just like that

a week earlier than normal, they're off. the school year has begun.

i've been trying hard to not freak out that my son is an eighth grader, but then i go and do something stupid: i look up pix of him on his first day of first grade.

stupid stupid stupid. then i was all sad and sentimental the rest of the day, when i should have been rejoicing that they were back in school.

and then there's this one ...

she couldn't wait. her best friend is in her class, she was excited to get outside to the bus stop and see all the kids ... and then she came home and said her teacher made them do quiet time.

"what are we, preschoolers?" she asked me.

and i had no words.

she is in a combination classroom this year - 2nd/3rd grades mixed, she's in 3rd. and i'm on the fence. i'm not convinced that it's a good idea. my takeaway from the explanation on back to school night is how great it will be for the 2nd graders. but the 3rd graders? and then to hear they had quiet time on the first day of school?!

i'm reserving the right to demand she's reassigned if things don't convince me by conferences in october.

harp thought the first day was okay. the second day, she came home and told me it was "stressful and dumb." yesterday was deemed "a little better." we'll see how she's doing today, after a full week. and i'll probably touch base with her bbff's mom over the weekend.

things seem very "off" because they started before labor day. that's never happened before, so it still kinda feels like it isn't really the school year yet, but next week should be a bit more familiar. and it was so freaking hot here this week (heat index in the 100s ... 110 on wednesday. are you kidding me, minnesota?! we had snow three and a half months ago!), and a couple of the schools have no a/c, including one of the middle schools, that there was no normalcy. no outdoor recesses, modified class schedules, and henry is even home today because of the heat in the middle school; the district is giving the kids and teachers a break for gutting it out all week.

so weird.

but we're back at it. and the calendar reflects that. it's all gonna get crazy up in here starting on tuesday.

and i wouldn't have it any other way. summer gets too long ... even when it's over a week early.

Comments

[Denise]

I was in a mixed fourth/fifth grade class in elementary school. I was in fourth. I remember thinking we didn't get a lot of teacher time, so we had to be self motivated. Also, we did have a lot of quiet time. I think a successful combined class depends on the teacher. My godson was in a combo fourth/fifth grade class. Same teacher for two years. Huge success, because the teacher was awesome, organized and had the ability/talent to recognize how to work the kids together in teams. I hope H's experience is successful.

[Jenny P]

Your thoughts on the multi-age classroom are mine exactly. ISD 192 offers that too and I sign off every year saying I don't want my child in a multi-age room. I can maybe see the benefit when you're the youngest, but the oldest??? To me it's completely budget related - too many kids in a certain grade, but rather than hire another teacher, they combine to keep numbers somewhat reasonable. Hopefully Harper's experience is a good one.