Back to School

The first day of school was fairly uneventful, except that the boys had no school supplies! I thought I had ordered them through a service that has all the gear waiting at the school. I thought wrong. I received two notes and two disgruntled boys at the end of the day. At least the boys themselves were prepared!

I can't believe Cole is a 4th grader.
After this year, he has only one more at the elementary school!

Jay is ready for 2nd grade.

Eager to start!

First Day of School 2012

This year, school started on my birthday! It was so chaotic that I didn't even remember it was my birthday until I saw the greetings online. The quiet house was a treat; nonetheless, I really wasn't ready for the school schedules and activities to begin again.

Jay was very excited to start first grade. (The puppies were excited too!)  He became even more thrilled when he learned his teacher's name is Heather (imagine his huge grin!). She is very sweet and young with a strong Georgia accent, so it will be interesting to hear if his crazy accent changes over the year.

He loves that he has homework this year (what a difference it makes to have an older sibling). Each Monday, the students bring home 3 or 4 worksheets that they need to finish by Friday. Within minutes of walking in the door Monday afternoon, he has them all finished.

I'm going to be one of the room moms in his class, so I'm looking forward to getting to know all the kids and the teacher better.

I can't believe that Cole is in third grade! He looks so grown up! Thank goodness for my new camera or I wouldn't have been able to get this picture in the split second that he paused on his way to the car to say, "Don't take my picture."

The year got off to a great start when he found out that he came in 3rd place (out of the whole school) for the most pages read over the summer. The prize was a gift certificate to his favorite store, Barnes & Noble. (As he says, it has his 3 favorite things: books, legos, and cupcakes!)

He also tested into a gifted class that meets once a week to work on special projects. Later in the year, they'll learn about bridges and study the beautiful one that brings us from Mt P to Charleston. I'd like to go to that class!

People had warned us that third grade is challenging and we've seen that from the beginning. A month into the year, however, we've finally settled into a good homework routine and he's doing well with the higher expectations.

Cole's in Second Grade!

Somehow, Cole keeps getting older and older. I wish I could keep him at seven year old, because he is such a fun, wonderful boy. (Although I seem to say that every year.)

He is now in second grade, which, with two full grades below him in school, is officially a BIG KID! Second graders have a little homework every night, get to check out two library books at a time, and go on two field trips. In Cub Scouts, he is now a Wolf Cub and has a lot of patches and belt loops on his uniform.

Cole was a great big brother on Jay's first day of kindergarten and helped him find his cubby and seat. We are excited to see what this year brings!

Jay's First Day at the BIG SCHOOL

 

Jay is finally in kindergarten. I say "finally" because he has been waiting to go to the BIG SCHOOL since Cole started two years ago. As usual, his favorite classmates are girls. Cecelia, his friend from preschool, is in his class, as well as Gracie, the girl who lives across the street. His new crush, however, is Kaylee. Not long after school started, they asked the teacher if they could be girlfriend and boyfriend. Apparently, however, there's trouble brewing in class K-E. Another boy told his mom that he and Kaylee are getting married.  According to the mom, he said very seriously, "Mom, I can't believe I already met the girl I'm going to marry." Kaylee came over for a playdate and Jay put on a nice button-down shirt. When I complimented him, Cole teased, "He dressed up for Kay-lee." Cole also took his big brother role quite seriously and teased and annoyed them the entire time. We need to have her over again soon and banish Cole to his room!

As room mom, I've been able to spend time in his classroom and I'm quite impressed with the class. His two teachers have been at the school since it opened about 25 years ago. They handle the kids beautifully and seem to really enjoy teaching kindergarten.

Academically, he's doing very well. His reading improves daily and he loves to do math problems. I find pieces of paper filled with equations all over the house. He takes computer class once a week and for awhile he muttered "www-dot-com" under his breath. He always tries to look over Cole's shoulder when he's doing homework and when I quiz Cole on his spelling words, Jay chimes in with the first letter. It makes Cole mad, so I try to give Jay some "homework" to do at the same time. He recently told me he doesn't like art because he has to do what the teacher tells him to do. He'd rather do his own projects (he's always creating little projects at home with tape and scraps of paper), but he is still proud of his school artwork.

The school's uniform policy is the hardest adjustment for him this year. He's always had a unique sense of style, from dressing as spiderman with his baby blanket as a cape and cowboy boots to wearing a batting helmet backwards while carrying a purse. The uniform is very casual (a red, white, or blue shirt [solid or with the school logo] with khakis or jeans), but the first few weeks, it seriously cramped his style. He'd come downstairs wearing his favorite Hawiaan shirt and I'd have to send him back. "But Mommy," he'd say, "It's beautiful." As the year has progressed, he's gotten more used to the dress code, but there are many days we let it slide. The other day he wore his blue fleece hoodie (with the hood up), gray gym shorts, and his cowboy boots. His teachers got a kick out of that.

They recently celebrated the 100th day of school. I can't believe Jay's kindergarten year is almost over!

Jay's First Day of the Last Year of Preschool

This year we decided to move Jay to a different preschool. While the one on Isle of Palms was terrific, the drive to and from was not. For some reason, I didn't realize how long it took to get there. Going back and forth cut a big chunk out of my 3-hours of free time. The new school is only 10 minutes straight down the highway. It's worked out great, not only time-wise, but because Jay has thrived! We send him to a four-days per week class because I wanted another year with my sidekick on Fridays. He would have loved to go all week though and is definitely ready for kindergarten.

The curriculum is more structured than at the previous schools. I now think this is a better approach. While a student-directed method may work well in later grades, kids still need to be taught the basics and at that age, they don't know what they don't know.

 I can tell the biggest difference in phonics and writing. The class has a letter of the week and all the activities revolve around that letter. This week is Mr. W with the Wonderful Wink. They sing a cute "wuh, wuh, W" song and practice writing it. All week Jay comments on words that start with that letter: "Hey, 'word' starts with W. Wuh, wuh, Word!" When I am quizzing Cole on his spelling words, Jay likes to blurt out the first letter (which infuriates Cole).

With all the phonics practice, Jay is learning how to read at lightning speed. I think watching big brother become a bookworm has made him especially eager. And Cole relishes being the teacher. He's patient most of the time, but gets frustrated by certain things, like Jay thinking words rhyme if they start with the same letter. He has given Jay all his sight word books from kindergarten and Jay can read most of them. I wonder if he'll be bored in kindergarten when he receives the same books.

The kids in his class get along incredibly well. If they see each other in the parking lot, they shriek and wave frantically to each other, as if they're long lost friends. Jay flirts with the girls constantly by getting very close and making this loud, i.e. annoying, chirping noise. It seems to work! His favorite, Cecelia, has announced that she is going to marry him. She's a tiny girl, so when they hug he almost squashes her. Her big sister, Isabelle, was in Cole's kindergarten class and he has always liked her too.

Jay's Mating Call

After school Jay and a few kids like to play in a drainage ditch next to the school. They call it the "Secret Spot," although it isn't secret since they talk about it all the time. They chase each other, pile sticks together for a bonfire, and move rocks around. It gives the parents a chance to chat, although sometimes it can be difficult to make the kids leave.

Four kids in the class will go to Belle Hall for kindergarten (including Cecelia). Jay and I would be thrilled if they were all in the same class.

Cole's First Day of First Grade

August brought another milestone for Cole: The first day of first grade! As you can tell by the picture, he was very excited. (I love the missing tooth gap in his smile!)

I know he likes school because of the daily "hour report," how long the 7-hour day actually felt. The best days feel like only half an hour, the longest day so far was four hours. He is quite serious about his evaulation and often spends half the ride home decided exactly how long the day felt.

He felt right at home in the first grade section because outer space murals cover the walls. In January, the class studied space and he brought in some of his vast collection. The model of the planets Aunt Robyn gave him has a quiz component and the teacher told the kids not to try it because it would be too hard. He was so proud that he knew all the answers!

Reading is by far his favorite subject and we are thrilled that he has become a book worm. When he had to write an essay about his favorite day of the week, he chose Friday because it is the day his class visits the library. He likes mysteries the best (I wonder who he gets that from?). He finished the A to Z Mysteries (a series like Sue Grafton's with The Absent Author, The Bald Bandit, etc.) and is now devouring the Encyclopedia Brown series. I discovered that Encyclopedia Brown is available on the Nook, so I may have some competition in using it!

He reads everywhere, even on the way home from school. I used to get impatient waiting for him to get out of the car, but now I just leave him out there. It's not uncommon for him to sit in th car for 20 or 30 minutes. I don't know if he even realizes we're home!

He also likes math and seems to intuitively know the best way to solve problems. He'll often throw out 3-digit addition problems and ask me if his answer is right. While I'm still trying to carry the 2 from the ones column to the tens, he tells me the answer and how he figured it out. I'm hoping I can learn better math skills from him!

While he loves school, homework is a different story. On Monday each week, he gets a few worksheets, spelling words, and sometimes a writing project, like a short essay or book report, that is all due on Friday. It is a struggle to get him to sit down and do it. Inevitably, he saves it until Thursday afternoon. Then after all the whining and pouting, what would have taken 15 minutes drags out to an hour and a half. The funny thing is that he will independently work on his math and phonics workbooks and really enjoy it. Most likely because he choses to do it instead of has to do it.

It's a struggle for me too because I feel the worksheets are just busy work (the spelling words and essays have real value). He does multiple worksheets at school and always does well on them, so I can't blame him for not wanting to do the same thing at home. I understand the goal of discipline, but he's in 1st grade. I don't recall homework until 3rd or 4th grade. I worry it's setting up a resistance to homework that will last.

Anyway, we are so happy that he is happy in school and doing well. I hope he maintains his enthusiasm for learning!

Jay's Addition to the Previous Post

We've had many funny conversations with the boys about how adults stop growing taller and then start to shrink when they get older.

This morning Jay said to me:  "When I am really old and start to get smaller, I want to be three."

Me:   "You want to be three years old?"

Jay:  "Yes, so I can be with Ms Cathy again."

He had looked at the pictures in the previous post about his old preschool and teacher, and, apparently, had been thinking about her. It would be worth a trip to Isle of Palms just to tell her this story.

The Graduate

Since Jay has started his last year of preschool, I better post about his "graduation" from the 3s program last spring. (Here is the link to the post about his first day of school.)

He had a wonderful year at the Isle of Palms Rec Center. All the kids loved the teacher, Ms Cathy, and she adored them right back. It was a big year in terms of accomplishments: he learned all his letters and some letter sounds; how to write his name (usually with the J backwards and spelled YAJ); count to 100 (one, two, skip a few, 99, 100!); actually count to 20; and lots of cute songs and poems (True blue/Me and you/Friends Forever/Through and through).

He also began to wear his favorite baby blanket as a cape and call himself "Super Jay." He wore his cape to school, soccer, and karate (on top of his uniform), and with his Spiderman costume from last Halloween. When Yingy and Grandpa Pat sent him cowboy boots from Arizona, the outfit was complete! We always got lots of smiles and comments whenever we went out. At the end of the year, the program held a graduation for the students. (The stage was set up for a performance of Charlotte's Web.) Here is Super Jay walking across the stage.
Super Jay performing a piece about summer with his class.
And Super Jay receiving his diploma. The director of the program even announced him as "Super Jay Mirman."

This year, he is in the 4s program at a different preschool. Although I loved the IOP program, it was too far to drive back and forth. Now his school is only 10 minutes away (yet we are still always running late).

But, his new school is another post for another day...

Jay's First Day of School

Jay loves preschool and his teacher Ms Cathy. Almost every night he asks if tomorrow is a school day, and, if it is, he gets a huge grin and does a little happy dance. This year he goes to the Isle of Palms Rec Center program three times a week. It's a small class with one teacher and 7 kids.

The first months of school, he'd be ready an hour before we had to leave. I'd talk him into watching Blues Clues to kill time, and he would hop onto the chair with his backpack still on and his lunch box in his lap, ready to race out the door.

He, of course, wanted the same style backpack as Cole. As you can see, it's huge on him. It's hilarious to watch him walk with the bag bumping against his little bum. After careful consideration, he also picked out a Hello Kitty themos to go in his lunch box. So far, none of his friends have told him that Hello Kitty is for girls like I expected. Or, if they have, it hasn't bothered him. Already at 3 the kids are acutely aware of the lines between girls and boys. Jay, however, still likes pink and plays with his baby doll. I hope he can hold onto his individuality as well as his excitement about school.

Cole's First Days of School

It was hard for me to have Cole go to kindergarten. The school day seemed like such a long time away from home. The first few months were a big transition. I think he was a little homesick and I definitely missed him. Poor Jay really missed him. His constant companion and playmate was gone for seven hours each day and I was a poor substitute.

Now, several months into the school year, we have all adjusted. Cole seems to be loving it. He's so proud of the work he does. I'm glad we didn't push reading on him in preschool because he is at the perfect level to learn quickly and not be bored.

He's also making some good friends, some of whom we were excited to learn live in our neighborhood. A couple of the boys are only children, so Cole gets invited to their houses quite often. It makes me glad to have had two boys close in age who love to play together.

A Rose by Any Other Name...

Jay gets the names of two boys in his class confused: Tyson and Jackson. When he played on the playground after school last week, he kept calling Tyson Jackson. When I corrected him, he responded:

"Well, I call him Jackson."

My Sweet Southern Boy

Cole is definitely becoming a southern boy.

Today after school, he took something from another boy and made him cry. On the car ride home, he ignored my scolding, so I stopped the car, made him look at me, and told him how his behavior was wrong. When I finished, I asked if he understood and knew how he should act instead.

He hung his head and quietly replied, "Yes, ma'am."

What?! I almost laughed. I have never heard him say that before.

It makes me wonder...What did he do at school to be taught to respond that way since he has only said it when being disciplined? Hmmmm.....

I probably should teach the boys to respond to adults that way, because many southerners think it is rude for children not to say ma'am or sir. But all I can think about is the boy who moved to my elementary school from Georgia. When he called a teacher "Ma'am," she thought he was being fresh and punished him. Poor kid was so confused.

After five years here, I'm still startled by being called "Ma'am," so I doubt I'm up for teaching southern etiquette. Perhaps there are enough northern transplants in the area that the teachers are used to Yankee rudeness.

I think I'll be okay if he starts saying "Ma'am" to me since it's meant respectfully. Now I need to adjust to his southern drawl.

Let the Fun Erupt!

Happy 5th Birthday, Cole!This picture is from Cole's party at school. I wasn't going to have a party there because the whole class was invited to our house, but as his birthday grew closer, he told everyone that at school he's going to get cupcakes and a balloon tied to his chair. He had no idea that the parents arrange and pay for it. I didn't have the heart to deny him his balloon. He had just said, "I'm the king!" when I snapped the picture.

For the party at home, Cole knew he wanted a science party, but we couldn't decide on a theme. Then, one day, he said very seriously, "I've been thinking a lot about volcanoes lately." So there it was: a volcano party.

Since true volcanologists wear protective eye gear, I handed out safety goggles when the kids arrived. They were a huge hit. I later heard stories of kids refusing to take them off for bed, baths, and church.

Of course, there must be eruptions at a volcano party! We buried bottles half-filled with baking soda in mounds of dirt. When we poured in vinegar and the mixture bubbled over, the kids practically erupted themselves. I couldn't have choreographed a better response! I'm glad we made multiple volcanoes because their reactions didn't dimish. After the third or fourth eruption, a girl got up the courage to touch the bubbly mixture and everyone gasped. When we said they could touch it, the braves ones tentatively stuck their fingers in the foam. I love the excitement and wonder children have!

Later, we tried the Mentos experiment. Apparently if you drop a pack of Mentos into soda, the chemical reaction makes a tremendous eruption. It looked great online and several sites warned to do it in a wide open area, so I expected an impressive blast. Instead we got some fizz, but no more than the vinegar-baking soda combination caused. We tried it twice with the same result. I'm still not sure why it didn't work. We have a few packs of Mentos left over so we'll have to try again.

The volcano cake was a disaster that actually turned out great. I wish I had pictures to chonicle the whole experience. The finished cake pictures are on Mom's camera. I'll post a few when I get them--they're definitely good for a laugh!

My idea was to bake the circles for a layer cake, then cut the edges off to make the yellow cake into a pyramid/mountain shape. It looked great until I tried to frost it with cholcolate frosting. I never knew that you can't frost cut cake. It crumbles and shreds and cake pieces mix into the frosting and look entirely unappetizing. The whole thing was a wreck.

I quickly dashed to Publix for more frosting and a back-up cake that I fully expected to use. At home I tried to glop more frosting on top of crumbled pieces of cake to cover up the mess, but it actually looked worse. In desperation, I scraped off the bits and pieces and was able to salvage two complete circles. After I frosted them, I had a puny, little, lopsided layer cake that I would have been embarrassed to serve.

In frustration, I started glopping the shredded cake on top and around the layer cake. To my amazement, it actually started to look like a dirt and rock covered volcano. I made rivers of lava flowing down the sides with a tube of red frosting then stuck a little glass candle holder (minus the candle) into the top for the volcanoes opening. Before singing Happy Birthday we wet dry ice in the candle holder and carried out a smoking, fiery five-candle volcano.

I'll never be a professional cake decorator, but I have to say, it looked pretty cool, especially to a bunch of 5-year-old scientists.

I still can't believe that Cole is 5 and will be in kindergarten next year. I actually tear up when I think of him in school all day. But then I console myself with the thought of spending more one-on-one time with Jay. Although he is going to be lost without Cole as well.

"Me Big Boy!"

Jay has declared himself a big boy. Now, whenever I say he is my little guy, he corrects me with "Me big boy." He really is growing up before our eyes. I'm sure a lot of that comes from being the second child. Rob and I have less time to observe and coach his development. A few weeks ago, when he was playing quietly by himself, he suddenly counted to ten. Rob and I looked at each other in astonishment. On his own, he learned to count! How did we miss that?!

He is also potty training himself. This morning when Cole put on his Spiderman undies, Jay decided to wear his pair. Then Cole showed him his Elmo undies, so Jay put those on as well. I figured a double layer couldn't hurt. He made it all morning without an accident. We sat on the potty four times before we left the house, then I swaddled his booty in a changing pad in the car. Jay wasn't very happy about that, but when Cole said that because he'll have accidents he should use the pad, it was alright. (Thank goodness Cole is a sweet, somewhat mature four-year old, because Jay does whatever he suggests.) We used the potty one more time at school, then I left him in his teachers' care with three extra changes of clothes. I hope they get paid extra for teaching the potty-training age!

I bought the clothes in the pictures for Aunt Dawn's wedding. After the saleslady and I raved about how good Jay looked (Cole was at school), he wanted to wear the outfit for pictures the next day (even though it was over 90 degrees). When we put on the ensemble, Jay looked at himself in the mirror and declared, "Me look sharp!" Cole got hot in his sweater and took it off, so, unfortunately, his head shot looks like a school picture. Both boys were pros at the shoot and we got very few of these faces. Cole acted like he had been modelling his whole life. When we sorted through the pictures, his all looked identical.
Toward the end they both got a little silly, but they remained good sports, especially when we told them there was a Baskin Robbins next door.

The First Day of Preschool

What grown up boys!

Fighting over who gets to open the gate (a daily ritual)

I can't believe summer is over (even though it is still 95 degrees here). The boys started their new school schedule a couple weeks ago. Cole now goes five mornings a week, and Jay goes two.

It has been a hard adjustment for Cole. He hates to lose his free weekday mornings, and I can't blame him. I'm not sure I like him gone every morning. It makes me realize how fast he is growing up. Next year he'll be in full-day kindergarten. I don't know if my heart can take it!

He is also taking Mad Science class after school one day a week (he has decided he wants to be a scientist when he grows up because then he'll know how everything works). He was nervous about the class, but now he loves it. The kids learn a new concept each week (today was how eyes help us see) and get to keep fun toys relevant to the lessons.

Jay has had no trouble adjusting. He's been ready for a regular classroom for years! Last year, he would run into Cole's classroom, sit down at the table, and start whatever project the teachers had laid out. He gets so excited when he realizes it's his day to go. The only downside to his enthusiasm is that he never wants to leave. Quite a few times I've carried him out kicking and screaming!

His teachers have started encouraging him to use the potty. They tell me he tries several times a day by himself. He loves the little stall in the classroom and the small, kid-size potty. All the practice is actually working! Tonight he took off his diaper by himself and went. I'm so thrilled! I can't wait to be completely done with diapers. I shudder to think of the corner of the landfill we have filled with them.

The new school schedule means I have two mornings a week with no kids. Those three hours go by so fast! I plan to use them to exercise, but it's such a struggle. I really want to come home, make a nice pot of coffee, and read a magazine in peace. Hopefully I can get into a good routine.

What's in Your Nose?

Cole has a snail in his.

One of his preschool teachers told him that if he picks his nose, a snail that lives there will bite his finger. I think it is a cute way to avoid spreading some preschool germs. Rob, however, is greatly disturbed.

When the snail came up in conversation the first time, Rob spent at least 30 minutes trying to convince Cole that his teacher was kidding.

He looked up Cole's nose and had Cole look up his to prove snails weren't there. Cole replied, "You can't see them. They're up really high."

Rob explained that there's nothing for a snail to eat there. Cole's rely was something along the lines of "Duh, it eats boogers."

Rob even resorted to "Who do you believe, your teacher or your daddy." The teacher won, much to Rob's dismay (I think homeschooling seriously crossed his mind).

In fact, Rob's attempts to dissuade have made Cole believe even more firmly. The snail is a regular topic of conversation now. Cole has determined that it lives in "the hard part" at the bridge of his nose; it doesn't mind sneezes, only fingers; and that everyone has a snail, even if he (i.e., daddy) doesn't believe it.

Christmas Concert

Cole's preschool gave a Christmas concert. His class sang two songs, "Jingle Bells" and an Elvis inspired "You Ain't Nothin' But a Reindeer" and recited two cute poems. During the first song, Cole put too much jingle into his bells and hit the girl next to him in the face. It was hysterical. The other funny part was the dancing during the Elvis song. Cole just swayed back in forth to his own rhythm. I can see we are going to have to work on that before those jr high dances.

Baby Jay Goes to School *sniff*

I finally enrolled Jay in a Moms Morning Out program at the same school as Cole. He is definitely ready! When we bring Cole to his classroom, Jay runs in first and starts playing with all the toys. People always laugh at how enthusiatic he is. Leaving the building takes a good 15 minutes because he wants to see the art on the walls, sit on all the benches, pick a tomato from the bush in front of the school, and look in all the classroom windows as we make our way to the car. I knew he would love to be in his own class, but I hadn't been quite ready to let him go (even though it is only 3 hours once a week).

On his first day, we took Cole to his classroom as usual. Jay protested as I dragged him out, but then started running down the hall. He was a bit confused when we walked passed the exit door--he stopped, made little squawking noises, and pointed at the door, like "Mommy, it's this way!" When we got to his room, he ran right in with no hestitation whatsoever.

The teacher greeted him while he surveyed the room. His expression said, "I get to play with all these toys? Sweet!" After I gave him a hug and told him to go play, he ran right over to the blocks and started taking them off the shelf. After watching a bit, I left. He didn't even look up when I said goodbye *sniff*. I felt strange walking out of the school without my little sidekick, but boy did I get a lot done that morning!

When I picked him up three hours later, he was still playing hard. The teacher seemed somewhat amazed at how well he did--I guess she is used to dealing with seperation anxiety (she got more from me than Jay!). His only tears came when we were leaving and he realized he couldn't bring the truck he was zooming around on the floor.

He goes back on Monday. The teacher warned that there may be some tears since now he knows I leave. But I think he will do just fine. It's me I'm not so sure about.