It seems that everyone is posting pictures of their kids starting school, and I've yet to get my pictures up. Both Tommy and Nic are in school this year. Tommy is in full-day Kindergarten, and Nic is at school district pre-school for a few hours every afternoon. If only I could get Kenny to nap for any length of time I might actually be able to get something done!
Both guys are enjoying themselves. Tommy has been a little worn out, but given his naturally high level of energy I am not worried about him adjusting to the schedule. I don't know how I'll make it though...these early mornings are killing me! The little guys and I walk Tommy to school each morning, and while I enjoy the motivation to be up and ready for the day, I would like that day to start one hour later than it does. The good thing is we should actually be on time to more of our activities this year. So far, Tommy's favorite thing about school is, predictably, recess. He insists that he isn't learning anything at school, but I'm fairly sure he is. Being a social sort of fellow he has already had to have his seat moved, and there may have been an incident involving a dog pile...but Tommy assures me he was on top so I know he didn't start it. From his after-school commentary it appears that his teacher may have been blessed with a rather rambunctious group of little boys this year, so hopefully he will blend right into the pack and I won't get too many notes home.
On the first day of school Nic ran out the door to the bus, hoped on, and yelled "bye mom!" I was floored by his enthusiasm. He had spent the previous day worried that he would miss Kenny (until that point he was under the impression that mom and Kenny would also be attending preschool), and so I was a bit nervous that he would change his mind about preschool. However, his longstanding desire to ride a bus overrode any hesitations he had and he was quite pleased with himself and his situation. This lasted a few days, then we had a heat wave and one day Nic arrived at school half asleep and drenched in sweat and the school nurse took one look at him and decided he could no longer ride the bus because it doesn't have air conditioning, and she doesn't want him to have a sickle crisis because of the bus (and neither do I). Since then the district has been sending a mini-van for Nic, which is really an upgrade, but not in Nic-world. Now that he can no longer ride a big yellow school bus his enthusiasm for school has greatly diminished; there may even have been some kicking and screaming when he first had to be strapped into the mini-van carseat. Poor kid. He was so close to living the dream. We have high hopes that once it gets a little cooler he will be able to ride the bus again. He does like his class, I think. Sometimes it is hard to know with Nic. I have to say that I was blown away by the program on the preview day. The facilities at his school are amazing, the classrooms are beautifully designed. The playgrounds are great, and they even have an indoor playground that Nic will play on with a few friends when the weather is too hot or too cold for him to be outside for recess. They also have a library, areas for various therapies, and therapists that work in the classroom as well. Nic gets his speech therapy in class twice a week. Nic has made great strides in speech, and I think having more time to interact with his peers will be helpful to his speech development as well. The only downside of preschool is that Nic is pretty wiped out by dinner time and that has made eating with him a less than pleasant experience on many nights. He wouldn't nap anyway if he were home, but he doesn't quite have the energy to make it through the day without some downtime. I will probably need to institute an after school quiet time, but it is hard when the weather is still nice and they want to spend some time outside.
Kenny is enjoying getting a little time at home to himself. He enjoys being the center of attention for a short period of time (which may explain his reluctance to nap). We are doing our standard routine of bible studies and MOPS, so he is getting out and about too.
And now, for those promised photos:
Both guys are enjoying themselves. Tommy has been a little worn out, but given his naturally high level of energy I am not worried about him adjusting to the schedule. I don't know how I'll make it though...these early mornings are killing me! The little guys and I walk Tommy to school each morning, and while I enjoy the motivation to be up and ready for the day, I would like that day to start one hour later than it does. The good thing is we should actually be on time to more of our activities this year. So far, Tommy's favorite thing about school is, predictably, recess. He insists that he isn't learning anything at school, but I'm fairly sure he is. Being a social sort of fellow he has already had to have his seat moved, and there may have been an incident involving a dog pile...but Tommy assures me he was on top so I know he didn't start it. From his after-school commentary it appears that his teacher may have been blessed with a rather rambunctious group of little boys this year, so hopefully he will blend right into the pack and I won't get too many notes home.
On the first day of school Nic ran out the door to the bus, hoped on, and yelled "bye mom!" I was floored by his enthusiasm. He had spent the previous day worried that he would miss Kenny (until that point he was under the impression that mom and Kenny would also be attending preschool), and so I was a bit nervous that he would change his mind about preschool. However, his longstanding desire to ride a bus overrode any hesitations he had and he was quite pleased with himself and his situation. This lasted a few days, then we had a heat wave and one day Nic arrived at school half asleep and drenched in sweat and the school nurse took one look at him and decided he could no longer ride the bus because it doesn't have air conditioning, and she doesn't want him to have a sickle crisis because of the bus (and neither do I). Since then the district has been sending a mini-van for Nic, which is really an upgrade, but not in Nic-world. Now that he can no longer ride a big yellow school bus his enthusiasm for school has greatly diminished; there may even have been some kicking and screaming when he first had to be strapped into the mini-van carseat. Poor kid. He was so close to living the dream. We have high hopes that once it gets a little cooler he will be able to ride the bus again. He does like his class, I think. Sometimes it is hard to know with Nic. I have to say that I was blown away by the program on the preview day. The facilities at his school are amazing, the classrooms are beautifully designed. The playgrounds are great, and they even have an indoor playground that Nic will play on with a few friends when the weather is too hot or too cold for him to be outside for recess. They also have a library, areas for various therapies, and therapists that work in the classroom as well. Nic gets his speech therapy in class twice a week. Nic has made great strides in speech, and I think having more time to interact with his peers will be helpful to his speech development as well. The only downside of preschool is that Nic is pretty wiped out by dinner time and that has made eating with him a less than pleasant experience on many nights. He wouldn't nap anyway if he were home, but he doesn't quite have the energy to make it through the day without some downtime. I will probably need to institute an after school quiet time, but it is hard when the weather is still nice and they want to spend some time outside.
Kenny is enjoying getting a little time at home to himself. He enjoys being the center of attention for a short period of time (which may explain his reluctance to nap). We are doing our standard routine of bible studies and MOPS, so he is getting out and about too.
And now, for those promised photos:
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment