Saturday, September 7, 2013
The restaurant
Making new playdoh in many colors led to the creation of Ella and Dash's restaurant. The written menu looks good but neither the chef nor the server are wearing pants...
Thursday, September 5, 2013
Officemate
Nanny has doctor's appointment, Mommy has conference call, so Dash gets his "listening ears" and as much PBS kids as it takes.
Sunday, September 1, 2013
Scared
Dash is terrified of thunderstorms which is kind of a problem in the south in the summer when they roll in many evenings around bedtime. Tonight we had a particularly loud and long storm, and he was very upset at bedtime with all the thunder. Ella offered to sleep in his room to keep him company which was a very dear gesture (it did get her out of the thank you notes she was writing, though...).
She brought in her sleeping bag, pillow, special blanket, special puppy, twilight turtle, and 11 Magic Treehouse books, and was ready to take over soothing duties. I left them with Ella in her nest on the floor by his crib, with her promising to read him a story. I checked the video monitor a few minutes later and saw the image below. It's grainy but you can make out Dash with his hands over his ears and Ella now IN his crib to keep him company. Sweet sweet sibs.
The first day of kindergarten
After a long winter finding an elementary school, a long summer anticipating the start of school, and an excruciatingly long few weeks at the end of August (no camp, no school, hot weather, nothing but nerves about the upcoming school year), Ella finally started kindergarten on Friday.
As I should probably have anticipated, even though the big "FIRST DAY" has now come and gone, I still have a lot of mixed emotions and concerns and excitement rumbling around in my head about this new chapter. "It's a marathon, not a sprint" certainly applies here and I need to remember that every day.
First things first. She's going to a public school located less than 2 miles from our house. In the end, we had the choice between a private Jewish school and a transfer acceptance at a nearby public school. We spent a very frenzied week back in the spring exploring both options as much as we could, and in the end we picked the public option. The private Jewish school was an absolutely lovely school where I have no doubt Ella would have thrived. The teachers and facilities were top-notch and she would have loved the small size. We, however, were worried that with one class per grade, the school wasn't quite as wide a new world as we think will be good for Ella in elementary school. We also worried about being on the far end of the spectrum of Jewish-ness at the school and we knew we'd be right back in the middle of worrying about public school when it came time for middle school since this private only goes up to 5th grade. Without it feeling quite perfect enough, we were skittish about spending the money for private school.
As for the transfer to the public school, the outpouring of enthusiasm that we got from parents during our decision week was almost overwhelming. I started by calling a few people I knew already at the school, and after they finished extolling the virtues of the place, every single person gave my name to another friend (or three). The phone never stopped ringing that week with people who wanted to help me understand why this school is so special. It was impossible not to be swayed by the amazing sense of community at this school. This school is not our actual neighborhood school, but it is the neighborhood school for the neighborhood next to ours, where many of our friends live, where our preschool is located, where one of our favorite and most frequented parks is located. So while we are officially a transfer family, in many ways this feels like a neighborhood experience for us. So our decision was made. Public school!
One of the very best things about this school is the focus on small class size. People kept telling me this was a big deal at this school, but until the first day when I saw the names of the kids written on the board, it hadn't really sunk in just how small we were talking. In Ella's kindergarten classroom, there are 15 children and 2 teachers. That's a private school ratio. Our friends attending the magnet school 0.56 miles from our house (remember, the one we couldn't get into because we live further than the 0.5 mile walk zone?) tell me that their kindergartners have 25 kids in each room. Everything I read about education says that class size matters, especially for young children, so this particular aspect of Ella's school makes me very very happy.
The question of who Ella's teacher will be has been both a scary unknown and a surprisingly not big deal. Everyone (and I talked to everyone!) said the same thing about this school: "You can't go wrong in kindergarten." Knowing that all four of the kindergarten teachers were beloved and experienced gave me a lot of peace of mind. We attended enough events at the school this spring and summer, and then had an hour-long assessment for Ella last week with the whole kindergarten team, that we got to meet all of the teachers. And they were all indeed lovely. Different but lovely. Ella's assigned teacher is Mrs. A who people describe frequently as "smart", "super involved in the school community", and "technology savvy". She is also a certified AIG teacher, and even though Ella won't officially be tested for AIG for several more years, I would not be surprised if she was put in Mrs. A's class so that she can really make sure Ella gets the kind of differentiated teaching she needs for her reading level. And another bonus is that Mrs. A taught the 3-week session Ella attended at the school this summer so Mrs. A and the classroom were familiar going in on the first day.
So glad as I was for these many positives about being in Mrs. A's class, when I found out that all 4 of the little girls we know well are in one other classroom (and not Mrs. A's), I had a moment (or a few hours) of total panic. Why was Ella being separated from everyone she knows?? Is this other teacher somehow better and we just got left out?? It took me most of a day to realize that I was focusing all of my nervous energy about school in general on this one tiny detail. And you know what? The kindergartners all eat lunch together, have recess together, and wait together at the end of the day at pick-up. So Ella will get to see her old buddies every day AND she'll get to meet new ones in her class.
Josh and I both took Ella on her first day, and we all did well. She was a little clingy when we needed to leave but she was mostly engaged in the books and puzzles, and we managed the separation without any tears (from either of us!). After we left her room, the PTA invited all of the kindergarten parents upstairs to the library for coffee, donuts, and a short program by the principal, PTA president, and other parents. I counted 75 people in the room which certainly confirmed everyone's feeling that there is a big sense of community at this school.
I left the school about 10:30 that morning feeling rather lost. I spent most of the day worrying about her making friends, looking at the class schedule and trying to visualize what she doing, and just generally fretting. There was a lot of mindless television watching and a lot of cookies consumed on my part. I did enjoy the chance, now the new norm I guess, to pick up Dash at school and have lunch just with him. When we went back to pick up Ella in the afternoon, I felt all of the tension I hadn't even realized I was holding over the course of the day just melt away at the sight of her. She was happy and energized. She gave me a big hug and then ran back into the building to say good-bye again to Mrs. A. I hadn't realized how worried I was about picking up a heap of a kid at the end of the day, and so to see her so lively was about the best feeling ever.
So the first day has come and gone, and it sure seemed like a good one. I still have my worries, of course. Communication from the school can be spotty, the difference in needs and abilities and means in Ella's class is clearly great, and all of the details of how the nitty-gritty things work are still murky (the cafeteria payments, the drop-off lines, the communication with the teachers). All I can do now is take it day by day, be proactive, get involved, and trust in the many families that have gone before us and had wonderful experiences at this school. Here's hoping for the first of many many fun and enriching years of school for my bug.
As I should probably have anticipated, even though the big "FIRST DAY" has now come and gone, I still have a lot of mixed emotions and concerns and excitement rumbling around in my head about this new chapter. "It's a marathon, not a sprint" certainly applies here and I need to remember that every day.
First things first. She's going to a public school located less than 2 miles from our house. In the end, we had the choice between a private Jewish school and a transfer acceptance at a nearby public school. We spent a very frenzied week back in the spring exploring both options as much as we could, and in the end we picked the public option. The private Jewish school was an absolutely lovely school where I have no doubt Ella would have thrived. The teachers and facilities were top-notch and she would have loved the small size. We, however, were worried that with one class per grade, the school wasn't quite as wide a new world as we think will be good for Ella in elementary school. We also worried about being on the far end of the spectrum of Jewish-ness at the school and we knew we'd be right back in the middle of worrying about public school when it came time for middle school since this private only goes up to 5th grade. Without it feeling quite perfect enough, we were skittish about spending the money for private school.
As for the transfer to the public school, the outpouring of enthusiasm that we got from parents during our decision week was almost overwhelming. I started by calling a few people I knew already at the school, and after they finished extolling the virtues of the place, every single person gave my name to another friend (or three). The phone never stopped ringing that week with people who wanted to help me understand why this school is so special. It was impossible not to be swayed by the amazing sense of community at this school. This school is not our actual neighborhood school, but it is the neighborhood school for the neighborhood next to ours, where many of our friends live, where our preschool is located, where one of our favorite and most frequented parks is located. So while we are officially a transfer family, in many ways this feels like a neighborhood experience for us. So our decision was made. Public school!
One of the very best things about this school is the focus on small class size. People kept telling me this was a big deal at this school, but until the first day when I saw the names of the kids written on the board, it hadn't really sunk in just how small we were talking. In Ella's kindergarten classroom, there are 15 children and 2 teachers. That's a private school ratio. Our friends attending the magnet school 0.56 miles from our house (remember, the one we couldn't get into because we live further than the 0.5 mile walk zone?) tell me that their kindergartners have 25 kids in each room. Everything I read about education says that class size matters, especially for young children, so this particular aspect of Ella's school makes me very very happy.
The question of who Ella's teacher will be has been both a scary unknown and a surprisingly not big deal. Everyone (and I talked to everyone!) said the same thing about this school: "You can't go wrong in kindergarten." Knowing that all four of the kindergarten teachers were beloved and experienced gave me a lot of peace of mind. We attended enough events at the school this spring and summer, and then had an hour-long assessment for Ella last week with the whole kindergarten team, that we got to meet all of the teachers. And they were all indeed lovely. Different but lovely. Ella's assigned teacher is Mrs. A who people describe frequently as "smart", "super involved in the school community", and "technology savvy". She is also a certified AIG teacher, and even though Ella won't officially be tested for AIG for several more years, I would not be surprised if she was put in Mrs. A's class so that she can really make sure Ella gets the kind of differentiated teaching she needs for her reading level. And another bonus is that Mrs. A taught the 3-week session Ella attended at the school this summer so Mrs. A and the classroom were familiar going in on the first day.
So glad as I was for these many positives about being in Mrs. A's class, when I found out that all 4 of the little girls we know well are in one other classroom (and not Mrs. A's), I had a moment (or a few hours) of total panic. Why was Ella being separated from everyone she knows?? Is this other teacher somehow better and we just got left out?? It took me most of a day to realize that I was focusing all of my nervous energy about school in general on this one tiny detail. And you know what? The kindergartners all eat lunch together, have recess together, and wait together at the end of the day at pick-up. So Ella will get to see her old buddies every day AND she'll get to meet new ones in her class.
Josh and I both took Ella on her first day, and we all did well. She was a little clingy when we needed to leave but she was mostly engaged in the books and puzzles, and we managed the separation without any tears (from either of us!). After we left her room, the PTA invited all of the kindergarten parents upstairs to the library for coffee, donuts, and a short program by the principal, PTA president, and other parents. I counted 75 people in the room which certainly confirmed everyone's feeling that there is a big sense of community at this school.
I left the school about 10:30 that morning feeling rather lost. I spent most of the day worrying about her making friends, looking at the class schedule and trying to visualize what she doing, and just generally fretting. There was a lot of mindless television watching and a lot of cookies consumed on my part. I did enjoy the chance, now the new norm I guess, to pick up Dash at school and have lunch just with him. When we went back to pick up Ella in the afternoon, I felt all of the tension I hadn't even realized I was holding over the course of the day just melt away at the sight of her. She was happy and energized. She gave me a big hug and then ran back into the building to say good-bye again to Mrs. A. I hadn't realized how worried I was about picking up a heap of a kid at the end of the day, and so to see her so lively was about the best feeling ever.
So the first day has come and gone, and it sure seemed like a good one. I still have my worries, of course. Communication from the school can be spotty, the difference in needs and abilities and means in Ella's class is clearly great, and all of the details of how the nitty-gritty things work are still murky (the cafeteria payments, the drop-off lines, the communication with the teachers). All I can do now is take it day by day, be proactive, get involved, and trust in the many families that have gone before us and had wonderful experiences at this school. Here's hoping for the first of many many fun and enriching years of school for my bug.
Many faces of the first day
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