School In Full Swing

I can’t believe that September is already here! In just two short weeks my son will turn 5 years old. As if starting kindergarten isn’t hard enough for mom to handle now we have to add in a whole hand in years!

The kids have been in school for a couple of weeks now. We are slowly adjusting to life as “Trotting Stallions” It's been a bit of a bumpy road but every day gets a little bit easier.

Yesterday, we attended the official back to school night event. I had been looking forward to this event ever since the kids started school. Back to school is one of my favorite events because as a parent you finally have the chance to really meet and understand the teacher. I have always loved to listen to the teacher’s expectations. Not only do I want to know about the expectations they have for my child, but I also want to know what expectations they have for themselves. I like to hear about how my child’s year is going to play out. I want to know the many things that they will try to master throughout the year. I want to know how their day is set-up and what types of activities they do in class in order to help them reach their goals. I am curious to know all of these things because I want to make sure that I am doing my part at home to help my children succeed in school.

This year has been a little different for all of us. We are all adjusting to a brand new school with new rules and new policies. I have had so many questions floating around in my head. I’m probably the nightmare parent for these teachers. Not that I mind being that parent, after all we are talking about my children :)

We made it to the school a few minutes early. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I wanted to make sure that we had enough time to spend in all three classrooms. Bryanna had mentioned that we were supposed to be in her classroom by 6 pm and that we should plan on staying there for the entire hour. This concerned both of us because we had three different classrooms to visit. I tried to catch the principal before the event started to ask some questions but unfortunately, I never found her. We stopped by Travin’s classroom first. His teacher didn’t really host anything to spectacular (which I am now very grateful for). Trav was able to show us around his classroom. There were a few papers on his desk that we looked through. We talked with his teacher for a few minutes but her main goal was to set up individual conferences with the parents. So we picked a time to meet with her and then headed off to Kalyssa’s classroom. I have to say that I really like Kalyssa’s teacher. As Kalyssa would say, she is FANTASTIC!!! (This is the word of the week. She likes to find a reason to use it). Kalyssa’s teacher invited me to sit at her desk. She had placed some supplies on each desk so that the parents could make cards for their first graders. This is something that I will definitely be adding to my great big book of teaching ideas :) As the teacher got started, I realized that she was going to share a lot of information. I told Jason that he should probably head to Bryanna’s classroom. My plan was to meet up with him as soon as Kalyssa's teacher was finished. Well, I didn’t get to meet up with him until after everything was said and done. Needless to say, I was not a happy camper. Kalyssa’s teacher had so much important information to share. There was no way that I could just get up and walk out. Everything that she shared was exactly the information I wanted to know. I wasn’t upset with the teachers by any means but I did walk out of the school completely frustrated. Being there for Bryanna was extremely important to me. Just as important as being there for Kalyssa and Travin. Remember how I mentioned that this year was a little different? Well for Bry, it’s a huge difference. This year, she has a total of 8 different teachers. Fourth and fifth grade students rotate classes for each subject. We had already had the opportunity to meet her homeroom teacher. She is “FANTASTIC” :) However, I was really looking forward to meeting the rest of her teachers. I’m interested to learn about what they will be working on in each subject. I am also curious to learn how they integrate the subjects. Most of all, I really wanted to be able to place a face with a name. I was really hoping to get some of my questions answered. Rotating classes has been a bit of an adjustment for Bryanna. She doesn’t really get a break and things seem to move very quickly. Anyhow, that didn’t happen last night. I felt awful that I missed out on things that concerned Bryanna and that Jason missed out on things that concerned Kalyssa. This is a first for us. We have been very fortunate that both of us have been able to be there for every step of our children’s education.

Needless to say, when we left the school I was pretty upset. The event started right at 6 pm and the lights were out by 7 pm. I know that we are not the only parents with more than one child in the school. How can the school plan this night and not take that into consideration? How are you as a parent supposed to be an active part of your child’s education if the school doesn’t take this into account? Then I started thinking about the number of military children that attend this school. What happens if a parent is deployed? A single parent weather military or not should not have to choose between their children. Everything that each teacher had to share last night was important. It was important for me to hear the information and it was important for me to be able to be present in each classroom because this directly affects my children.

When we got home last night I sent out several emails. I will personally be meeting with all of Bryanna’s teacher over the next week. I also have an appointment with the principal. The girls have been in school for three weeks and Travin has been in school for two weeks. In that time, I have managed to visit the principal’s office three different times. I really hope that this isn’t a trend that I will be following over the next 9 months:)

WOW!!! Well now that I got that out of my system, I can share some more POSITIVE news. I actually came on here to share more exciting information. I wanted to share some of the things that the kids have been doing in school. They have all been busy bees. We are so proud of them. They are all working very hard.

Travin has been working on the first set of sight words. He can recognize 4 out of the 8 words right now. Today he read his first sight word book. He was pretty excited because “I did it all by myself” He is also working on things like writing skills and letter names and sounds.

Travin's version of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night

Kalyssa has been working really hard too. First grade is a big jump from kindergarten. I am so thankful that she had an amazing kindergarten teacher. This year she will start the AR (accelerated reader) program. She is very excited. Her personal goal is to read chapter books like "Junie B Jones" :) She has already started taking tests. Every week she has a spelling test and a math test. Spelling tests are her favorite. She loves to learn the challenge words of the week. The word “fantastic” was one of last week’s challenge words. This week she has unique, genuine, and cheerful. She tries to make up her own sentences. It's actually pretty cute to watch :)


Kalyssa's contribution to the classroom alphabet.



Bryanna is busy balancing eight different subjects. She starts her morning with her homeroom teacher. Throughout the day, she makes her way around to PE, English & spelling, science, social studies, reading, and then ends her day with math. She also alternates her mornings between art and music. She is starting to understand the importance of time management.

Bryanna doesn't have anything fancy to share just yet. She is working on her own version of "Starry Night" She explained to us the other night at the dinner table that "fifth graders take their time on art, especially when we have to paint something by van Gogh"

There is one thing that we wanted to share that is pretty special. Bryanna was chosen by her homeroom teacher to be a part of the fifth grade ambassador team. She brought home a letter the other night that explained how hard she has worked. All of the fifth grade teachers feel that she would be an incredible addition to the team. Her teacher told us last night that during the last meeting she brought up Bryanna’s name to the other teachers. School ambassadors are usually chosen during their fourth grade year however, Bryanna has proven her abilities and everyone agreed that she is a positive role model and a great leader. She is so excited to be able to be a part of something that is so important. Her interview is schedule for next week. We will definitely keep you posted on how she does.

As you can see, school is in full swing. We have had a few bumps in the road but nothing that couldn't be fixed. We have a lot of faith in our kids. We know that they are going to have a FANTASTIC year ahead of them!