LAST DAY OF SCHOOL???

All year I've been making plans around the last day of school being May 25th. We even arranged for the summer trek to visit the relatives to begin as soon as school gets out on that Friday.

Last week, 5thGrader's planner had LAST DAY OF SCHOOL written on the 24th. I figured he copied it down wrong off the board. He insisted that he didn't. Then this morning, I found 3rdGrader's weekly newsletter and HIS teacher also has May 24th as the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.

Surely two teachers aren't wrong, but surely I haven't just made up that the last day of school is the 25th. So as soon as I could, I checked online to see the school calendar and sure enough, May 24th is the LAST DAY OF SCHOOL. Guess the kids will get an extra afternoon at home before beginning the summer trek!

Middle School doesn't seem so scary after all

In the fall, I have to change the title of this blog because while we'll be continuing our adventures as grade school parents, we'll be embarking on a new role - parents of a middle schooler! Yep, folks, that's right - we're off to middle school in August.

Tonight was the parent orientation. We toured the 6th grade hall where they assured us that they don't assign top lockers to the short kids, encouraged us to teach our children how to use a combination lock, and understand that 4 minutes to get from one end of the hall to the other while stopping at your locker is really doable!

We got to meet the principal and both assistant principals, discuss the dress code (boys, your pants have to be up, we don't want to see your underwear, and shirts with sleeves are safe options), and see the cafeteria and media center. We met the teachers for the core areas (math, science, world-geography, language arts, computer/creative writing) and the electives (P.E., art, band, chorus, dance (or was it drama?), and research).

I thought I'd be anxious about the beginning of middle school, but after going over today and seeing things first-hand and talking with the teachers and administration, I am actually excited about it. I think it will be a wonderful experience and know that our soon-to-be-middle-schooler will have a world of opportunity ahead of him... and I can't wait to experience it with him!

Summer Reading List

Rising 6th graders are required to read two of the following books over the summer.

1. A Wrinkle in Time by Madelene L'Engle
2. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen
3. Island of the Blue Dolphins by Scott O'Dell
4. Joey Pigza Swallowed the Key by Jack Gantos
5. Skellig by David Almond
6. Sounder by William Armstrong
7. Tangerine by Edward Bloor
8. Wanderer by Sharon Creech
9. The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin

Over-achiever that I am, I've requested all of them from the library now so we can preview which ones to have for summer reading. We already have Island of the Blue Dolphins and maybe Sounder.

Last Writes Upon Request for the school year

Today is the last Writes Upon Request for the school year. It used to be a big deal - making sure to go to bed a little early the night before, have something special for breakfast the morning of. Now it's just another school day.

Two years ago, when 5thgrader was a 3rd grader, he completely shut down when asked to write about anything. Writes Upon Requests were horrible, miserable, anxiety-ridden days. But we're so proud of him because he has worked hard to overcome his anxiety - or at least learned to function within its constraints - and has consistently scored 4.5's (out of possible 6's) this whole year. He has reached deep within himself and lived to tell about it!

Today's assignment is expository. I never even knew what that meant until they started doing WURs. (It means explaining.)

Here's what Writes Upon Request means (I found this on one of the county school pages):
WUR-“Writes Upon Request” Assessment. In an effort to prepare students for the FCAT Writing Assessment, and to provide opportunities for students to improve their writing skills, **** County Schools conducts the “Writes Upon Request” Assessment Program. This program assesses student writing in first through tenth grades at set times during the school year. Students throughout the district are given grade-appropriate prompts (topics) and time limits in which to respond. Trained classroom teachers utilize the same scoring method as the *CAT Writing Assessment to score student papers. Scores are reported to parents.

The end of winter break

Why is it that winter break always goes so fast? When I was a kid, it seemed like it never lasted long enough, and now as a parent, I really feel like it doesn't last long enough. That holiday song that says "and mom and dad can hardly wait for school to start again..." -- well, that doesn't apply here.

Of course we fill our break with lots of traveling and a little bit of down time, and we ignore the school work that has to be done (really... do teachers think the kids will do it throughout the holidays? Nope - many of them will wait til the last day -- at least mine did).

Our Favorite Things

5th Grader's...

Favorite TV Show: Suite Life of Zack and Cody
Favorite Video Game: Mario Party 7
Favorite Food: Pizza, pepperoni from Pizza Hut
Favorite Holiday Song: Holly Jolly Christmas
Favorite Drink: Sprite


Mom's Favorites:
Hannah Montana
High School Musical
Animal Crossing

Rules to live by...

Live simply.

Love generously.

Care deeply.

Speak kindly.

If my children don't learn anything else, learning these four principles will help them navigate through life. I hope I'm able to show them how to live simply, love generously, care deeply, speak kindly.

The end...

We ended up with about 75 trick-or-treaters and a basket full of candy leftover to take to the office. It should last til at least Thanksgiving.

Kids are tired; I'm tired and have a headache, and the Haunted Mansion theme song is stuck stuck stuck in my head.

Grocery Store treats

The grocery store we shop at had activities for kids this afternoon - pumpkin painting and treats from around the store. A handful of popcorn from the deli (literally a deli-glove filled with popcorn), an apple from produce and a cookie and cupcake from the bakery.

The boys just came home to dump their first load and then they're heading back out.

For me, I've only had one miniature snickers bar. For now.

continuing the count

6:56 p.m.

Over 50 trick or treaters so far. It's really a great night for it - the weather is clear and it's turned off a bit cool for a change. It's 73 degrees and not a bit humid.

Two supermans (supermen?), several "this is my costume" t-shirts (worn by adolescent girls carrying pillowcases), a fairy and a scary dude.

Three kids and one parent that we know so far.

continued

6:30 p.m. ~ we've had our first trick or treaters ~ a group of 4 girls, three who looked to be about 13 and one who was about 9. The boys saw them coming from the neighbor's yard so they hid behind the edge of the driveway so they could scare them. As the girls were walking up, the younger one said "there are some kids who are going to jump out" and about that time the boys did and one of the older girls screamed! That made the boys' night!

Three cheerleaders, an angel, a princess and a pumpkin. That's what we've had so far.

And one Sheriff's Deputy drive-by.

Halloween Live!

I'm sitting in our driveway watching two pirates having a sword fight. One looks quite a bit like Captain Hook with Harry Potter eyeglasses and a fake nose. The other looks a bit like Jack Sparrow. Only they're 4 1/2 ft tall.

Our pumpkin is lit and our CD player is set to "repeat" for the theme song to the Haunted Mansion at Disney World. The basket is filled with miniature candy bars and tootsie rolls. Now we're just waiting for the trick-or-treaters.

Oops - the dog across the street is starting to bark - hope my music isn't bothering him... it's not too loud.

If you happen to read live, don't forget to "refresh" to catch later postings.

Educationally Valuable Experiences

We took our children out of school for two days last week to go to Denver, Colorado. I checked with the school to see what we needed to do to have their absences Excused and was told that a new policy is going into effect regarding Educationally Valuable Experiences (EVEs).

In order to have such an absence excused, parents have to identify four benchmarks that their children will be addressing while participating in EVEs. And these benchmarks must come from Language Arts, Math, Science and Social Studies. If the EVE doesn't address a benchmark in each one, then the absence will not be excused.

After identifying the benchmarks, the student must prepare a written report and an oral presentation upon return to school before they will even consider excusing the absence. And then there is no guarantee that if you go to the extra effort that it will be excused.

We decided to just let the children have Unexcused Absences. We know they learned so much on our trip that is of value to them. They toured the US Mint, the Colorado History Museum, the Colorado State Capitol, the Denver Art Museum, the foothills of the Rocky Mountains, and the City of Denver. They can tell you facts and information about everything they saw and did. They can also tell you that what some people consider to be art is, in the words of our 3rd grader, "Just wrong. Just Plain Wrong!"

Siblings without Rivalry

When you have a 9 year old who is charming, funny, smart, witty, a good conversationalist, well-liked by his peers and adults, and you also have a 10 year old who thinks he is none of these things (even though he is), there's bound to be rivalry. I picked up a copy of Siblings without Rivalry to see if I can learn some things to help these two get along better - or at least not have so many hurt feelings. I think I should've gotten this book when I was first expecting little one.

The boys are so much alike in so many ways, but so different. They aren't competitive about physical things; it's more about perceptions of fairness (what is fair anyway?). Who got more time on the computer? Who has to go first to take a bath (I went first yesterday, no you didn't...) ~ well, you get the idea.

Ay-yi-yi! I suspect the teen years ahead will be rough enough... hopefully we can all learn some skills to take the sharp edges off.

I just finished reading How to Talk So Kids will Listen & Listen so Kids will Talk and WOW! I've heard about this book off and on through my years as a parent, but I never had a chance to pick it up until recently when it was recommended to help me develop my own "script" for addressing the needs of one of my grade schoolers. I've already used some of the techniques not only when listening and talking to my children, but also with co-workers, friends, and other people I encounter every week.

School Picture Day

Today was picture day at school. In the past, I've picked out what I wanted the boys to wear for their school pictures, but this year I let them dress themselves with just one rule -- it had to be clean. One picked a grey shirt with blue and red thin stripes. The other picked his Disney Cruise Line shirt.

You know what? For the first year, both boys will look like they always look. Hopefully they didn't have weird smiles.

3rd Grade Math Super Stars

Every year the school sends home "Sunshine Math" (a.k.a. Math Super Stars) for every child.

Here are some examples from the first one for 3rd grade:

1. Ann was asked to find the number of marbles that were added to the other marble groups to get the total. Can you find the number?

3 marbles + ____ marbles + 2 marbles = 13 marbles


2. Joe has 3 quarters, 1 dime and 2 nickels in his piggy bank. How much money does he have to spend in the candy store?


3. Tom is helping his sick neighbor by taking her dog for a walk every day, bringing her the mail, and doing other odd jobs. Mrs. Burns pays him $7.50 a week for his help. How much will he earn in 4 weeks?

4. Find the pattern in these numbers and then continue the pattern by writing the next three numbers: 1 6 3 8 5 10 7 ____ ____ ____


5. Robin gave her friend a puzzle like the one below. Solve the number puzzle yourself:
Find * + 11 if you know that 8 + * = 12.

6. There was a line waiting for movie tickets. Sue realized that there were 6 people in front of her and 6 people behind her in the line. How many people were waiting in line for movie tickets?

7. A turtle crawls up a 12 foot hill after a heavy rainstorm. The turtle crawls 4 feet, but when it stops to rest, it slides back 1 1/2 feet. How many tries does the turtle make before it makes it up the hill?


8. Four classmates are to stand in order from tallest to shortest. Tom is taller than Sally. Sally is taller than Bob. Maria is taller than Bob but shorter than Sally. Using the clues, place the four friends in order from tallest to shortest.

Post your answers in the comments. No fair asking your 3rd grader for help.

Bring Back Pluto as a Planet!

Q. Why did Mickey Mouse go to Outer Space?

A. He was looking for Pluto.

~~~~~~

Pluto Demoted to Dwarf Planet, Seven Dwarves Complain

Coming on the heels of the demotion of Pluto to a dwarf planet, the Seven Dwarves issued a short press release: “Although we think it's DOPEY that Pluto has been downgraded to a dwarf planet, which has made some people GRUMPY and others just SLEEPY, we are not BASHFUL in saying we would be HAPPY if Disney's Pluto would join us as an 8th dwarf. We think this is just what the DOC ordered and is nothing to SNEEZE at.” As Mickey’s faithful companion, Pluto made his debut in 1930-the same year scientists discovered what they thought was the 9th planet. (from Magically Speaking, Augusut 28, 2006)

~~~~~~

If you want to join our coalition to Bring Back Pluto as a (not-dwarf) Planet, let us know by posting a Comment.

1st Project of the Year

Make a travel brochure for two states.

Do a diagram / picture of the state
Facts on state (capital, population, date of statehood, cities)
At least two interesting places to visit
Fun facts (state mascots, bird, tree, flower, etc.)

States picked: Kentucky and Virginia

1st day

Well, that was easy. Kids getting up by themselves, eating breakfast, getting dressed, ready to go on time. Snapped a couple of traditional pictures and we were out the door. We went through the car line and teased about the "boo hoo" parents dropping off their kindergarteners and all the cars parked on the side of the road and those circling the parking lot looking for a place to pull in while we just zipped right through the car line!

I failed 5th grade school supply shopping!

Armed with the school supply list, I headed off for Target this morning to get the few things I didn't already have on hand, including a protractor. Imagine my surprise when I reached for the protractor on the shelf only to see that what I was thinking was a protractor was, in fact, a compass.

Orientation

Getting ready for orientation this year was different. Different than the previous years. In the past, I would be crossing off the days on the calendar, waiting for Friday afternoon when we'd finally get to see who would be teaching our children for the school year. Would we get who we wanted? Would our children like them? Would they like our kids? Would we like the teacher? Would the teacher like us? I'd be ready to go at 11 o'clock even though orientation doesn't start until 12:30. I'd double check that the kids had matching clothes and their faces were scrubbed so they could make a good first impression on their teachers (well, really, so that I would make a good first impression as their mom, bringing clean, well-groomed children to meet them rather than the boys that they are). I'd put on make-up and fret about what to wear and did my hair look ok. And watch the clock. And watch the clock. And watch the clock until it was 12:20 and then I'd rush everyone out the door so we could be there right when the class lists were posted. Kinda like waiting for the casting announcements to be posted for a play - waiting to see if you get the coveted lead.

But this year was different. I don't know if it's because we've done orientation so many times before, or because this is our 5th grader's last year in elementary school, or maybe just because I had a headache this morning so I took a late-morning nap and didn't wake up til just after 12. But even then, I didn't rush; I didn't even check to see what the kids were wearing. We left home about 12:45 and got to school to find that the classes were posted and there weren't big crowds in the classrooms.

I think this is going to be the best school year yet.

New Meaning to "Climbing the Walls"

38 days til School Starts

I checked the calendar today and we're over half-way through the summer already. The boys get 80 days out for the summer, and we're down to only 38 left til school starts. How did the summer go by so fast???

It's been a good summer. Our summer babysitter ~ oops ~ I mean our "summer child care provider" has been awesome, fabulous, unflappable. She has taken the kids to swimming lessons, the movies, Chuck E. Cheese, museums, bike riding. She has played too many board games to count, and supervised baking cookies, biscuits and cinnamon rolls. She comforted the kids when we tragically lost our cat. We're going to miss her when she has to leave.

But we still have 38 days! We have a couple of trips still ahead and plenty of days to just hang out at home before we have to start finding backpacks and lunch boxes, sharpening pencils and labeling glue sticks.

Working as a family at WDW

Ever since I can remember, N has wanted to drive the train at the Magic Kingdom in Walt Disney World. Z has wanted to drive the monorail. They are planning to move to Orlando after high school and do the Disney College program.

By the time Z is graduating high school, I'll have 4 years left until I could retire. GradeSchoolDad will have already retired. We were talking at dinner last night about how when the kids move out and I retire, perhaps we'll move with them to Orlando.

We could get seasonal jobs (meaning NOT during the hot season) at WDW and work with the kids!

So we got to talking about what job would be a good match for each of us. The kids decided that GradeSchoolDad would be perfect for a guide on the Jungle Cruise. He can tell scripted, corny jokes with the best of them, and he'd look pretty good in the costume!

For me, they rejected every idea I came up with (Snow White? nope, I'm too old. Running 'it's a small world?' - nope, they think I'd get crazy pushing the button and waving all day. Ursula is an animatronic and I don't have enough arms anyway.) But then it came to us -- I could be a tour guide!

You know what? I really like that idea! I think I'll put it on my list of things to think about for when I get closer to retirement.

And you know what else? I'm confident that both boys will have a chance to experience their dreams.

Double Digits

What a ride the last decade has been! I'm now the parent of a pre-teen; a double-digits boy; a 10 year old! Amazing!

When he turned one, we had a big blow-out of a party, not so much to celebrate his birthday, but to celebrate the fact that we survived our first year of parenting. Seems like we should be having a bash today to celebrate our first decade!

Instead, he's getting to pick out what he wants to do today. He wants lunch at the Mexican restaurant because we always eat Mexican on his birthday. He's a homemade-burrito boy - tortilla and refried beans with salsa, salt and a squirt of lemon juice. He has to make it himself at the table. We're still sad that Tia's closed.

His gifts include The Magic Kingdom Game, Clue, the New Super Mario Bros. game for Nintendo DS, and a pocket watch with a train from Disney.

Dinner tonight will be at the American Cafe, mostly because they have a fabulous Chocolate Chip Martini for dessert!



Ah - how great to be 10!

Scrabble

Want to know how well your kid is doing with spelling and have fun at the same time? Break out the Scrabble game and have a go at it.

You don't have to keep score (although come on - you know you're going to add up your own points in your head and hope you get the Triple Word Score - even if you're playing against your 3rd grader). Just start with learning how to use the board - the whole board! That's the challenging part for new Scrabble players ~ seeing how to not box the game into a corner.

"Junior" Moments

Our just-finished-2nd-grader asked "What comes after J?" His now-in-5th-grade brother told him he should just sing his ABC's to figure it out.

A few weeks later, the same just-finished-2nd-grader wanted to know if it's been April yet this year? His brother sighed and suggested we send him back to kindergarten.

I shared these stories with a friend who said that perhaps he was having a "junior moment."

School Projects

Why is it that kids put off their projects until the night before they are due, even when you remind them and set things out for them to do it? Why is it that at 8:30 at night you're googling for color pictures of Paul Revere only to find out that project isn't really due tomorrow - it's not til next week? Why can't you ever find a glue stick when you need it?

Another year, another round of FCAT

Why is it that standardized testing is so important? Why can't it just be that the kids have a different activity for the day that just happens to be the standardized test, rather than all the build up and hype that is created ~ and often results in unnecessary stress on kids who have no reason to be stressed?

Ugh.

I'll be glad when it's the middle of March.