First Day of Middle School....

Tuesday, Ben FINALLY started school.  First day of sixth grade... first day of middle school.

He was nervous. Even though he is in the same school as last year, the middle school is different. They have different classrooms and teachers and there are lots of expectations and LOTS to keep track of.

Check out this schedule!

Every single day is different... and then it changes every other week. It's a lot to remember. I hope he can get in a good routine with it all or he will never have what he needs! This is where I am thankful he is in such a small school and where I feared he would really get lost in the shuffle in the bigger school most of his JES friends went to.

The first day, he came home overwhelmed and not so happy. He said middle school was super serious and he was afraid he was going to forget things. The second day was better. He LOVES math and English, so far. I also think he's going to end up loving Tech and Life Science. And, while he thinks Ancient Civilizations is going to be boring, I have been getting emails from his teacher that suggest otherwise. He is the only teacher to send emails out so far and they are SO funny. Seems like he is really going to make an effort to make it fun and engaging for the kids.

He's still thinking about whether he wants to join the Math Club (which is run by the teacher mentioned above!). I hope he does it. Most of his friends were also invited, and I think he'll really enjoy it.

Anyway, so far, so good. He has forgotten his lunch box once, and a history homework... and there is a snafu with his gym uniform and he left his tennis shoes at school on Thursday...  LOL... but all in all, I'm optimistic for a good year. ;)

First Week of Kindergarten... Second Week of Third Grade...Middle School orientation....

Well, it's Friday.

It took Jonathan until Thursday to try to escape kindergarten. Thankfully, it was a half-hearted attempt, he turned around on the way through the doors and tried to run for me. I blocked though and a kindergarten assistant who was standing there ran interference and he walked with her to class. The rest of the day went well, I guess, because I never heard otherwise.

He has had all of his specials at this point, since Monday is just his extra Phys. Ed day. He has liked them all so far. (I'll hear about music when he gets home) ;)

Here he is with his first ever library checkout!  Mrs. Terry said he was good in library on Wednesday, a little silly here and there because he is really comfortable with her, but good. He even helped a non-English speaking classmate walk to the bathroom!

He says the day is long (and it is), but it must be filled with enough to keep him occupied because his complaints aren't constant.

I got roped into room mom duty for the first time ever in my entire kids-in-school history. A preschool mom friend asked if I would do it with her. I told her I would if no one else stepped up.... apparently no one did. So, this will be new and interesting! LOL.

Simon had a good second week. They launched headlong into multiplication in math and he seems to be doing ok with that. Handwriting has regressed a ton and all of his work is a mess again/still...  so I guess we'll be working on that at home a lot. School in general, is still not his favorite (especially since they are not currently doing a science unit and he loves science), but he goes without complaint for the most part and seems to enjoy having so many friends in his class this year. 

I really like the whole third grade team, even the teacher I wasn't thrilled he got seems ok for now. 

I guess we'll see how things progress and how conferences go... but for now, all is well in school land.

Ben had his middle school orientation yesterday and is already overwhelmed by all the class changing and things to remember. THIS will for sure be an interesting transition. He got his schedule and he is taking pre-algebra... which means I am officially out of the math homework helping game with him. Gah.  Pre-algebra, which I'm pretty sure I did not take until 7th grade, was when things really went south for me, math-wise. He must have a better math head on his shoulders than I did though because I got an email that his standardized test scores from spring were high enough to qualify him for the math competition club. He is considering it... I hope he does it! :)

Anyway... so things seem to be off to a good start! I hope it's a great year for all three!