Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Showing posts with label school. Show all posts
Monday, August 27, 2012
Friday, September 30, 2011
School update
After a full month of school, we are settling into a routine. Here is what a typical day looks like for us...
6:45 am - alarm goes off, press snooze a couple times because I hate getting up to an alarm!
7:00 drag myself out of bed, brush my hair and my teeth, because otherwise I simply cannot function! Then start waking everyone up - so far not too many issues with grumpy kids.
7:15 everybody is out of bed and busy:
1. having a quick breakfast (they get breakfast at school so I don't give them too much),
2. getting dressed (on Sunday they pick out all clothes for the week, makes it quick!),
3. brushing teeth
4. getting on socks, shoes, and backpacks
7:40 out the door and getting buckled in the van
7:48 have to be driving out of the driveway to get there on time
8:00 arrive at school, sign in and stop at the bathroom
8:05 bell rings and we can head to classrooms. Usually we drop Sam off first and then walk to the complete other side of the school to the preschool classrooms.
8:20 I am done with school and head off to tackle my very long to-do lists. The day flies by and I never seem to get as much done as I had planned to, but certainly I finally feel like I am gaining on the disaster of this house!
2:40 get ready to go to the school to pick them up
3:00 usually Ben &Carlee come out first and Sam a few minutes later. The absolute best part of the day is when their faces light up the moment they see me and they yell "Mommy or Mama" and come for big hugs.
3:10 or so we are piling into the van and all the good behavior they have had all day has come to a very abrupt halt and they start fighting and crying and whining and complaining.
3:30 after school we have a snack and the bad behavior usually is starting to mostly wear off. I often have to send someone to lay down on my bed until they can have a better attitude, which usually doesn't take long.
3:45 after a quick snack we go through their backpacks and I ask questions about their day. Sam has homework everyday except Friday that he has to complete so I also have Ben & Carlee do some kind of homework as well. Homework usually doesn't take more than 15 or 20 minutes.
the rest of the evening is spent playing, eating supper, doing a Bible study (which we have not been very diligent at doing), and maybe watching a bit of tv
7 pm start getting ready for bed! The days are flying by!!
Sam and Carlee's teachers use an apple system for behavior. If they have had good behavior all day their apple stays green - they have both had green apples every day. One day when we were going through backpacks Carlee sheepishly said, with tears pooling in her eyes "Mama, I almost got a yellow apple today because I was playing too much at lunch." I love this apple system and have started to tell them that if they are bad at home I can tell their teachers to change their apple the next day. It works!
Ben's teacher uses a fish system and if they have good behavior the fish stays at the bottom of the tank. Then at the end of the day, both Ben & Carlee's teachers put a sticker on their calendar that comes home to let me know that they had a good day. Ben had two days that he did not have a sticker. One was because he was at home with a fever and the other was because he kept throwing his stuffed animal at naptime even after being told not to. I have told them that if they get into trouble at school then they will get into even more trouble at home. Well, he had a long time to think about it on the bench and then we made his teacher a sorry card. I told him that he had to say sorry and make it right. The best part was that when he came home from school that day, his teacher had put two stickers on his calendar! It was perfect - I was able to tell him that because he did something nice by making her a card to say he was sorry that he made it right and then so did she by putting a sticker on that day!
6:45 am - alarm goes off, press snooze a couple times because I hate getting up to an alarm!
7:00 drag myself out of bed, brush my hair and my teeth, because otherwise I simply cannot function! Then start waking everyone up - so far not too many issues with grumpy kids.
7:15 everybody is out of bed and busy:
1. having a quick breakfast (they get breakfast at school so I don't give them too much),
2. getting dressed (on Sunday they pick out all clothes for the week, makes it quick!),
3. brushing teeth
4. getting on socks, shoes, and backpacks
7:40 out the door and getting buckled in the van
7:48 have to be driving out of the driveway to get there on time
8:00 arrive at school, sign in and stop at the bathroom
8:05 bell rings and we can head to classrooms. Usually we drop Sam off first and then walk to the complete other side of the school to the preschool classrooms.
8:20 I am done with school and head off to tackle my very long to-do lists. The day flies by and I never seem to get as much done as I had planned to, but certainly I finally feel like I am gaining on the disaster of this house!
2:40 get ready to go to the school to pick them up
3:00 usually Ben &Carlee come out first and Sam a few minutes later. The absolute best part of the day is when their faces light up the moment they see me and they yell "Mommy or Mama" and come for big hugs.
3:10 or so we are piling into the van and all the good behavior they have had all day has come to a very abrupt halt and they start fighting and crying and whining and complaining.
3:30 after school we have a snack and the bad behavior usually is starting to mostly wear off. I often have to send someone to lay down on my bed until they can have a better attitude, which usually doesn't take long.
3:45 after a quick snack we go through their backpacks and I ask questions about their day. Sam has homework everyday except Friday that he has to complete so I also have Ben & Carlee do some kind of homework as well. Homework usually doesn't take more than 15 or 20 minutes.
the rest of the evening is spent playing, eating supper, doing a Bible study (which we have not been very diligent at doing), and maybe watching a bit of tv
7 pm start getting ready for bed! The days are flying by!!
Sam and Carlee's teachers use an apple system for behavior. If they have had good behavior all day their apple stays green - they have both had green apples every day. One day when we were going through backpacks Carlee sheepishly said, with tears pooling in her eyes "Mama, I almost got a yellow apple today because I was playing too much at lunch." I love this apple system and have started to tell them that if they are bad at home I can tell their teachers to change their apple the next day. It works!
Ben's teacher uses a fish system and if they have good behavior the fish stays at the bottom of the tank. Then at the end of the day, both Ben & Carlee's teachers put a sticker on their calendar that comes home to let me know that they had a good day. Ben had two days that he did not have a sticker. One was because he was at home with a fever and the other was because he kept throwing his stuffed animal at naptime even after being told not to. I have told them that if they get into trouble at school then they will get into even more trouble at home. Well, he had a long time to think about it on the bench and then we made his teacher a sorry card. I told him that he had to say sorry and make it right. The best part was that when he came home from school that day, his teacher had put two stickers on his calendar! It was perfect - I was able to tell him that because he did something nice by making her a card to say he was sorry that he made it right and then so did she by putting a sticker on that day!
Friday, September 2, 2011
too funny - nuffin
At home after the second day of school, I had Ben up on my lap when I noticed that he had something in his back pocket. I asked him what was in his pocket and he told me "nuffin" Of course he was lying, and continued to lie through his teeth for probably 30 minutes before he finally showed me what was in his pocket and admitted to taking it from his classroom.
The next day he had to return them to his teacher who said, "Oh I should have watched out for that because he asked if he could take them home."
So it was even worse!! Not only did he lie about it, but he took something he was told he could not have!!!
At the end of the day when I picked him up I asked his teacher if she gave him a pat down! LOL
Thankfully, he hasn't brought home anything he shouldn't since then!!! If he does he will have to take it back plus one of his own toys. He did not like that, especially when I told him that I get to choose which toy it would be ;-)
The next day he had to return them to his teacher who said, "Oh I should have watched out for that because he asked if he could take them home."
So it was even worse!! Not only did he lie about it, but he took something he was told he could not have!!!
At the end of the day when I picked him up I asked his teacher if she gave him a pat down! LOL
Thankfully, he hasn't brought home anything he shouldn't since then!!! If he does he will have to take it back plus one of his own toys. He did not like that, especially when I told him that I get to choose which toy it would be ;-)
Thursday, September 1, 2011
First Day of School
For various reasons we decided not to homeschool this year - I won't bore you with all the details in this post. Instead I will share the excitement the kids had to be going to their first full day of school.
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| All ready for school! |
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| Sam at his spot in Kindergarten. I was concerned that he was going to fall to pieces that day, and even more so after another little boy was crying so hard he was nearly hyperventilating! But thank God for friends and very thoughtful teachers. Sam's teacher put Sam across the table from the only other kid he knew - our friend Tara from Sunday school. As soon as I saw here, I said, "Look Sam, there's Tara - get your school box and go sit with her" He was fine and even gave me this huge grin to start his very first day! |
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| Then we had to rush all the way to the other side of the school to get Carlee & Ben to their Preschool classrooms. It was pretty crazy in there and I only managed to get this photo of Carlee. Before she put her stuff away she started her day & her teachers day beautifully. In the car on the way to school she had a pen and a notepad so she drew a picture and wrote her name on it to give to her teacher! Not too many kids starting preschool can write their name! But I had a tear in my eye because she had done something so thoughtful. Oh, and when we went to leave Daddy said "Bye-Bye Carlee" and she barely looked at him when she waved him off. She was on a mission to be at school!!! |
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| Do you see anything odd with this picture? Check the shirt that he is wearing and compare that to the first picture. Do you think that when he is older he will notice that he has on two different shirts for his first day of school pictures? Well, that first day was a pretty crazy day - just trying to get three kids to three different classrooms in less than 15 minutes is quite challenging! Anyway, by the time we got him to his class on the first day there was not an opportunity to get a photo, so I got one the next day! I was pleasantly surprised, and relieved, that Ben has been enjoying school, has not been too clingy when I leave, and most importantly has not been getting into trouble! |
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