One Happy Dog Speaks

Good morning. Today the boys go back to school. They are NOT happy. From Dec 22nd (and really a day or two before, since they didn’t do much the last couple of days before the holiday) until Jan 7th, they were out of school. Oh, they did some school work. But mostly… they got a break. What I have discovered is that it was too big for them. The last couple of days have been tough. They have been fighting a lot. Also, they have been whining about going back more than usual. Yep. Just a little too long. More tomorrow as we discover how the day progresses. Bet the puppy will be happy for some peace and quiet!

Tonight I went to the open house at my son’s soon-to-be middle school. They have ‘choice’ programs. These are specialty classes. It is a lottery to get into them. Anyone in the district can apply. At his school they have Business IT, Medical, Law and Teaching. The Medical, Law and Teaching were awesome. I was impressed. The way the Business IT teacher spoke at the assembly was cool. Meeting her in the classroom… it was the bottom of the pit. It is the end of October and the assignment she has on her board is… you ready for this… Typing. Yep, typing skills. I asked about it. She said that yes, they were still in typing. That she was following school district rules. I asked what happens for kids who know how to type. My son types about 25 words a minute. She said they could choose different things to do. And went on about how this girl did secretary minutes for a club and this girl did that… I realized that she didn’t have a game plan for the kids done early. And my son is a great kid but you still have to give him direction.

Definitely not letting my son apply to that program. Maybe Law?

My oldest doesn’t know it yet… but he got selected for Student of the Month. I’ll be at the school this morning as it gets announced. While the Principal only allows one party per class per year… every month the teachers pick a student and ALL the students gather to watch them go to stage to get their award. And for two years, my son sat in the audience cheering on his buds. With 20 kids per class and only 9 months in the school year, some just don’t get the award.

While I love my son, he just doesn’t… stand out. And I’m very very happy that he got it. I think it will help his self esteem.

The problem is the younger brother is going to that school now. I hope he gets an award by 5th grade or we will be in big trouble.

Was at the elementary school the other day when a boy walked up and said hi to the VP… though he called her by the Principal’s name. I laughed after he left… then she told me she was mistaken for the school nurse as well. I just blinked. They look nothing alike and the nurse wears a nurse uniform looking outfit. Always. I thought I was going to bust a lung laughing at that one. Yep… not just my kids are entertaining.

Ok, are you ready for this? Here is my son’s 2nd grade spelling list:

elixir, morsel, opaque, avarice, evident, auditorium, crockery, delicate, spacious, rubbish
appetizing, quenching, acquiring, flustered, drenched, halted, peered, spurted, promptly, briskly

and the bonus: proprietor

Of course, older brother taught him that peered was really pee red. Sigh. One of the easier ones to learn. Oh he has most of them right, now. And it is better than his older brother who had to learn chartreuse and the definition and how to use it in a sentence. Ugh.

The first ten are all my youngest had to use in a story. Yes, you read that right… a story. I should publish his last 3 ‘stories’ and highlight the vocabulary. I just might have to do that… it is… interesting to see what a 2nd grader (8 year old) can come up with to meet the minimum requirements.

Ok on my to do list… just not happening today.

It hasn’t a been horrible month yet. But it hasn’t exactly been fun either. We have FCAT Writes coming up February 28th for fourth graders. Guess which grade my dysgraphic ADD child is in? Yaa. While I have been looking forward to Valentine’s… and a cub scout camp out coming up… and a few other fun things… that FCAT Writes is hanging over my head.

Imagine if everyone in the company you worked for had the EXACT SAME key indicators for the jobs in the company. Everyone had to be judged on exactly the same things. What? What was that you just said… but it doesn’t work that way. Even if you are all doing the same job, how you are judge varies depending on what you bring to the table. Oh…. hmmm… and yet we expect EVERY child in 4th grade in the state of Florida to be EXACTLY the same. They must be at the same level with the same abilities. BTW, the teachers must stop teaching the fun way and only concentrate on passing the test. Why? Because that effects their salary, the school score and for certain FCAT tests, whether the kid gets to pass or not.

What about ‘special needs’ kids? So what. While I have a school that is bending over backwards trying to help my child… it shouldn’t have to be that way. He can’t write. He can make an A on a grammar test… he knows the rules. But he can’t write. So what. He is a straight A student EXCEPT for… you got it… writing. Did I mention he is in ‘accelerated’ classes? He is a fourth grader doing fifth grade work. Yet… I have been informed… there is a good chance he won’t pass the FCAT writes. We all cringe. The people at school, his writing tutor, his guidance counselor… What will this do to his confidence? What will this do for him socially? I have asked how to get this changed… and no one knows.

The problem being… they need to be able to see if they kids can read and write. I stutter, I gasp, I feel totally amazed. That is what the teacher is suppose to do for us. Help judge each child as an individual. Sort of like having a boss that understands that each person brings their own unique skills to the table. But of course, we hire teachers that don’t know how to do that… Egads… They can’t give tests and figure out who deserves to pass or fail. Oh wait… in the real world when you are working you occasionally get a boss that sucks. And, in the real world there are teachers who suck. Giving a state wide test is NOT going to stop that. The principle is suppose to help with that part of it. Oh wait… why give them authority to do THEIR job? Because that would mean you need to give authority for the teachers to do THEIR job. Oh no… power to the people. That is a horrible thing. NOT. Definite sarcasm there folks.

We have lost control… and I honestly don’t know how to get it back down where it belongs. If I did, I would help push it … no RAM IT down the throats of our government. Sigh.

Ok, finally… a picture:

He said the best part was the chocolate he passed out at the end. We found some Milka bars and Kinder candy. Yep… Then again, he actually ate sushi and liked it. Sigh. Do you know how many times I have tried to get my sons to try sushi???? At least he now will eat it with me when we go out!

Yep… 2 weeks. Only 2 weeks left. This is some wonder if I will get everything done before we leave. Particularly since this week has suddenly become crazy. My son has a field trip on Friday … no biggie… I’m a chaperone… no biggie… until I found out that I have to have him at the school before 6am and we won’t be back until 7pm… D’oh. We are going camping with the boy scouts and we were suppose to follow them up at 5:30pm to the camp site. Not happening. The Scout Master was cool and said we could show up late and I would have a ton of scouts ready to help us set up tent at 9pm at night. It works out in the end! Well… as long as I can get someone to watch the younger one while I’m gone!

The teacher of my older son asked for help today. I jumped at the chance. Very seldom do I get to give back to her and she has bent over backwards to help my dysgraphic ADD son. Yet, what she wanted me to do … I would rather spend money and get something at an office store. Seriously, the stuff we were making turned out horrible… and we… I mean me and one other parent. I was shocked. I know that at least 6 of the mom’s in my son’s class do not work and have been very involved in the school… until this year… and they seem to be really backing off. Amazes me.

Back to the what happened. Luckily that other parent appeared and had time on her hands. She talked to the teacher and offered to go to the office stores and find something. Considering in 2 minutes of searching I found it… I’m sure she will once she gets there. It was not a complete waste of time since holes had to be punched in the workbook we are creating but still. I am going to contribute money versus laminating more junk. Ugh.

I take care of the elementary school store. I try to have a variety in there that doesn’t annoy the teachers but makes it fun for the kids to come in and buy stuff. It teaches them how to handle money and to consider the best buy for their money. It has to be school related. No toys. But with Christmas around the corner, I decided to look at something a little different. I saw a link for customized mugs. I wondered how much it would cost to get the school name on a mug… and it turns out they have a whole lot more. T-shirts, tumblers, cozies. They had some really cool planters. I seriously looked at those for a while. The kids could do so much with them. Not just real plants but crafty stuff and it would have the school name on it. I might even consider the year. So it could be a keepsake for a long time. Still, I’m limited on the amount of money I have to spend and you have to buy at least 36… which brings the price over $160… which means I couldn’t buy pencils or anything else for the store for a couple of months. Sigh. I loved going through all the stuff… A really cool screw driver pocket set was available. Again… if you have a bunch of people at work to buy for… this is definitely an option… but just a little too much for our store.