school

Math Quiz

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Claire decided that it would be fun to ask me some math questions while driving her and Molly home from school today.  What could be better?  It started out easy enough.  “Ziggy has 6 bananas.  Joe gives Ziggy an apple.  How many pieces of fruit does Ziggy have?”  On answering 7, Claire declared, “Great job!  You get a sticker when we get home!”  If I did not know that Claire was pretending to be an encouraging teacher, I might have thought she was being very sarcastic.

Then Claire tried to confuse me.  “Fifty has 70 cents.  Fifty gives Leo 3 cents.  How many cents does Fifty have?”  I tried to confuse her back.  “Hmm, so Seventy has 50 cents, right?”  It did not work.  Claire reiterated that someone named “Fifty” had 70 cents.  I said the answer was 67, but Molly was adamant that the answer was actually 90.

Finally, Claire just about stumped me.  “What is 100 divided by 2000?”  That was not easy to answer while driving down the freeway.  I told her it was .5, and she said “Yes!”.  Then I thought about it more and said .05.  Claire deferred, “Sure, whatever you said.  I think you’re right.” Maybe I didn’t have to think about that one so hard after all.  Do I get another sticker when we get home?

Newtown

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On Friday, there was a terrible massacre of 20 first-grade kids and 6 teachers at a school in Newtown, Connecticut.  (That sentence is so awful it was actually hard to write.)  Claire’s excellent 1st grade teacher sent out the following apt message to the class parents.

[quote]Dearest Parents,

As I prepare myself for the school morning, I feel compelled to say something in regards to Friday’s tragedy.

I think when things like this happen, we all respond with a similar thought pattern: “That could have been my child.” Being that these students were first graders makes this tragedy somehow more poignant and raw for us. I have repeated the previous thought over and over in my mind this weekend, followed by, “That could have been my students. That could have been me.” Last night I dreamt of one single message: “Be the light.”

I would be remiss to believe that evil doesn’t exist in a real way in our world, that really bad things happen to good people for senseless reasons, but I want to acknowledge the truth that love and light live in greater proportions than darkness.

So…love more, do good, contribute to the greater consciousness, and turn on as many lights as possible…everyday.[/quote]

Fall Program Intro

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Claire was chosen as the “stage manager” for her first grade class’ fall music performance, the Fall Program.  She even got to dress up for the part!  Claire originally had a part introducing one of the songs in the middle of the show, but her song got cut, so she was assigned the role of letting the parents in the door and introducing the show.  She did not have a chance to memorize the whole script, so what you see here is Claire basically reading the script aloud.  This is amazing, considering that she is still learning to read!

The first and last song of the show was Fifty Nifty United States.

Fifty Nifty!

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Claire’s class sings “Fifty Nifty United States” as part of their Fall Program.  Claire had been practicing and singing this song for weeks, and we were absolutely amazed to hear at home her gradually list off all 50 states in alphabetical order, eventually with ease. That is hard!  The theme of the program was the various United States, and this song was the centerpiece of the show.  Other songs included “New York, New York”, “California, Here I Come”, and many more.

Commute

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I was at a conference in Miami last week for work.  It was a chance to meet people I work with from all over the country.  There was a lot of small talk, including about kids, and the joys of working from home, which many people there do, just like me.  I tended to get the best reaction from people when I told them that I work from home, but I have an hour commute each way.  That is how about long it takes to drop off both kids at both schools in the morning and get back home, and another hour in the evening.  People wondered if I live close to their schools, and sadly, yes I do.  It is just a slow process with lots of walking and doors and washing hands and unpacking and packing getting in and our of car seats.  And don’t even get me started on the traffic.

Lunch Bunch

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Claire was selected by her first grade teacher as Star Girl of the Week this week.  Claire and the Star Boy of the Week, Wilder, get to have lunch in the classroom with their teacher on Friday.  This coveted spot is called Lunch Bunch.  Claire tells us that you get to be a Start of the Week by listening well and not interrupting the teacher.

Some interesting background here… Claire and Wilder had the same kindergarten teacher, Ms. B, last year.  Besides Claire and Wilder, two other kids in Claire’s first grade class also had Ms. B last year, making a total of four kids in Claire’s current first grade class who had Ms. B for kindergarten.  So far in first grade, a total of four Stars of the Week have been selected. And every one of them had Ms. B for kindergarten.  Yes, Ms. B’s small contingent has 100% dominated the Star of the Week tally so far for first grade.  This might tell you something about Claire’s kindergarten teacher, Ms. B.  She sure did run a tight ship.  And by the way, she was no tyrant.  I never heard about so much as an unkind or perturbed word from her.  In fact, the kids generally had a lot of fun in her class.  She just ran a tight ship.

Back to School

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Claire started first grade today, and Molly switched over to a new class, the Robins, across the hall from her old class, the Little Lambs.  Here’s a quick snapshot of each at this morning’s drop off in their new classrooms.

Six Trips to School in One Day

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The (relatively) calm days of summer vacation are coming to a sudden close this week.  Claire and Molly have been going to the same school this summer.  Claire ends summer camp this week and starts first grade next week.  Molly switches over to a new class at pre-school, right across the hall, but with brand new teachers and mostly new classmates.

This time of year is kind of crazy because of the confluence of summer-ending and school-starting events.  This week had two PINs (Parent Information Nights) and a school open house to attend in three days.  Plus the end-of-year parties and special events.  The girls came home this week with copious amounts of art and other stuff they had produced over the summer (Claire) and over the last year (Molly).  And of course, there are many handouts, checklists, and forms to deal with.

Meeting up at home on the last day of the school year
Meeting up at home after the last day of the school year. Claire is in her pajamas and water shoes, and the girls are surrounded by bags of their stuff from school.

But I think Wednesday best illustrated the zaniness of this time of year.  Claire went to school late, wearing a swim suit, and come home early wearing pajamas, water shoes, and new glasses.  Kit and I made a combined six trips to the girls’ school plus two doctor’s appointments in that one day.  Kit was on vacation, and I was working a regular day.  Here is how it worked out…

  • I took Molly to school at 8:00 am and came home to work as usual. (trips to school: 1)
  • Claire had to pick up her glasses today.  Kit took Claire to get her glasses right when the optometrist opened at 9:30 am, and then took Claire to school/camp late but in time for swimming. (trips to school: 2)
  • Kit and I both went back to school at 11:30 to attend Molly’s year-end lunch-time celebration. (trips to school: 3)
  • Claire has lately been having some “tricky breathing” and coughing, perhaps an asthmatic reaction, and we set her up with an appointment at 4:10 this afternoon.  Kit got Claire early from school (after Claire’s class had finished a summer-end movie screening of Happy Feet 2 in their pajamas) and took her to the doctor. (trips to school: 4)
  • In the mean time, I (sort of) finished work and went to pick Molly up at about 5:00 pm. (trips to school: 5)
  • We all met at home around 5:30, with Claire in her pajamas and wearing new glasses.  I ate dinner quickly and headed back to school for Molly’s Parent Information Night (PIN) at 6:00 pm.  In the mean time, Kit put the girls to bed.  (trips to school: 6)  

Kit’s night putting the girls to bed was definitely more work, while my time at the PIN was more boring and uncomfortable, sitting on the floor in a school room for 90+ minutes.

 

Spectacles

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Claire with her brand new glasses
Claire with her brand new glasses

Several months ago, Claire’s optometrist determined that Claire could sorta of, maybe use some vision correction.  Claire could see pretty well, but not perfectly, so we might want to get her into some glasses to help with school.  We thought it would be best to get her glasses before first grade starts instead of adjusting to them in the middle of school.  Well, we got Claire her glasses just in the nick of time, with two business days to spare before school starts.

For her part, Claire has been very excited to get her first pair of glasses.  These days, unlike when Kit and I were kids, glasses come in cool, fashionable styles and colors and look really good even on kids.  In fact, Claire could not wait to get her glasses, and when she did have them, she wanted to wear them a lot and even sleep with them in her bed.  I do not remember feeling that way about my glasses as a kid!

Claire looks good in her glasses, working a nice geek-chic look.  She even looks a little bit like Tina Fey.