I'm going to try and get everyone caught up on what has been happening here at our house over the past few months. We spent this Summer at home. Daddy had several projects going on at work this Summer and really couldn't be away, so we stayed home. He attended a work conference at the end of June and Mamaw came to visit for a few days. On his way home from Austin, the BMW started having issues. Since then we have been dealing with both cars breaking down and scrambled to have a working vehicle before school started. We were successful, but now own a third car(what we refer to as the ghetto car). We also were without use of our pool for about a month due to a yellow algae attack. We managed to keep busy and have fun though and once the pool was back up and running, spent hours every day swimming. Both kiddos can swim now without floaties and Henry is even swimming underwater and diving.
The kiddos started 1st grade at the end of August. This year we opted to purchase most of our school supplies through Amazon, which ended up being cheaper in the long run and less of a hassle battling the crowds in the stores. We had orientation/meet the teacher a week before school started and the kids were able to check out their new building. And I stared my school volunteering early this year and was already doing homework before school started. I am also the K-1st grade librarian this year and am teaching art to the three first grade classes. So my Friday's are spent at school with the kiddos.
We are blessed again this year with amazing teachers and the kids love them. A lot of their friends from Kinder returned this year and they each have several friends in their classes and have made new ones. First through third grade are housed in one building. Henry's class is right next to Emma's class and they see each other at lunch time and recess. They are at school for an hour longer than last year and their days are very busy.
Homework this year is a bit different. The kids have several sets of words to learn and 20 minutes of reading is required each night. Monday-Words to Know, Tuesday-Spelling Words, Wednesday-Sight Words, Thursday-Poetry, Friday-Reading. It has been a challenge because they are both tired when they get home and in their opinions have learned enough for the day. We've had several discussions about this and their attitudes have improved. Some afternoons are better than others and we finish in a reasonable amount of time. Other days, we are still working on homework until 6pm or later. Usually those are the days when they fight me tooth and nail about doing the homework.
We have all made the adjustment and are doing pretty well with the new schedule. They are up every school day by 6am or 6:15am at the latest, dressed and fed, and out the door with Jason by 6:45am. School starts at 8am and drop off is at 7:45am. Our commute takes about 30-45 minutes depending on traffic and construction. School lets out at 3pm and they are home between 3:40-4pm, again depends on traffic and construction. And bedtime this year is 8pm on school nights.
And I am very proud to share that both kids are doing very well in their classes. With the exception of one high B each, the rest of their grades are high As. And both of their teachers have recently sent us an email expressing how much they love our kiddos and how they interact with classmates, their behavior in class, and their willingness and efforts to continue learning about new things.
We know that there will be more changes and more challenges(next post) this year and are working hard on some already. And we hope all of you are having a great school year!
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