Last night Berkeley Lake Elementary School had its school concert for the third and fourth graders. Jacob has been excited about going for the past few weeks. He has been asking us to play various Michael Jackson videos online and has every now and then been dancing like a zombie in the kitchen. I didn’t know why, or didn’t put the two together, that he might be performing something special for us. Well now…were we in for a treat.
Last night I had the pleasure of dictating a story while Jacob thought it up. This was an assignment from school that he started but wasn’t able to finish during class, so together we completed it last night. I love story telling from all different angles but I have usually been the story teller not the audience. Getting a chance to hear Jacob’s story about his “Lonely Snowman” was intriguing. His idea throughout the story was that the snowman was lonely and wanted some friends to play with. The snowman and his friends did whatever they could to ensure they continued to have fun – including the annihilation of planets and alien species in the process. Fun. You have to love boys. His story was all over the board but the general idea remained the same. (more…)
Today marked the first day Jacob and Isaac rode the bus into school. For various reasons it has worked out better in the past to drop them off on my way into work – reasons such as getting to sleep later…and…well sleeping later. They have however been coming home on the bus for quite a while now and without fear of being run over by the very vehicle that drops them off and is supposed to keep them safe. Working with the Gwinnett County School System worked out pretty well once the issue was escalated to someone that actually gave a damn…I mean cared. We found out that there was a bus stop diagonally across the street from our house that the bus should have been stopping at for both pick-up and drop-off. For whatever reason the stop had been removed from the paperwork that both the particular school and driver use. So in defense of the driver, she wasn’t even aware there was a stop near us and was just doing her job.
I am glad this is taken care of. With one car and four of our six going in different directions, all between 7:30 and 8:30, our mornings are hectic to say the least. My one complaint is that I think the situation could have been resolved much quicker than it was. It took nearly three weeks of working (or lack thereof) with the local transportation superintendent to realize that he didn’t care about what we needed or had to say – safety related or not – we were just another pair of complaining parent. Realizing this and believing that we were being ignored we wrote a letter to the county commissioner at the recommendation of Carol’s dad and friend Heidi. They both work for school systems and had some good advice on how to get the appropriate level of attention. Once the letter was complete, proof read a dozen times, we stopped before sending it and called another person up the management chain for the transportation department. She listened to what we had to say, asked for a copy of the letter we were going to mail (I mentioned it to her), and a few phone calls and two days later the problem was resolved. Thanks Patty !!!
This week marks the start of pre-k for Piper, about a month behind schedule. She is still at the Legacy but in a pre-k program that is ran by the state. Up until recently we weren’t sure she was going to be able to attend pre-k, well at least not the state sponsored version. Legacy was passed over for the first round of Bright From the Start funding and weren’t certain about their prospects with the second round. We looked around the area for other places to go but the pickings were slim at best with waiting list after waiting list. In the end patience persevered, well that and not really having any other options.
We were able to meet her teachers this week at a short meeting where they told us about the program details. They both, Mrs. Gail and Ms Mayonn, seem to have their ducks in a nice neat row. Having taught at elementary school and daycare in the past they are both excited to being doing pre-k. As with every government run program, the state has strictly structured exactly what the teachers can and cannot do with the kids. There are deviations of course but only off the record. I think Piper is going to do well and I hope she won’t be on a learning plateau until kindergarten. If anything she will sharpen what she already knows, add bits more, and be ready to run once she gets to elementary school.
It has been raining for the past week in Atlanta. Literally. Mainly just on and off sprinkling followed by a short downpour followed by mugginess, wash, rinse, repeat. Over the weekend however heavy rain came down continuously causing flooding in most of the area. We woke up this morning to hear about school and road closures around the whole Atlanta area. Gwinnett County schools of course were only on delay which later changed to a closure as well. The flooding has been pretty severe closing surface streets and interstate junctions like “Spaghetti Junction” causing significant traffic problems all around town. The news said a few schools were flooded as well but we didn’t hear about any in our area that were affected other than just being shutdown – likely due to transportation issues more so than flooding.
Looks like the kids will get to stay home and play for another day. Isaac was concerned though that school was “closed forever”…oddly that upset him (maybe we should check his temperature). I don’t think we will hear the same complaint from Jacob he has been at home sick for the past few days missing much of school last week and was non to excited to go back today. Piper still gets to go to pre-school which stays open regardless and Violet is already at school when she wakes up.
School started this week and with it so did the early morning routine. Up at 6:15 – well at least the alarm clock is awake at that time and the snooze button gets a good workout – the boys get dressed, eat and watch Quest on and off while waiting on the bus. That is how it is supposed to go at least.
This week, again the first week of school, there has been some confusion about what exactly defines a “Bus Stop”. According to the school transportation folks it is a place where the bus stops in the morning and in the afternoon to pickup and drop off precious packages. It is an exact, literal spot that you should be able to walk to and point at. Someplace where you can stand and wait for the bus to come.
Our bus driver didn’t get that memo. (more…)
Exciting times are ahead for Violet. She is being moved to a new classroom in daycare. Her current and previous classes focused mainly on keeping her busy and slowly introducing her to various activities like music, artwork, playtime, social interaction, etc… Her new class, Toddler-2, is the first that introduces a specific daily schedule focused on both playing and learning. The various activities that she will be a part of every day, versus every so often, include: puppets, reading circle, interactive music, sensory and art projects, nursery rhymes, flash cards, and English and Spanish language comprehension.
There is still plenty of play time for her as well as nap time (not that she ever actually takes a nap…) and having been through this routine once before with Piper, this is when Violet will start learning about and making friends with her classmates. The previous classes didn’t really offer a setting to get to know either the other kids or the parents, except at various holiday parties or special events hosted by Crème. It was around the beginning of T2 with Piper that we started to get to know and even build some friendships with other parents of kids in the same class. (more…)
Piper and Violet both had Christmas parties today at daycare. As a part of the festivities we painted a snowflake purple, were showed the decorations done by the kids, now proudly dispayed throughout each room, at some good finger food, mingled with the other parents and got a chance to watch the kids sing and dance. In past years at school the kids weren’t old enough, or coordinated enough to do a rehearsed routine. This year that all changed.
Piper has been constantly asking to hear “Jingle Bells” or in particular “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” but we hadn’t figured out why other than that particular song was also a main them in an episode of “Mickey Saves Christmas” that she watches now and then. So when kids lined up in the gym to perform we were in for a treat. Not only did they sing and dance but they did so in the three year old equivalent of “in sync” which equated to marching in a rectangle while making various arm, leg and body gestures. They sang several songs, a few in Spanish and a few in English each good in its own way.
