First Week done, one more start tomorrow

Wow. The first day at MWJDS was great. We all gathered in the front parking lot (the building has undergone a town-of-Framingham makeover, and we currently have no field and no playground, although playground is "on order"). Sofa was not supposed to attend in the morning, but as soon as she saw her friends in line, she joined the group. I walked in with the kindergarten class, helping out another kid.

Miss Sofia walked in the line, went to the girls' bathroom with her friends, and got back in line, walked to the classroom, found her name and put it in the right place on the board, found her desk, and worked on the first project - all without help!!! I was so proud of her!

I did pull her out after that, and we stopped in to the parent meeting in the cafeteria, where she distributed (or redistributed) car tags around the room.

Then we headed over to the public school.

Oy.

What a difference. I'm going to have to get over it. The day school encourages a warm, nurturing, welcoming environment. Public school...strives for satisfactory and standard. "We'll wait for the last family to arrive" (in silence). Poor Sofia had to be dragged in to the school. I went early, so I could go speak to the Early Care (Breakfast Bunch) ladies...although the people who were there were the After Care staff, not Breakfast bunch.

Sofia was not happy to be in school, and it was very disoriented - she is in the exact same hallway as she has been for the past three and a half years for preschool, but all the preschool folk are gone (moved to a different building) and the kindergarten has moved in.

And they join the first and second grades, sharing all the resources, including cafeteria and playground.

Kindergarten: Mrs. P's class has their snack FIRST THING IN THE MORNING (apparently because some kids don't eat breakfast...however, Sofia will have had breakfast at home AND at Breakfast Bunch by the time she gets to class.). Lunch is at 11:30. Playground break - for KINDERGARTEN - is 2:20. Dismissal is 3:10. There are 18 kids in this Inclusion classroom, and two adults. TWO adults. 18 kids. Sofia is NOT the most difficult kid.

She gets some free play time right after lunch. I'll pick her up on Mondays and Wednesdays right after that, to go to the day school. On the other three days, the assistant teacher actually leaves early, so Mrs. P is expected to handle dismissal for all 18 kids alone. So I will pick Sofia up at 3:00, which gives me just enough time to get to the day school by 3:15(ish) to get the boys.

I have to remember that it will be OK. Not fabulous. Not spectacular. Not excellent. OK. And OK in Massachusetts is still WAY BETTER than OK in many other places.

Ok.

So after kindy visit at the public school, we had a quick picnic, and then Sofia did go back to the day school and join the class for a few hours. Loved it. I was of course late for the first pickup, but she did great (but I apologize publicly to her teachers!).

Oh, and it's going to be a fine line between the relative lack of attention she'll get in the public school versus the one-on-one aide at the day school. I have to make sure we do not coddle her too much at the day school. She CAN do everything, she just needs a little guidance.

While Sofia went to kindergarten in the afternoon, I got to teach my first class! And it was Micah's class, which is the most difficult, because it's combined 3/4 grades and has a huge variety of...personalities... But I did it. Whew! And Micah was relatively well behaved.

Both boys have been really tired all week, getting back into the rhythm of school. They also are having a lot of allergy problems (this is one of the only seasons that really bothers Sam). And with the barometer being up and down, I've had a few migraines and a lot of muscle/joint problems this week. Not feeling great.

Friday night, we had Nicki and the kids and another couple from shul (who had been without power most of the week). (Oh, Friday morning, Sofia went back to MWJDS for another hour). Lovely evening. Saturday, shul, then relaxing at home (I had a migraine, so napped, while Sofia dumped all the DVD boxes...on top of me...).

yesterday we went up to the Butterfly Place in Westford. Nifty. Lots of gorgeous butterflies. But Sofia was racing through, and I spent most of the time telling her not to touch and not to blow on them! And the boys were less-than-impressed. They are in a very unenthusiastic mood recently. Not fun to be with.

Afternoon, I insisted we go to the pool for one last time. Our neighbors were there too, so the boys played with their kids, and the grownups got to talk while watching Sofia jump in over and over again. The water was very cold! But she kept going. It was nice.

Today we are off to a friend's house in the afternoon for pool party and BBQ. Kindergarten for real tomorrow, and I think I'll start teaching...

Happy Labor Day.