The Second First Day

Finally, Mazie was able to start kindergarten. Waiting that extra day was really a trial for her. This morning, she rolled out of bed excited to put on her new uniforms and let me fix her hair (a rarity). Yesterday we made a new set of white flowers for her hair to match her white polos. She was so proud of her cute jumpers, and I'm proud of myself that I found a website that sold them for $7.00 instead of paying three times that at Land's End. I managed to convince Ethan to step into the picture, too. Yesterday he wore a black polo. They are allowed black, white, gray and maroon. Today he settled for white-- maybe because it was supposed to be in the upper nineties, and black is dang hot.

The exciting wait for the bus...
OH, there it is, again!She was so glad to get on that bus and go to school that she wouldn't even pause for a picture. See her running for the door!I have to admit, I've been waiting a full year for this day. If I could have, I would have sent her to school last year. She was so ready. (I'm sad that she missed out on having Mr. Hayes in Big Timber. Nathan keeps threatening to take us back if he doesn't start liking his job.) Still, watching that bus drive away, I'll admit I was a little sad. I didn't feel any pangs of regret with my boys. Maybe it's different because she's a girl, or maybe it was the bus. It's not quite the same as handing the kid off in person to a teacher.

However, she had a great first day. She loved school, and she told me she made new friends, although having her cousin Emma in class is the BEST!

Kelly asked why Dylan was home schooled but not the other kids, so I'll answer that question publicly in case anyone else is wondering.

Dylan's cousin Hyrum has been in this district since kindergarten. He had great kindergarten, first and second grade teachers who recognized that he was above grade level and tried to challenge him. That stopped in at the end of second grade. He has been bored at school for a year and begging to home school. Dylan came out of a gifted and talented program in Montana. They have nothing like that here. They have a sort-of advanced reading thing, but that's it. I didn't think it was fair to dump Dylan, a high-achieving child, into a low achieving district and have him be bored and develop a bad attitude about school. And anyway, there was still Hyrum with the same problem. Home schooling was the natural option. My goal is to have Dylan back into public school by middle school, but in a different district, even if I have to drive him an hour to a real city.

Mazie and Ethan were placed with those great kindergarten and second grade teachers that we knew would give them a challenging year. Ethan will struggle if he stays in next year. He is also a gifted student. He wants to home school, but I couldn't deal with it, and I knew his teacher from when I worked in district, so I told him he had to stay at least until January. He'll love her by then and won't want me, I'm pretty sure. Mazie's teacher is our primary president and she's awesome. No worries there. Mazie will be reading by the time she leaves kindergarten.

I had this realization last year. Your child's elementary education all boils down to this: it is as good as his/her current classroom teacher.

On another note, when I went into the open house, Ethan's teacher recognized me and said, "Oh, I bet you know one of the other second grade teachers." She took me over to her classroom. This teacher saw me and jumped up to give me a hug. Yes, I knew her. I taught her. She was in my "survivor" class. I wasn't surprised to see her as a teacher. She'll be great. She's already in her third year teaching second grade.

Another of my students is in her first year teaching high school. It gave me a little bit of satisfaction. I may not be teaching anymore, but my students are.