School Days

Getting Better?

Sarah General, School Days

So there have been enough little stories Carrie has volunteered about the past few days that I think she’s probably actually enjoying school, and just might be a little overwhelmed by trying to describe it.  Her favorite parts are still recess and riding the bus, but really, who doesn’t like those things?  I love the song they learned in music the other day, Elephants Have Wrinkles.  She couldn’t quite remember all the words, so I googled it:

Elephants Have Wrinkles by April Kassirer

Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles,wrinkles
Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere
On their toes (on their toes)
No one knows (no one knows) why -y-y-y-

Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles, wrinkles
Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere
On their knees (on their knees)
On their toes (on their toes)
No one knows (no one knows) why -y-y-y-

Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles,wrinkles
Elephants have wrinkles, wrinkles everywhere
On their hips (on their hips) ….. knees, toes

(more verses:)
On their ears (on their ears) ….. hips, knees, toes
On their trunks (on their trunks) ….. ears, hips, knees, toes
On their teeth ….. Spoken: On their teeth? That’s ridiculous!

It’s really, really cute.  It’s a movement song, so the kids touch each part they’re singing about while they’re singing.  Very cute!

The kids are both healthy at this point, although I’m sitting her trying to figure out if I’m coming down with this illness now…  Probably not, right?  Just a scratchy throat, might just be allergies.  (Yeah, I know, probably wishful thinking, but hey, whatever it takes.)

Kindergarten!

Sarah Firsts, Milestones, School Days

Today, Carolyn headed off for her first day of Kindergarten!  I got up at 6:20, got myself ready and packed a yummy lunch (a ham & cream cheese pinwheel sandwich, baby carrots, grapes, olives, letter pretzels and two tiny vanilla cookies).  Then I managed to get the kids dressed early enough that I had time to make chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, and we still had a good ten minutes before the bus came to snap a few pictures.

Flower Power!
Flower Power!

She looks all grown up from last year!  (Though I said the same thing last year too!)  She picked out this dress herself when we went clothes shopping for school, and although it’s not exactly my style, it is pretty darn adorable.

She was so excited to get on that bus she practically skipped down the driveway, and I had to stop her to give her a hug and a kiss and tell her to have a fun day.

One Giant Step
One Giant Step

It wasn’t nearly as hard to watch that bus pull away as I thought it would be.  I think I already cried all the tears I had to in anticipation of today, and instead I felt excited for her.  I can’t wait for her to come home and tell me how her day went, and whether she found the little note I stuck in her lunchbox.

Meet the Teacher

Sarah Carolyn, School Days

Carrie’s teacher (along with a lot of the other primary school teachers) had an open house this afternoon.  We went and met her teacher and dropped off her supplies, and then she had a chance to ride a bus around the campus.  I rode with her, and let me just say that I’m really, really glad my school bus riding days are over!

Her teacher seems really nice, and was surprised that Carrie was reading the sheet of instructions that told us where to put each kind of supply we’d brought.  This promises to be an interesting year for all involved, I’m sure!

Primary School Meeting

Sarah School Days

Last night we went to the primary school orientation.  Because Carrie’s in the K/1 multi-age class, she won’t be in the kindergarten building, but instead in the building that houses grades 1-3.

So we went, and we learned a bit about how they manage to traffic flow, with all the kids in K-6 riding the same bus and being dropped off to three different buildings.  And then the principal read us a poem that involved ignoring the housework to hold a little girl’s hand to explore the world.  And I was really OK until Denis leaned over and whispered “don’t cry”.  Um, that was not helpful!

Repeat after me: “It will be OK.  She will love school.  It will be OK.”  This must be my new mantra, with a huge confident smile plastered over my face, at least until the bus goes around the corner…

School Shopping

Sarah School Days

We were going to try to wait until a little closer to school started to go get the things on Carrie’s shopping list, but we were all too excited for new notebooks!  And pencils!  And pointy-tipped brand spankin’ new crayons!  Although it was like a scavenger hunt, trying to find specific colors of pocket folders with brad fasteners, and plain old black and white composition notebooks.  (Did you know those come in pink now?!?)

I hope we can send this stuff in a little at a time, because her backpack stuffed with all of this weighs a lot more than she can carry safely!

Excitement + Melancholy

Sarah Motherhood, School Days

We got Carrie’s teacher assignment in the mail today.  She’s going to be in K/1 multi-age instead of traditional kindergarten.  I’m really, really excited for her, I think this is going to be a great fit for her personality and learning style!

At the same time, I’m not ready for kindergarten.  Carrie is most certainly ready, but I am not.  I wish there were a half-day option in our district.  I wish I could keep her home with me forever.  I wish she’d stay four-and-three-quarters for always.

But, since that can’t happen, we’re going to make the best of it.  Here’s to a wonderful start to school and a lifetime of learning!

Kindergarten Orientation

Sarah School Days

So after sitting in the auditorium for two hours this evening, Denis and I are pretty firmly convinced that it’s not the bus that worries us, or the lunchroom, or which teacher she’ll get.  No, we’re actually scared of the other kindergarten parents…  Oh, and the cafeteria lady, who when asked about nutrition in the school lunches, declared that they don’t use whole wheat bread because “we don’t know of any children who eat whole wheat bread”.  Uh.  I actually know more children who exclusively eat whole wheat bread – including my own – than don’t, but whatever.

We’re definitely going to try to get Carrie into the multiage program.  It seems like it would be a really ideal placement for her.  But we won’t know until August, when they notify everyone of the teachers they have, whether she’ll be in it.  Either way, though, I think she’ll really enjoy school.

In other news, Miss Screamsalot did *not* like being left with my parents this evening and screamed non-stop unless my dad held her.  The kicker was, he couldn’t sit down while holding her.  So my poor dad walked Anna around the house for over two hours…and she finally fell asleep on his shoulder five minutes before we pulled into the driveway.  I’m going to guess that we won’t be getting any more babysitting out of my parents for quite a while!  (So much for that new Star Trek movie…)