School Daze

I can not believe that school is starting in just one week!  Gavin actually starts on Monday, as that is the day all the pre-school kids transition to be pre-K.  Tyler starts 1st grade on Thursday!  This summer has just flown by for me - largely because we've been so busy - it's just been a blur.  

I just have to tell you how much I heart Tyler's new teacher!  She called last week - a first for me (a teacher calling for something other than a stabbing that is).  She wanted to see if I could bring Tyler in for an assessment before school started so she could get an idea of where he is in his education.  Apparently it's rough for a teacher to make an hour-ish of time for 27 individual 6 year olds while the other ones are asked to be quiet.  I jumped at the chance to meet her and give Tyler a private introduction.  So today was the big day... We ended up being there for almost an hour an a half.  She tested him on letter recognition, letter sounds and then reading.  He is about 4-5 months ahead of where he should be for reading (we always knew he was a smart lil guy!).  We're not exactly sure because after reading 4 books, each one a little harder than the one before, he was tired of it and wanted to go home.  

What all do I love about her, you may be wondering?  Well first of all she seemed to be as excited as me when Tyler answered things correctly... she loved that he was smart and jumped at the chance to challenge him.  This is opposed to Kindergarten where he was bored and often didn't want to go to school because the teacher didn't tell him anything he didn't already know (his words, not mine).  Ms. Patterson (1st grade) had a whole different attitude than Ms. Ryan (Kindergarten) seemed to have... she was patient, smart as a whip, sweet, kind and seemed to be excited to be there.  I liked Ms. Ryan but the interactions I had with her... well she just seemed to be impatient, tired, stressed and her joy for her job was gone.  And with a 5 or 6 year old you want that joy to be there!  

Oh, and another thing... School supplies.  I mentioned that I had not gotten a list yet from school.  Ms. Patterson quickly stopped me and told me not to DARE buy everything on that list.  She does not need 15,000 glue sticks or folders.  Instead, I was instructed to buy 3 packs of pencils, 2 folders, a 24 pack of crayons and a couple Meade composition notebooks.  Are you kidding me?  This is sweet!  I do not have to spend $150 we do not have to get Tyler to school.  Hooray!

Also, she does not believe in work books.  She pointed out that never in her adult life has she had to fill out a work sheet.  She believes that to read better you must simply read.  To write better you need to practice writing... etc.   And she allows talking in her classroom.  She does not expect 27 six year olds to sit still and be quiet for 8 hours.  They are allowed to talk about school related things all they want.  And no more red, yellow and green light for discipline.  If they are bad, she writes their name on the board.  If the bad behavior continues, she makes them call their mother to explain what they did.  

I just can not say enough good things about her... Hopefully my first impression was a correct one.  I do think I'm a good judge of character - I was just so impressed with her.  She seems to be everything a teacher should be.  Now hopefully Tyler will like her as much as I did!

On another note... I'm not sure if I told you that my Grammy broke her arm?  She is 87 and still very much "with it" mentally... but after a nasty slip resulting in a break to her upper right arm (and yes, she is right handed), she has definitely been knocked down a notch or two.  Her spirits are not good and she is afraid she'll never stop hurting.  This is about 3 weeks after she broke it... I'm a little worried about her and am watching fares to maybe make a quick weekend trip home to visit with her but so far no luck.  Please keep her in your thoughts, or prayers, or whatever it is you do in situations like this. ;)  She's a wonderful lady and I'm really concerned for her...

And on that note... I'm going to bed. :)