same little girl. One year she has the negligent parents and the next they are helping her reach for the stars, helping in class and running the PTA!
OK sorry I got carried away there. I'm not going to be transformed into a totally different person, but still I can imagine a little more involvement in her life. Anything would be an improvement over this year.
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
School is in session
After a summer of transition for me and anticipation before our new life began we are finally here. John and Jake started at Normandale Community College 3 weeks ago and Isabelle started 1st grade this past week.
Jake started his Senior year of High School and his Freshman year of College all on the same day. He tried to sneak off without pictures but John had been charged with the task of photographing his first day for me and he would not be deterred.
I was almost bursting with love for my two boys as I saw them sitting at the table that week both doing homework.
They have totally different schedules and while they are both taking Freshman English it is like they are taking 2 totally different classes as their assignments are so different. Jake's classes are still your basics, Spanish, English and Calculus. While John is taking some classes that have been great for conversations at our house. Along with the English class and pre-college math he is taking Psychology and World Civilizations, both of which have been fun to hear about and talk about. We actually talk about these things all the time anyway but how fun to get conversation starters from his teachers about the way our brains develop or what influenced the development of our modern society. Date nights are just that much more interesting these days.
This past week the final member of our house started school. I went into work late and left early on Tuesday to be there and capture the first day of 1st grade.
It was going to be a perfect morning where I got up and got dressed, made a big breakfast, read a devotional, prayed for Isabelle, took many photos of her in the backyard and then drove her to the school for more pictures and the launching of my baby girl into full day school.
It started off like that but just after getting dressed Jake starts running around looking for his keys. Then after going out to check he comes in and announces he locked the keys in the truck. Suddenly my leisurely morning went into high gear as I threw together Isabelle's first school lunch without any love, didn't even make myself a lunch, realized as we were putting the lunch in the backpack that the teacher had told us at the open house there was homework in the packet she was giving us, ripped open the packet to discover she is supposed to bring her 5 favorite books, quickly grabbed them off the bookshelf, wrote her name in them and tossed everyone in the car to get Jake to class on time.
We did have a couple minutes before Isabelle's school started so we stopped at Caribou for a slice of Lemon poppy seed bread. The breakfast of champion sugar rushed students.
When we got to school I realized I hadn't had my time to pray for her so much to her dismay I prayed for her as we rushed across the parking lot to find her class.
She was nervous when we first arrived but I finally manage to get her to pose for a decent first day of school photo. That is really all I ask for.
I did get home with plenty of time to spare in the afternoon and was there to greet her off the bus.
And get a picture of my now official 1st grader.
We then went inside for our usual after school tea party. John and Jake joined us. It was great.
There are still plenty of transitions ahead for us. John's work is slowing down and finding time to do what work he has while learning to be a student has been challenging. Jake on the other hand has lots of free time in his schedule and helping him utilize that free time to accomplish all that needs to get done this year rather than fritter the time away has been a focus this past week. And Isabelle has come home exhausted each day and has crashed in front of the tv for the rest of the day. Probably not the best long term plan for her evenings.
Overall we feel great about how everything is going. Life is definitely very different than it was 6 months ago but different can be good and while I think we have a good 6 months or more before "normal" will be a word we are comfortable using to describe our day to day life we are definitely on the right path.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
One more week!
Ah the beautiful August days of summer in Minnesota are upon us, hot sunny days and cool quiet nights. A time of year that is usually simultaneously busy with school prep and relaxing as the lazy days of summer settle upon us. While my southern sister has been talking about mid-August school starts for years, up north we start school after Labor day. However, both my boys start school at Normandale Community College next Monday! We are not used to these early school starts and are not at all prepared for our lives to change so much in 7 short days. Yikes!
It is going to be interesting. Both boys are taking 14 credits, Jake is doing it in 3 classes and John is taking 4. Jake is taking 2 hybrid classes with both class and internet work so his actual clocked time in school is only 9 hours a week. What exactly he plans to do with all this time alone at home we haven't exactly figured out but I am foreseeing myself having that live in chef I have always wanted.
John on the other hand wasn't sure he was ready for internet classes after so many years out of school and will be clocking in all 14 hours of class work every week. He did manage a schedule with one day of no classes and 2 other days with only a couple hours of classes which is important since he will also have to find about 20 hours a week for work. Not to mention studying.
I have had a wonderful, supportive husband and son all summer long as I transitioned from a homemaker to a working mother, I am seeing the end of this phase and the beginning of a phase in which my husband will need that same support from me as he becomes a full time student. (Interestingly he hasn't been a full time student for almost the same number of years I haven't worked full time.) While I am still grieving the loss of my time at home in some ways I have come to find the routine of my new life comfortable and the job is keeping me busy enough that the days go quickly. I realize I no longer have the time I once had to accomplish things but I am learning that if I am patient in time everything can still get done.
So I prepare to move back into the nurturing wife and mother role that I have been able to put on the back burner for a few months knowing that while it won't look the same I will be the same. And I love taking care of my family.
Of course, I do still have one week left so I think I will let John put Isabelle to bed tonight while I get to bed on time.
It is going to be interesting. Both boys are taking 14 credits, Jake is doing it in 3 classes and John is taking 4. Jake is taking 2 hybrid classes with both class and internet work so his actual clocked time in school is only 9 hours a week. What exactly he plans to do with all this time alone at home we haven't exactly figured out but I am foreseeing myself having that live in chef I have always wanted.
John on the other hand wasn't sure he was ready for internet classes after so many years out of school and will be clocking in all 14 hours of class work every week. He did manage a schedule with one day of no classes and 2 other days with only a couple hours of classes which is important since he will also have to find about 20 hours a week for work. Not to mention studying.
I have had a wonderful, supportive husband and son all summer long as I transitioned from a homemaker to a working mother, I am seeing the end of this phase and the beginning of a phase in which my husband will need that same support from me as he becomes a full time student. (Interestingly he hasn't been a full time student for almost the same number of years I haven't worked full time.) While I am still grieving the loss of my time at home in some ways I have come to find the routine of my new life comfortable and the job is keeping me busy enough that the days go quickly. I realize I no longer have the time I once had to accomplish things but I am learning that if I am patient in time everything can still get done.
So I prepare to move back into the nurturing wife and mother role that I have been able to put on the back burner for a few months knowing that while it won't look the same I will be the same. And I love taking care of my family.
Of course, I do still have one week left so I think I will let John put Isabelle to bed tonight while I get to bed on time.
Monday, May 9, 2011
Changes
It's never too late - in fiction or in life - to revise.~Nancy Thayer~
As is often quoted the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I think in our home we have reached the end of our insanity. For the past several years we have pretty much been sitting around doing the same thing and waiting for things to look up. Waiting for the economy to improve, for clients to call. Waiting for stability in our career and financial life. On the one hand we have done many new things in an effort to achieve our goals but on the other hand we have been trying to do it within the same structure.
Life is always at some turning point.~Irwin Edman
For the past couple months we have been discussing how we can once again rearrange the pieces of our life in hopes of creating the stability we are in search of. Many ideas, all with merit, have been bantered around. All would affect the structure of our life as it sits today but it was unclear if any of them would really bring us what we really needed.
Readjusting is a painful process, but most of us need it at one time or another.~Arthur Christopher Benson~
Finally after much discussion and prayer it has become clear that no matter what path John's career takes it will require some education. Early in our marriage John was in trade-school full time and I worked full time. We lived in a little 1 bedroom apartment, shared 1 car, had no children, little expenses and no expectations for our lives. We went from being broke and having nothing to being more broke and still having nothing, yet with a possible future. Today we have a mortgage, 2 kids, 5 vehicles, many expenses and lots of expectations for our lives. Yet in some ways we are in the same place, preparing to sacrifice for the possibility of a future we can no longer see on our current path.
If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown
So with lots of unknowns and details still to be worked out we are looking forward to some very big changes at our house. Because John opted for the diploma track rather than the associate degree track while in trade school (a decision we have only regretted about a million times in the past 17 years) he is basically starting from square one. We briefly talked about him pursuing some additional training that would augment his trade schooling giving him more options within his current field but we feel strongly that it is time for us to leave the building industry all together. And while he could possibly get some training to transfer his existing knowledge into another industry we are feeling a calling to something altogether different.
Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett
About 14 years ago on something of a whim John applied for a paid-on-call position with our local fire department. The only little boy in the world who did not dream of being a fire fighter when he grew up fell in love with firefighting. But what we learned is that in today's world fire fighters spend more time on medical calls than they do actually fighting a blaze. So he was certified first responder initially and then went on to become an EMT. With this training he has had opportunities to work as the medical person for various sporting events and actually gets excited when someone gets hurt. He loves helping people and has loved the medical training he has gotten. And why shouldn't he? His sister is an RN and his parents are both EMT equivalents and taught at the local community college many of the emergency responders around the twin cities. It is in his blood.
They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius
So as of this moment the plan is for him to pursue a medical degree. As we get to know the industry and get a feel for what John is most passionate about the specifics are sure to come into view but for now the intention is for him to become a Physician's Assistant.
We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. ~Harrison Ford
At 40 years old this seems like a daunting task. We did decide we were too old for him to become a doctor but feel like we can commit 6 years of our lives getting into position to work for another 20+ years. As we talked about how hard it is going to be, full time school with likely both of us full time working, I looked back on our life this past year. He was out plowing all night long only to head to whatever job he had that week with only a couple hours of sleep. Isn't that hard? And that schedule isn't getting us anywhere. This can't be harder than that and it will be getting us somewhere.
Our only security is our ability to change. ~John Lilly
Anyone who knows us knows that we have lots of good ideas. We get excited about them, talk a lot about them, do a little research on them and then move on to the next good idea. We are a wealth of good ideas that never were. "Let's open a green hardware store!" "We should raise Chickens in our backyard!" But we also follow through on some of our ideas. We did go to Africa, we did start a construction business and a plow business, we did adopt a child, we did buy rental property, we did send John to school the first time. Those all started out as crazy, life changing ideas too. So while I don't have all the details worked out quite yet on how this life changing idea will play out I am excited to see how God continues to lead us.
There's nothing permanent with us except God & His Love & the Family!--Nothing has to be permanent except the Lord!--Only He changes not. (Mal.3:6.)
"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 (NLT)
As is often quoted the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results. I think in our home we have reached the end of our insanity. For the past several years we have pretty much been sitting around doing the same thing and waiting for things to look up. Waiting for the economy to improve, for clients to call. Waiting for stability in our career and financial life. On the one hand we have done many new things in an effort to achieve our goals but on the other hand we have been trying to do it within the same structure.
Life is always at some turning point.~Irwin Edman
For the past couple months we have been discussing how we can once again rearrange the pieces of our life in hopes of creating the stability we are in search of. Many ideas, all with merit, have been bantered around. All would affect the structure of our life as it sits today but it was unclear if any of them would really bring us what we really needed.
Readjusting is a painful process, but most of us need it at one time or another.~Arthur Christopher Benson~
Finally after much discussion and prayer it has become clear that no matter what path John's career takes it will require some education. Early in our marriage John was in trade-school full time and I worked full time. We lived in a little 1 bedroom apartment, shared 1 car, had no children, little expenses and no expectations for our lives. We went from being broke and having nothing to being more broke and still having nothing, yet with a possible future. Today we have a mortgage, 2 kids, 5 vehicles, many expenses and lots of expectations for our lives. Yet in some ways we are in the same place, preparing to sacrifice for the possibility of a future we can no longer see on our current path.
If nothing ever changed, there'd be no butterflies. ~Author Unknown
So with lots of unknowns and details still to be worked out we are looking forward to some very big changes at our house. Because John opted for the diploma track rather than the associate degree track while in trade school (a decision we have only regretted about a million times in the past 17 years) he is basically starting from square one. We briefly talked about him pursuing some additional training that would augment his trade schooling giving him more options within his current field but we feel strongly that it is time for us to leave the building industry all together. And while he could possibly get some training to transfer his existing knowledge into another industry we are feeling a calling to something altogether different.
Change always comes bearing gifts. ~Price Pritchett
About 14 years ago on something of a whim John applied for a paid-on-call position with our local fire department. The only little boy in the world who did not dream of being a fire fighter when he grew up fell in love with firefighting. But what we learned is that in today's world fire fighters spend more time on medical calls than they do actually fighting a blaze. So he was certified first responder initially and then went on to become an EMT. With this training he has had opportunities to work as the medical person for various sporting events and actually gets excited when someone gets hurt. He loves helping people and has loved the medical training he has gotten. And why shouldn't he? His sister is an RN and his parents are both EMT equivalents and taught at the local community college many of the emergency responders around the twin cities. It is in his blood.
They must often change, who would be constant in happiness or wisdom. ~Confucius
So as of this moment the plan is for him to pursue a medical degree. As we get to know the industry and get a feel for what John is most passionate about the specifics are sure to come into view but for now the intention is for him to become a Physician's Assistant.
We all have big changes in our lives that are more or less a second chance. ~Harrison Ford
At 40 years old this seems like a daunting task. We did decide we were too old for him to become a doctor but feel like we can commit 6 years of our lives getting into position to work for another 20+ years. As we talked about how hard it is going to be, full time school with likely both of us full time working, I looked back on our life this past year. He was out plowing all night long only to head to whatever job he had that week with only a couple hours of sleep. Isn't that hard? And that schedule isn't getting us anywhere. This can't be harder than that and it will be getting us somewhere.
Our only security is our ability to change. ~John Lilly
Anyone who knows us knows that we have lots of good ideas. We get excited about them, talk a lot about them, do a little research on them and then move on to the next good idea. We are a wealth of good ideas that never were. "Let's open a green hardware store!" "We should raise Chickens in our backyard!" But we also follow through on some of our ideas. We did go to Africa, we did start a construction business and a plow business, we did adopt a child, we did buy rental property, we did send John to school the first time. Those all started out as crazy, life changing ideas too. So while I don't have all the details worked out quite yet on how this life changing idea will play out I am excited to see how God continues to lead us.
There's nothing permanent with us except God & His Love & the Family!--Nothing has to be permanent except the Lord!--Only He changes not. (Mal.3:6.)
"Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect." Romans 12:2 (NLT)
Tuesday, September 14, 2010
School days
Isabelle started school last week. I think we both needed it to happen. We had been talking about and anticipating it for far too long. And then after everyone else started school we had to wait 2 more days for it to happen. Finally last Thursday she put on the outfit we spent 30 minutes picking out the night before, packed a snack and bottle of water in the backpack with the school supplies, posed for pictures:
Got tired of posing for pictures,
Hopped in the car and drove over to the school where we found the class lining up at the front door. Got in line with the class and put on the bus sign she is supposed to wear:
Posed with her class for their very first class picture:
Then lined back up with her class, waved goodbye and followed the teacher into a whole new life. She was nothing but excited to see what would happen next, to have new experiences and go to school like the big kids she knows.
I stifled a pathetic sob as I quickly turned to walk back to my car knowing that this was the beginning of a whole new stage of life. She begins independence from me. Right now as I type she is doing things I have nothing to do with, I am not there to manage, control, protect, direct. Part of me is afraid, unsure if she is ready, afraid of who she will meet, how she will be treated and what she will learn. Part of me is happy, proud of her growth, her independence and excited by the opportunities to make new friends and learn new things.
There are many school choices these days and each comes with their own fears and joys. But I am certain that for this year Isabelle is exactly where she is supposed to be and so whenever those fears come up I remind myself that God is with her, loves her more than I do and will keep her safe when I cannot.
Just a few hours after I left her at school the bus pulled up:
The doors opened:
We watched it drive away:
And I had a Kindergartner:
Tuesday, September 7, 2010
Conqueror of 11th Grade
It is the first day of school in our community. I can sense the emptiness of the neighborhood. It is quieter, fewer cars driving by our house, fewer kids walking or biking by, no happy screams of little girls running around the yard. Of course it is also 59 degrees and there is a gale force wind threatening to blow the house down so it would probably be quiet today anyway but, still, I know, the houses are all empty around me.
(I will not discuss the fact that I am wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, socks, slippers and my house sweater because I have sent that part of my brain to my happy place and am pretending this is temporary and doesn't bother me at all.)
The precious folly of my youth is now a junior in high school. How, HOW did that happen? He amazes and humbles me every day as I watch him grow. Juniors and Seniors don't start school until noon the first day so they can prepare the sophomores in the morning for the high school experience. This gave me a chance to really spend some time with him on the first day of school and allowed him to finish that final summer reading assignment before he had to rush off to turn it in. Hopefully not a sign of things to come this year...oh who am I kidding, it is exactly a sign of things to come.
I usually choose a verse or something for school but hadn't really thought about it this year. I guess I figured we had a family verse instead and I would just pray that over him. But when I started thinking of it this morning Romans 8:37 came to me, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Conquerors. Somehow that word seems so fitting for going into his junior year.
This is the year all his friends (and soon hopefully him) are driving, he will hopefully be getting a year round job and with all that comes much more independence and many more temptations and decisions to be made without his parents present to help him make the best choices. When temptations come I want him to remember he is "More than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves Jake" (v37) the scriptures goes on to say and I want Jake to be "convinced that, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate Jake from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(v 38-39) And earlier in the passage you hear the battle cry for the 11th grade warrior going off to conquer the temptations that await him, "if God is for me, who can be against me?" (v 31)
That is my prayer for Jake during this school year.
But, since he usually has to be to school by 7:30, starting tomorrow I will probably be praying it from bed.
(I will not discuss the fact that I am wearing jeans, a long sleeved shirt, socks, slippers and my house sweater because I have sent that part of my brain to my happy place and am pretending this is temporary and doesn't bother me at all.)
The precious folly of my youth is now a junior in high school. How, HOW did that happen? He amazes and humbles me every day as I watch him grow. Juniors and Seniors don't start school until noon the first day so they can prepare the sophomores in the morning for the high school experience. This gave me a chance to really spend some time with him on the first day of school and allowed him to finish that final summer reading assignment before he had to rush off to turn it in. Hopefully not a sign of things to come this year...oh who am I kidding, it is exactly a sign of things to come.
I usually choose a verse or something for school but hadn't really thought about it this year. I guess I figured we had a family verse instead and I would just pray that over him. But when I started thinking of it this morning Romans 8:37 came to me, "In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." Conquerors. Somehow that word seems so fitting for going into his junior year.
This is the year all his friends (and soon hopefully him) are driving, he will hopefully be getting a year round job and with all that comes much more independence and many more temptations and decisions to be made without his parents present to help him make the best choices. When temptations come I want him to remember he is "More than a conqueror through Christ Jesus who loves Jake" (v37) the scriptures goes on to say and I want Jake to be "convinced that, neither death nor life, angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate Jake from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."(v 38-39) And earlier in the passage you hear the battle cry for the 11th grade warrior going off to conquer the temptations that await him, "if God is for me, who can be against me?" (v 31)
That is my prayer for Jake during this school year.
But, since he usually has to be to school by 7:30, starting tomorrow I will probably be praying it from bed.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Second Day of School
Somehow I got distracted by the excitement of meeting a friend for coffee on the first day of school and so never photographed Jake on his first day of high school. And being the morning person that I am, I was asleep when he left for his second day of school. So I guess that means I will be accosting him when he gets home today so I can document this ever so special second day of 10th grade. Thus you will all have to be a happy with a picture of my precious son on his first day working at the Renaissance Festival this year.
Jake has a busy and full year ahead of him. He is taking AP European History and advanced Language Arts. We decided he was probably not going to have a career in the sciences so he is taking regular Chemistry and FST(Function,Statistics, Trigonometry). He also decided one language wasn't enough so he added Chinese to his Spanish language class. Now this would fill a normal persons schedule but his school offers a zero hour class so you can go in early and take yet another class in case that is too easy for you. Both John and I agree we would never have even considered this option yet Jake never considered not taking a zero hour class. This gave him the ability to add Creative Food to his class schedule. I guess it is good to have one fun class. Next semester will be weight lifting.
Now you might think he would be rushing home to get started on all that homework but no. He tried out for the fall musical. Unfortunately he didn't get in (he is a great actor but still learning to sing), so he is going to be on the tech crew which I learned yesterday means he won't be home until 5pm each night. THEN, straight to homework followed by x-box.
The beauty of high school, I discovered last year, is that I am no longer involved in the day to day of his education, I simply remind him to do homework, try to get him to bed at a somewhat decent hour and occasionally check his grade online to make sure he is making it happen. Oh all those years of hard work are finally starting to pay off. Loving it!
Isabelle is not in school. She will start Kindergarten next year and at this point I am confident she will be going somewhere (I am crossing my fingers for french immersion) and I will not be homeschooling her. However, I have no desire to send her to a structured pre-school. Actually I have mixed feelings about pre-school in general. What is wrong with just playing and having fun until you are in 1st grade? Why put so much pressure on kids and parents to learn at such a young age? And don't get my started on the word "socialized". That said, Isabelle is interested in learning and I do believe in learning activities so I guess we are sort of combining them this year in a very loose, casual, unstructured way. The only way I like to do things.
Isabelle couldn't wait to do "school" this morning after I proposed it to her. As with everything it ended up being a mixture of things I thought of while laying in bed this morning and things I came up with while we were sitting there. I remembered as we were walking into the office that I still had the school calendar I used when homeschooling Jake. I felt like a rock star knowing exactly where I have been storing it for the past 7 years and pulling it right out. Isabelle enjoyed looking at it and putting one of the weather cards for today in the slot. We also practiced writing the number 1 and the letter A, made apple muffins (for "A"), tried a little addition (not ready), visited the library and painted. She loved every moment and wants to do more but it is time for mommy to get a break. We have all year to do this stuff.
I did sign her up for a drop off class at the nature center on Tuesday afternoons. We are signed up for the next 3 Tuesday afternoons and if we like it can sign up for the rest of the year. At only $7/week and 3 miles from our home it seemed like a no brainer. This is similar to the program Jake went to when he was in pre-school and I needed a couple hours a sanity in my homeschooling days. He loved it and I am sure she will too.
Jake has a busy and full year ahead of him. He is taking AP European History and advanced Language Arts. We decided he was probably not going to have a career in the sciences so he is taking regular Chemistry and FST(Function,Statistics, Trigonometry). He also decided one language wasn't enough so he added Chinese to his Spanish language class. Now this would fill a normal persons schedule but his school offers a zero hour class so you can go in early and take yet another class in case that is too easy for you. Both John and I agree we would never have even considered this option yet Jake never considered not taking a zero hour class. This gave him the ability to add Creative Food to his class schedule. I guess it is good to have one fun class. Next semester will be weight lifting.
Now you might think he would be rushing home to get started on all that homework but no. He tried out for the fall musical. Unfortunately he didn't get in (he is a great actor but still learning to sing), so he is going to be on the tech crew which I learned yesterday means he won't be home until 5pm each night. THEN, straight to homework followed by x-box.
The beauty of high school, I discovered last year, is that I am no longer involved in the day to day of his education, I simply remind him to do homework, try to get him to bed at a somewhat decent hour and occasionally check his grade online to make sure he is making it happen. Oh all those years of hard work are finally starting to pay off. Loving it!
Isabelle is not in school. She will start Kindergarten next year and at this point I am confident she will be going somewhere (I am crossing my fingers for french immersion) and I will not be homeschooling her. However, I have no desire to send her to a structured pre-school. Actually I have mixed feelings about pre-school in general. What is wrong with just playing and having fun until you are in 1st grade? Why put so much pressure on kids and parents to learn at such a young age? And don't get my started on the word "socialized". That said, Isabelle is interested in learning and I do believe in learning activities so I guess we are sort of combining them this year in a very loose, casual, unstructured way. The only way I like to do things.
Isabelle couldn't wait to do "school" this morning after I proposed it to her. As with everything it ended up being a mixture of things I thought of while laying in bed this morning and things I came up with while we were sitting there. I remembered as we were walking into the office that I still had the school calendar I used when homeschooling Jake. I felt like a rock star knowing exactly where I have been storing it for the past 7 years and pulling it right out. Isabelle enjoyed looking at it and putting one of the weather cards for today in the slot. We also practiced writing the number 1 and the letter A, made apple muffins (for "A"), tried a little addition (not ready), visited the library and painted. She loved every moment and wants to do more but it is time for mommy to get a break. We have all year to do this stuff.
I did sign her up for a drop off class at the nature center on Tuesday afternoons. We are signed up for the next 3 Tuesday afternoons and if we like it can sign up for the rest of the year. At only $7/week and 3 miles from our home it seemed like a no brainer. This is similar to the program Jake went to when he was in pre-school and I needed a couple hours a sanity in my homeschooling days. He loved it and I am sure she will too.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
I don't like the school counselor
Help me. I believe I am in a power struggle with the school counselor. Is it worth it? Am I letting my pride get in the way of common sense OR is it important that I make sure Jake is put in the proper elective class next semester? What is his problem? Why can't he see that I am the parent and deserve to be treated with respect? If he would just acknowledge in any little way that he has been a big butt hole I would be happy to let him take control of the one elective class that Jake has but I am just so incredulous of his behavior that I feel like I can't let it go and must make him PAY! What is wrong with me? As I mentioned in the knife post, I normally am good at cushioning my complaints with compliments but somehow they all fail me with this guy. I don't even want to give him a fake compliment. I can't even come up with a fake compliment to give him. Nothing. What does a school counselor do all day that keeps him from being sure that the 65 new students he is responsible for get in the correct classes? Especially considering that others do all the actual entering of information. As far as I can tell he truly is only responsible for solving problems. Which I imagine he must have alot of if he treats all parents as poorly as he has treated me. So I guess he is just insuring job security.
Well there are two up sides. One I have a meeting with the assistant principal in next week to tell her about my experience as a new parent. Since she has been so nice to me with the knife incident I am sure I will have no problem cushioning my dislike for the butt hole around some compliments but I know it will feel great to get it off my chest. And Number two, we are only in this school for one year before moving to the high school and then I will never have to see him again.
Do you think there is a lesson for me in this somewhere?
Well there are two up sides. One I have a meeting with the assistant principal in next week to tell her about my experience as a new parent. Since she has been so nice to me with the knife incident I am sure I will have no problem cushioning my dislike for the butt hole around some compliments but I know it will feel great to get it off my chest. And Number two, we are only in this school for one year before moving to the high school and then I will never have to see him again.
Do you think there is a lesson for me in this somewhere?
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