Milk required

It's kind of irritating how much milk is pushed in school, especially when your children are lactose intolerant. Of course, they have the option to drink water, if they bring a water bottle from home and fill it at the drinking fountain. This is inconvenient, at best.

Getting personalized water bottles would be the most economical and environmentally friendly for children who prefer water. I hate buying expensive bottled water to send to school, then it could get mixed up with bottles that other children bring. As long as they don't lose their bottles, they could be refilled and kept at school all week, coming home to be washed on the weekends.

Our little "Super Scottie"

My readers please excuse me, but I simply must gush about my daughter (again)!! At an awards ceremony at the elementary school, my daughter won one of the coveted "Super Scottie" awards for making the honor roll, and exhibiting exemplary behavior at school. Only four kids in her class won the award and we are so proud that she was one of them.

I was worried she might have trouble adjusting after they shuffled her grade around a month ago and she was switched to a different teacher. But as usual, she has made the best of it and is thriving. I love having those moments when I am truly proud to say, "Hey, that's my kid!"

Reading bug

Thanks to the library summer reading program, my daughter "caught the reading bug" and ended up reading around 200 books last summer. Now that school is back in session, I am proud to report that she has been classified as reading above her grade level. Reading is so crucial in all parts of school, and I'm so thankful that she picked it up as well as she has. I can only hope we are as lucky with our younger son. I have a gut feeling that he will have a harder time, but maybe I'm just stereotyping him because of the other typical "boy" behavior he has been exhibiting lately.

Maybe he will learn young, simply because big sister is doing it and his competitive spirit will take over. Only time will tell. The important thing is that both of my kids love school and we will continue to foster that because when there is love for learning, everything else just falls into place.

Eureka Springs School of the Arts

Our daughter was fortunate enough to receive a scholarship to attend a summer art class at ESSA, and we are very happy with the experience. She originally wanted the painting class, but she was enrolled in "Working with Metals" instead. There was another class which used airbrush and stencil techniques to make T-shirts. She was somewhat skeptical to work with metal, but after the first day, she told me, "Mom, I love working with metal!" She made a variety of Christmas ornaments, jewelry, metal boxes, and more.

I was so glad she thrived, especially since she was the only girl in the class. The instructors were Mary Springer and Eleanor Lux and they did a wonderful job teaching my daughter. They definitely made an impact and my daughter feels that she can try lots of new art techniques that she may have not thought of trying before. Thank you ESSA! I definitely recommend these summer classes for school age children.

Oh, how school has changed!

When I was in elementary school, computers were just making their way into residential homes. I was one of only about three other students in my class with a word processing program to turn in printed reports in the 6th grade. The internet wasn't a viable resource until college, and offered much help with my assignments then.

Today, children start using the internet as early as age two, and computers are a staple in every classroom in the country from Kindergarten through high school. Students in middle and high school carry a flash drive on a lanyard around their neck with all their computer files stored. I just hope that by the time my kids are in school, we aren't expected to purchase laptops that they carry to school. Call me old fashioned, but I think kids are too young for that much responsibility.

Her first boyfriend

Yesterday in the car, my 7 year old daughter nonchalantly says, "Mom, I have a boyfriend who loves me." I say, "Oh really? Who is it?" Turns out it is a boy who has been in her class for two years, but apparently they just discovered they love each other "just a little bit" according to her.

I don't think it is a big deal, buy my husband seemed a bit upset by it. He grilled her with questions like, "You don't kiss him or anything, do you??" She just made a disgusted face and said, "No, we just draw pictures for each other."

So we're not quite ready for "the talk" yet, but she is growing up so fast that before too long we will be breaking out acne treatments and fighting off real boyfriends. The good news is that since we live in a small town, there are many other parents looking out for your kids too because everyone knows you. I don't think the teens around here can get away with much... but I could be wrong.

High expectations

I was a bit disappointed in my daughter yesterday when I substituted in her class for the first time. I was all excited thinking what a great day it would be, that she would be my little helper, and so on. Well, apparently she is one of those kids that acts up more when their mom is around. She kept pushing the limits and I almost had to give her a time-out on two separate occasions. And since her friends saw her goofing off, even when her mom was in the room, they figured they could do it to. I had to warn them several times throughout the day.

We got through the day without any major snags, and I didn't even get a headache. Being a substitute teacher is a tough job, that's for sure. My job at the library feels like a walk in the park by comparison. Starting last week, all the teachers have been complaining about students acting up without reason. We figured everyone is just ready for Thanksgiving break, which is the entire week off school in our district. I know I'm ready for a break!

Glowing report

I feel I must brag a little bit about my daughter who is in the first grade this year. We had our first parent/teacher conference last week and she got glowing reviews from her teacher. Since my daughter has always been very social and outgoing, I was a bit worried about her socializing during class and talking too much to her classmates during work time. But her teacher says that hasn't really been a problem for her and she is doing quite well. She got A's in every subject and pluses in all areas of the report card.

Her teacher even said that my daughter has the neatest and most organized journal she has ever seen, even when she taught second and fourth grade! She uses the journal as an example for the other students to show how organized it can be so they can try to do the same. I was very proud indeed.

Definitely not ready

I have been substitute teaching in one of the Pre-school classes at the public elementary school for the last couple of days and it has been a great experience. I'm glad I signed up for subbing and I think it will be a great source of extra income, plus a way for me to stay involved in my children's school.

My son is not in Pre-K yet, as his birthday is three days past the cut-off date for three year olds to enroll. Plus they have to be fully potty trained, which we are still working on. Anyway, being in the classroom with other kids around his age, I am glad he has another year at home before starting school. The Pre-K is full day, five days a week at the public school, and that is just so much for kids this age to handle. Some of the children seem so young to be following strict rules, cleaning up after themselves, and lining up in order with the other kids. I honestly can't see my son being able to handle a classroom situation yet.

I'm thinking of maybe dropping him off at a daycare center for a couple of hours once a week or so just so he can get accustomed to being around a group of young children in a classroom setting. And next week, I'm going full throttle with the potty training, no holds barred. I'll let you know how it goes...

New school year underway

The new school year started Monday and so far the week has gone pretty well. It hasn't been as hard as last year for me to wake up early, and I have been going to bed earlier too. The first day of school, I drove my daughter in to help carry all her supplies and to make sure she knew where her new classroom was. Of course, she wanted to play on the playground before the bell rang, so we went outside. The first thing I noticed was a new "carousel" playground equipment out there. All the kids wanted to ride it at once and as a result, there were about 25 kids on it. They were spinning much to fast and a few kids fell off and rolled under while it kept spinning. One had to go to the nurse and I was wondering why the two teachers that were supervising didn't limit the number of children riding at once.

Then, when my daughter came home from school that first day, she was limping. I asked what was wrong and she told me that she flew off the carousel and hurt her ankle. She said there were so many kids on it that she didn't have a place to hold on, but she rode it anyway and several kids were thrown from the ride and got hurt. I called the principal and he said he would be instigating rules for the ride and instructing the teachers to supervise it very carefully for the first couple of weeks until the "newness" wares off and the kids go back to playing on the other playground equipment also.

Other than that, my daughter loves her new first grade teacher and she is doing very well with her homework. She had homework every day in pre-school when we lived in Colorado, then her Kindergarten teacher here in Eureka Springs didn't give any homework at all. Now in first grade, she has homework every day again. When she comes home, she is starving since lunch is around 11:00 and there are no afternoon snacks in first grade. So I let her have a snack, then we work on homework before dinner time. Our schedule is working out pretty well and she has been sleeping a little better at night since school started. Monday is parent back-to-school night so we will get to talk to her teacher more and follow up with some questions we have.

A little push

While I was ecstatic at my daughter's kindergarten graduation, I felt sad for the parents of three children in her class that will not be going on to first grade next year. Kindergarten is such an important year in school, where children experience many "firsts" and some find it hard to keep up. In addition to all the learning that happens, children are still becoming acclimated to school life in general and being away from home for the whole day. That is a lot of pressure for a five year old. And with the standardized testing starting in kindergarten, teachers must be brutally honest about which children should repeat the year until they are truly ready for the first grade.

Parents and students alike can benefit from reading tutors to give them the one on one attention that lacks in most public schools. Although tutors are an added cost, many parents find it worth the extra money for their children to feel more comfortable with learning and their school environment.

Extra help necessary?

I read in a Child magazine article last year that students get ahead in school only if they have additional outside tutoring. As a parent, I find it somewhat disturbing that public schools aren't cutting it and that I would have to pay money in order for my child to excel in school. I am lucky to have a very smart girl who has taken very well to her first years in school, but I know many children who have trouble acclimating to school and since they learn so much even before kindergarten (we had daily homework assignments in pre-school!), if the child doesn't figure it out then, he is held back for another year.

There are programs available like the Innovative Tutor at Score that works with children as young as four, all the way through the beginning high school years to make significant academic progress. Many children benefit from the more personalized attention that tutoring gives, but I still believe the schools should have small enough classes to be able give the children all the one-on-one teaching they need.

Also, children are expected to complete two years of pre-school before entering kindergarten, which is a big change from when I was a child. The standardized testing also starts in kindergarten now. Remember the ITBS (Iowa Test of Basic Skills)? I do, but only starting around third or fourth grade. It just seems like children are forced to grow up so fast today. And then we wonder why they have so many psychological problems and are so stressed - we are putting the pressures of the world on them too young! I say, let kids play while they are young and just enjoy the everyday pleasures of being a kid.

It happened again

Friday, when my daughter came off the bus, she told me that they had "Library Character Dress Up" and a parade at school. What?? Just like the Field Day, I had no notice about this and it is something I would've liked to see. It seems her teacher didn't inform her class, and as a result, no one in my daughter's class came to school dressed up as a book character except two of them whose mothers work in the school so I'm sure that's how they knew about it.

Luckily, my girl is very creative and since she wore a blue checkered dress, tights, and her fancy Mary Jane shoes that day, she said she was Alice in Wonderland for the parade. But she said all the other classes were all dressed up in animal costumes, wigs, and the whole bit. Such a shame.

I can't wait until next school year.

Field Day without notice

I was more than slightly perturbed yesterday afternoon when I picked up my daughter from the bus stop and she is all excited and says, "Mom! We had Fun and Field Day today!!" What?? We got a notice two weeks ago that it would be last Wednesday, but then they canceled it because of rain and said they would announce the new date when they knew. I didn't get any notice at all about the new date, and as a result I missed her first Field Day.

I asked her if there were many parents there and she said there was one parent from her class. Luckily, they had plenty of water and sunblock to give to the kids, but if I would've known they were going to be outside all day my daughter would have been wearing comfortable shorts instead of jeans. I don't know if there was a note that should have been sent home and since the teacher has been absent a few days lately, maybe the notes didn't get distributed? Either way, I'm sad I missed it.

Strange experience at the parent / teacher conference

This afternoon I had a conference with my daughter's kindergarten teacher and it started off pretty well. She is very bright and I know she does well in school. So it surprised me when the teacher asked me if we have any problems with her at home and I said that sometimes she won't follow instructions until we tell her two or three times. The teacher says she has the same problem and wants us to make a "Behavior Modification" chart for her. The chart will have two things we want her to work on at home, and the teacher will add one thing to work on at school, and we will give her stickers on the chart if she follows the guidelines set forth on the chart.

Considering there are only two months left in school, and my daughter is one of the best students in the class, I think her teacher went a little overboard. My hubby thinks it is totally ridiculous and that we shouldn't do it at all. But the teacher got so excited by the idea and was really into it, so what am I supposed to say?

So now I have a dilemma caused by what should have been an easy conference for a girl who has a great report card. Now she's asking me if all the kids in her class will have the new chart or if it's just her. I don't want her to feel singled out, but in reality, that is what is happening.

Field trip tomorrow

The kindergarten class is going to the Walton Arts Center in Fayetteville tomorrow and I got my husband to agree to watch our son all day so I could go on the field trip with my daughter. We are going to see a performance of various Disney songs at the center. I'm looking forward to it.

The kindergarten kids are a bit more responsible and easier to take on a field trips than the preschool class we took last year, those field trips were a big headache. We're all riding the school bus to Fayetteville tomorrow, which will be an hour long ride. I hope I don't get motion sickness on the bus with all the curves in the road.

And so it begins...

I made a prediction when school started back up after Christmas Break that someone would be sick within two weeks. Well, I was wrong - it took four weeks. I just got a call from the nurse and had to pick up my daughter from school. She has a fever and is complaining about head and stomach pain.

The nurse said she has had about 60 kids so far this week with the same symptoms, so this thing is very contagious. Which means our whole family will probably get it. I hope I hear back from the ARKids plan so I can have the office visits paid for when the kids are sick. The insurance we have right now only covers yearly check-ups and wellness exams. According to the school nurse, February and March are the worst months for sicknesses going around. Joy.