wordlessWednesday

All my northern friends are posting pictures of their kids on the first day of school.  We've been back about 2 weeks now - so while they are pros already at going to school, it is still fairly new to the twins.  Last night we had Curriculum night and I got to talk more with the teacher.  But, we got rushed to a PTA meeting right after the homeroom meeting... and I missed out on seeing the twins' artwork that was hanging.  So, even though we are not supposed to anymore, I walked them in this morning so I could see the coloring they did.  Both awesome, of course.  (although the amount of coloring these kids do in kindergarten is insane!  And, they keep at them to color in the lines and fill it all in.  Don't get me started.  I can't make the kids feel like they are doing something wrong by following the teacher's directions, but.... oh how I hate the idea of this coloring "the right way".)

So, I got to talk to the teacher more this morning and I think a few of my concerns from last week will resolve themselves from here on.  See, the class began with 25 kids.  Now, they have added a 4th kindergarten and pulled 6 kids from this class to give to that new teacher.  Now, the twins' class has only 19 in it.  See how well I did that simple math?  25-6=19.  Got it. 

And, routines are falling into place as well.  Plus, they were kind of in limbo knowing a new class was forming, so they hadn't started any real lessons yet.  I'm sure some of these classmates have never been outside of their home all day every day, too.  So, there is a lot to take in in the first week. But, still, some of my concerns were valid.  No one checked to see if Carl could open his lunch and he came home without having eaten!  I know he needs to be independent, but he also needs a cold container for his food.  And, teachers need to check to be sure that kids can open the things... especially when this kid receives OT for (supposed) low muscle tone in his hands.  Anyway, I'm moving on.  really. 

I learned this morning that the teacher is doing something called Dibbling.  It is extensive reading testing on the kids to see where their abilities lie.  I cannot wait to get the results back and have the first Parent/Teacher conference to discuss both kids' reading programs.  They will group the kids according to ability.  Boy, I hope Carl shows them his true talents.

I even left the classroom with 3 projects to cut and staple and have ready for the kids to put together. Someday, I may get to tell her about my dream job:  going school to school doing construction paper bulletin boards.  Ahh!!


So, seeing all these photos of big 5 year olds getting on buses and carrying backpacks got me thinking about 5 years ago.  So, here is my 2005 Baby Collage du jour....