Both of the boys are in school!!! Woohoo!!! Rett only goes for 3 hours in the mornings, but oh my goodness. It makes such a difference in what I am able to get done in a day. They were both excited to go to school, mostly because they were happy to go play with friends.
James' classroom is on the complete opposite end of the school than his kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms, in an enclosed building (instead of outdoor hallways). It has been a bit of an adjustment because in the enclosed building, the air conditioning is newer and keeps the building crazy cold. So we had to find a jacket for James to take to school when it is 95 degrees outside!
James' teacher, Ms. Galerno, has so many fun and cool things in her classroom. James really likes these push lights she uses for the groups to indicate when they are ready to move on.
James' school starts earlier, so after I drop him off, I drive 15 minutes in the opposite direction to drop of Rett. He is so stinkin' excited to play with other kids! Every day he tells me that he made a new friend (although he never knows their names). For the first few days when I would pick him up he would say, "Did you miss me so much? I missed you so much!". But he is always excited to go and never gets upset when I leave.
Rett is going to the same preschool James went to, but he has different teachers (they worked there when James was there but James was in the other class). He loves Ms. Wendy and Ms. Shawna! They are so great about putting pictures up on the Facebook page so that I can see what they are doing. I was worried Rett might have a hard time listening in such a large group (they have 20 kids in his class!) but he is doing great! Another interesting thing is that there is a Rhett in his class, so they call Rett by his full name Everett so they can tell them apart. He doesn't mind, but he has to get used to it. Sometimes they have to say "Everett" a few times before he realizes they are talking to him!
On Fridays they do yoga with the kids and Rett is actually pretty good at it! Fridays are the day I stay and help with his class so I get to do it with them too.
At the end of the day before they line up to go to the playground, the teacher gives out stickers to the kids that were following the rules and doing well that day. Rett usually gets a sticker, but some days he doesn't and the reasons why are usually pretty funny. One time he said, "I didn't get a sticker because I was screaming in the bathroom" and another time, "I didn't get a sticker because I was throwing the puzzles". After I picked him up on a no-sticker day, he got settled in the car and then he sighed loudly. He said, "Ahhhhh. I love my life! Even though I got time out, I love my life!" Love this boy!!!
I am absolutely in love with James' teacher this year. I am so impressed with everything she does with the class, how energetic she is, and how great she is with the kids. She really cares about them and it shows! This year was the first time I requested a specific teacher and I am soooo glad I did. I can tell he is going to have an awesome year! At the parent night, she explained how they have flexible seating in the classroom so that the kids can choose where and in what position to sit while they do their work. So they can sit on the floor, in bean bag chairs, on cushions, whatever makes them comfortable. Such an amazing idea! They have done so many fun activities and projects already and there have only been three weeks of school. Tuesdays are the days I help out with his class and I told her whatever she needs me to do, I can make it happen!
Each week she has started the week with a different book and used that book as the theme for the different subjects. The first week the read "The Kissing Hand" (which is about a raccoon being nervous about starting school) and they used Hershey kisses for their STEM experiments at the end of the week.
The second week they read "Stand Tall Molly Lou Lemon". There is apart that says that "her buck teeth stuck out so far, she could stack pennies on them", so they did penny experiments. When I picked him up from school that day, his teacher told me that he loved it so much he didn't want to stop when it was time for recess.
No comments:
Post a Comment