First Cycle Break

I hated that my kids started school in July, when everyone else was still going to the pool and enjoying their days of leisure. But here is where the reward comes in. We've already had a week of our first cycle break. I'm pretty sure Big Sissy is ready to go back to school now, but we've enjoyed having her home--and we get her for 2 more weeks! I haven't done a very good job of planning, so we've literally been to the park every day this week--except for the day we tried to go to Grant's Farm and found out after we got there that they're not open every day this time of year.

The end of the first quarter meant our first round of parent/teacher conferences. Big Sissy's conference went pretty much as expected. Her teacher said she is sweet and smart and very quiet. Next quarter she will start the firecrackers program, which is an enrichment program, and get hooked up with a reading group. I think we both agreed that trying to put her in 1st grade now isn't a good idea. She's just starting to settle in to her class, and I think the social aspects of Kindergarten have been exhausting for her. I'm glad now that she can skate a little in the area of academics while she gets used to everything else.

One thing that was soooo uncomfortable was that I had to have a conference with the art teacher. Big Sissy has been getting stomachaches every art day, and she writes me heart wrenching notes on those days like, "I'm really coming close to not liking school at all. Not at all." She asked if she could be homeschooled just on art days. After days and days of probing, I finally gathered that she feels flooded--the teacher is loud, she feels rushed, and both of those things stress her out. I had NO idea what to say, so I just went in saying that she came home upset on those days and wondered if the teacher could help me figure out what was going on. She came up with all the things that I thought were the case, and I'm hoping that the awareness of the personality differences will help that go smoother.

Little Sissy's conference was next. Her teacher said that she is funny and comfortable and she has no worries. She went through the checklist of what she is able to do and not do, and every time I started to get worried she would finish with, "but that's a 6-year-old skill." I don't know why she told me all the 6-year-old skills that she can't do, but at least I have a heads up for what's coming...you know, in 2 years. I have to confess that since I decided to enroll the girls in school I haven't done hardly ANY homeschooling. And since poor Little Sissy is a 2nd child, I had no idea that she has learned to write her name. So imagine my surprise when I asked her to do it and she showed me this:

She's even drawing people so much better than the last time I actually paid attention to her artwork. I love that her stick person has great hair and shoes. Who needs a torso when you have great hair and shoes? I feel bad that I haven't been great at keeping up, but I will say that I LOVE this preschool and her teachers. Good job, everyone!!!