It's the Last Week

It's my kid's last week of school. Both my flesh and blood kids, and my students.

Isaak's finishing up 2nd grade. 

He still seems so little to me. He has a high pitched voice, small facial features (except for his eyes), and still loves to play hard. He wears holes in his jeans, and his hands are always messy. "Go wash your hands!" is a regular thing we say in our house to Isaak. It's hard to believe he turns 8 later this week, and will soon be called a 3rd grader! He is tall! He's fitting right into Mica's hand me down jeans - size 10. He has picked up on reading in 2nd grade. He does like to write stories. I keep telling him that he needs to read more and more to get better with writing.

Mica's finishing up 4th grade. 

He's goofy around home, but mature at school. He started safety patrol training a few weeks ago. This week he's full time with safety patrol. He had a field trip last week where he got to go an hour away to the state capitol. We've taken the boys there before. :) With us he didn't get to go on a charter bus. He was super excited to have a bathroom on a bus. That seemed to be the highlight. He's so ready for 5th grade. I sometimes thought 4th grade bored him. His teacher did her best to challenge him though.

The State Capitol Visit in 2013

This week: 

The boys have Field Day, Isaak's class is going to walk up to a park in the neighborhood to eat lunch, and play, and Mica's class is going to our local Joslyn Art Museum. Isaak's birthday is on Thursday. They no longer have food treats, so we got dollar books to hand out to his class.

Joslyn Art Museum in 2013

I'm trying to wrap up grading this week. 

Thankfully most stuff was due last week. I have a computer test that randomizes the questions, and grades for me. I have a lot of students behind. I'm hoping they get caught up this week!

Isaak's 2nd Grade Conferences

Last week when Travis was away in Chicago it was my turn to get Strep Throat. I was so lucky that my doctor prescribed me with antibiotics without going in, and on Wednesday when I got it my student had a job shadow, so my class was away - yay! 

I took Thursday off. A rare thing for me. While I would have loved to lay around, watch movies, and fall asleep I couldn't. I had both boys bouncing all energetic like around me. Yep - they were off school. Isaak was starting to feel better from his Strep Throat. Mica never got it. Timing wise I think Mica and Travis got to skip having Strep Throat this time. 

I had conferences for both boys Thursday night. The thought occurred to me to call to skip them. Both boys have all A's. But...I had things I wanted to talk to the teachers about. It was just me, so I couldn't send Travis to them. I had been taking antibiotics long enough that I was past the contagious stage. 

Cat in the "Hat" Day at School

They could wear any hat. The boys picked the sombreros. Isaak would not hold still, so he's a little blurry. Mica just looks like a freak with those crazy eyes. That kind of adds to the craziness of the photo though.

Isaak's conferences were first.

He's doing well in everything. The only area that he struggles with is reading comprehension. We're supposed to have him read books, and ask questions afterwards. The crazy thing is that his vocabulary, and his reading level are both high. 

Isaak still doesn't love to read. He rarely picks up a book on his own accord. He did recently finish a 328 page book. That was because he was A. Sick and B. Influenced by his teacher. His teacher told the whole class that if they could read a big book, they could put marbles in their classroom jar. Isaak's always done well with positive reinforcement, so he was all about that marble jar. When their marble jar is full they get some kind of classroom party. 

I talked to Isaak's teacher about how Isaak will get a spelling word right, then 2 weeks later ask how to spell that same word. She says they all do that. The spelling words are repeated throughout the year. 

She likes to write and tell stories. He uses big words when he writes. It's fun having Isaak read his stories because all those words that were spelled wrong make perfect sense. 

Isaak has good handwriting for a 2nd grader boy. 

His teacher did say that Isaak is never super excited about things. I said, "That's because he thinks of school like it's his job. That's coming from him, not me." I'm kind of glad he took on that way of thinking when it comes to school. It is his job. He likes school, so that's what matters. 

We did visit the girl that works with the boys in regards to challenging them. They got put into that program when they were fairly young, and we try to visit that teacher every conference. I mainly talked about Mica, who I have more problems with (that will be the next post). Isaak sat there and said, "Can we talk about me now?" We all had a chuckle. Where Isaak's at in school he's doing great! He's a messy, collage artist that likes to put things together, and enjoys pop-up things, and loves to write stories.

School Started With Hot Flashes

Mica woke up with crazy hair yesterday! I asked him if he wanted to go to school like that for the first day? He said, "No!" We joke about how a peacock feather is growing out of his head.

 

Travis fixed Mica's hair.

Isaak was super excited to get new shoes. The boy mostly gets hand me downs from Mica. Now they have about the same size of feet. Isaak's feet grow faster than Mica's. I was just going to buy a pair of neural tennis shoes for Isaak, but he tried on the blue basket ball shoes, and was in love. He was bouncing around the mirror testing them out with a big smile on his face. In the end I bought 2 pair. Luckily they were both on sale, I had a $12 off card from Kohl's, they gave me 30% off since their register broke in the middle of a transaction, and I got $20 of Kohl's cash. Woo Hoo!

 

I came home from work and said, "How was your first day boys?" 

Mica said, "Well it was great. There's just a few little things...like my teacher gets headaches if the lights are on all the way, so they are lower lit. That will take some getting used to. My teacher has hot flashes, so she keeps it pretty cool in the room. I need to bring a sweater, or sweatshirt to school Mom." The hot flashes comment made me laugh. 

It reminds me of when I was teaching, and I was pregnant with Mica. Hormones were making me sweat like crazy. I hardly ever sweat any other given time. That first few weeks of being pregnant I just didn't know what to do. No matter what deodorant I used sweat was just pouring from me. Thank goodness that stopped!

As for the lights - that is a great reason why places need real sun lighting, or lights that mimic the sun. I know they make such a thing, but those kinds of lights are expensive. Do fluorescent lights bother you?

Isaak had a good day to. His only problem was getting though his lunch. He kept saying that lunch was cut short. I don't believe it. I think he talked too much! He's been extra chatty at breakfast at our house as well. 

I started teaching the new collage students yesterday. They seem nice. It's always super quiet the first few weeks. 

Mica Was the King of Play Dates This Last Weekend

We wanted Mica to play with someone, while Isaak was hanging out with Aunt Angela.
Somehow, someway communication isn't always on board. Daddy sets the playdates up most of the time because he picks the boys up from school. Some of Mica's friend's parents are from Africa. There's a language barrier to get through as well.

One kid Mica has been raving about. Mica's wanted him to come over for awhile now. We'll call him Boy A. The trouble is, is his mom's phone broke. We can leave messages, but she can't get them.

We have to work on phone etiquette with Mica!

Mica's Phone Message to Boy A:

"I've been waiting a long time for you to come over. Are you coming over? Oh and this is Mica."

He decided to try another friend. We'll called him Boy B. It to was awkward, but not as awkward because I told him exactly what to say. Boy B's Mother was impressed that I make Mica use the phone. She has older kids, and says now a days they only know how to text, not talk. Boy B couldn't play on Saturday, but he could play on Sunday.

Boy A's whole family came over and wanted to take Mica to the library to read books, and play on their computers. Later they came and played at our house for awhile. It was great; I just wasn't expecting it. I was kind of glad Boy B didn't commit to that day!

Sunday came and Mica called Boy B again. His mom said the day before that they could play at Boy B's Grandma's house. She lives right behind us. Boy B has come over to our house a few times.

Mica's Phone Message to Boy B:

"Hi this is Mica. I really want to go to your Grandma's house instead of my house. When will this occur?" 

Daddy and I looked at each other and both said, "Occur?" and started laughing.

Mica went over there around 1, and played for a few hours. 

He got home and had a soda in his hand.

He said, "Mom they gave me a Pepsi. I didn't realize it had caffeine in it; until I read the back of the can. I'm going to go dump it out. It really made me feel full." 

We don't drink soda regularly. They do. Not a big deal. Mica felt it was a big deal. To him it was like they were drugging him.

The next morning Mica told me that he told Boy B that his Grandma's house was boring. I didn't say too much that second. Sometimes I need a few minutes to process what to do, or say with my kids. 

At breakfast I said, 

"Mica do you remember that Little House on the Prairie where Nellie told Laura her house was boring? It made Laura feel so bad. He shook his head yes. I want you to go to school and give Boy B an apology. 

Tell him, 'Boy B I'm sorry for telling you that your Grandma's house was boring. I really wanted to play with you. It wasn't right for me to say that about your Grandma's house. I'm just thankful that you had me over.'"

I made Mica practice like I was Boy B. That to was just about as awkward as his phone messages. He practiced a few times. Daddy said he'd stand there and observe the apology before school to make sure it happened. 

For the record

It isn't just Mica that is awkward with the phone. Boy B did call while we were gone, and his message wasn't understandable at all. As for the rudeness factor, well we've heard that to. When Mica's had friends over they've asked us why we don't have candy and cookies around our house? Our food is boring.

Mica's 2nd Grade Parent Teacher Conferences

We had Mica's Parent Teacher Conferences last night.

We take our kids with. Then we set them in the hallway with the portable DVD player. The kids love it because they get to watch a movie, and they get to go to the Scholastic Book Fair afterwards. We love it because they are occupied during conference time.

Mica this last weekend roll played that he's part of a sculpture outside the Nelson Atkins Art Museum in Kansas City.

His teacher greeted us by saying, "You both have such a wonderful son!" That's nice to hear. We live with the little tike all the time. We only get to observe other kids his age sometimes.

Grading systems are so odd. It used to be A, B, C, D or F. Then it was 1, 2, 3, and 4. Now it's O for Outstanding, S for Satisfactory, N for Needs Improvement and U for Unsatisfactory. Whatever the grading system is, they kind of mean the same thing.

Mica got mostly O's, and a few S's. His teacher said that Mica was the only one in the class that got O's for a few things. He got the S's because they haven't attempted to do the things that they were graded for.

His reading level is about as high as a fifth grader. I mentioned that Mica is stuck on wanting to read the Magic Tree House series. I asked if that's a problem that he only wants to read those books? She said at this age as long as he's reading, she's happy.

I guess if they do really well in gym, they get an extra gym. I would have thought of that as a punishment when I was a kid. Mica was super excited about it. He had an extra gym that day, and was all happy and sweaty afterwards.

The one thing we talked about for awhile is that Mica tends to rush things sometimes. His teacher didn't see this at all.

He used to rush swimming. Instead of getting his strokes right he tried doing them fast. Sometimes he's the same way with homework.

Daddy showed Mica's teacher some of his worksheets from class. Mica has one answer that that is wrong on about 5 of them. I guess the process is that Mica's supposed to go up to the teacher with his work, she checks it, and if he has something wrong he's supposed to erase it and fix it. Well he hasn't been doing the erasing and fixing part. I told his teacher, "Maybe now you want to go back and change his grades." We all laughed.

His teacher now gets the fact that Mica rushes through his work sometimes. After the conference I told Mica he did well. I asked him why he hasn't erased his wrong problems in the class, and fixed them? He told me that he has. I said, "No I see no erased marks on there." We'll have to make sure he follows through.

Besides his grades three good things happened:

1. The Y is providing a bus for the 2nd graders to go have swimming lessons once a week during school. I don't know if it's in replace of gym, or recess. They still will have fun.
2. Mica thought he lost a jacket. It went missing out of his locker. He shares a locker with a new kid. I thought maybe the new kid grabbed it thinking it was his. After searching for it on the lost and found table, Daddy spotted it behind the lost and found hamper. 
3. Mica's working with a lady for their gifted program. We were hoping to talk with her, but she wasn't there. Maybe we'll see her tonight at Isaak's conference.

So...School Started

Isaak said to me the night before Kindergarten started, "Mom I'm not too excited for school to start, but maybe I should wear a tie, or something nice since it is the first day."

I helped him lay out a nice shirt, which later we found out it had something on the front, so we picked out a fun shirt.

Isaak made his own lunch (mostly). The only thing I did was help him get things out, and cut things up for him. Mica decided to risk not knowing what they were having, and went with hot lunch. He eats just about anything!

Bath time happened. It took Mica until he was 7 years old to fully take a bath on his own. Isaak said, "I'm going to do this on my own." He did! He washed up, rinsed off, dried off, put lotion on and hung up his towel all without being asked!

The morning of school Isaak said, "Maybe I should try tying my own shoes. I am going to be in Kindergarten." Little man is growing up.

Mica was excited for the first day of class. He picked out his own shirt. I have a new unwritten policy with him. He picks out his shirt, shows it to me, and I tell him what shorts or pants that go with it. If he picks out everything he's miss-matched. I don't want to be laying out his clothes all the time though.

We now have a 2nd grader and a Kindergartener in the house.

They have the exact same backpack. What Mica wants, Isaak wants. I picked up 2 iron on fabric patches. Mica's backpack has a Superman symbol, and Isaak's has a Spider-Man on it. Then I ironed them on, and sewed them on.

Did they like school?

Isaak

Isaak said he had a horrible day. He said it with a smile on his face. He didn't really. He was fixated on the fact that he dropped a few of his chocolate covered berries on the floor (his dessert). He also found a coin at recess and proceeded to roll it around on the ground. It fell in a crack, so he couldn't retrieve it again. Isaak's the dramatic one in the group. If anything good that's little happens he's high on life, one little bad thing makes his whole day bad, and he doesn't know the difference between a joke and a lie. He'll fib about something with a smile on his face and say, "I was just kidding." He's just trying to test the humor waters.

Really Isaak had fun. He liked that they had technology class. There was a computer he could use; he played a matching game with upper and lower case letters.

Mica

Mica seems to like his teacher. He has a handful of new kids in his class. His teacher last year told us that Mica would be great with either teacher. I do wish more kids were in his class. I keep reminding him that it's good to make new friends to. He sees all his friends at recess. In the classroom it's all about learning anyhow. Mica's excited for the time where Isaak is comfortable enough to have Mica drop Isaak off to his classroom instead of Dad doing it.

Mica got to take birthday treats today. He thought some other kid may be taking treats. I just told him, "Then you can leave the box of treats there, and pass them out tomorrow." He took his birthday invites. It is a little challenging since most of his friends are in the other class. His best friend moved away, and his other good friend has parents that are divorced. I'm never sure where her invite ends up. We made two. I hope they get to her parents ok. His friend party is on the 24th and it's a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle one. He is invited to a skate party this weekend. Mica's never been skating before. It should be interesting. Dad is taking him. I'm getting the gift. I'm thinking hair things would be fun, since we don't know what toys she has. I may resort to a board game.