Back to School 2012

Our back to school traditions were a bit interrupted this year, what with Mason's unexpected hospital stay, and he and I arriving home the evening before school started. Fortunately, my three (THREE!) school-age kids and I had already done our school supplies shopping and Red Robin outing. I love bringing the kids with and involving them in the process, and then heading to RR for shakes and fries and to talk about goals/anticipation/worries about the upcoming school year.

Mason was in the hospital for the back-to-school open house, wherein the kids bring in their supplies and meet their new teachers. Isabel LOVES having a desk this year, can you tell?

And the first day joy! I love having 3 in school; Lucas goes to kindy part-time, which is a great balance. I love my time with Mason, and then I love having Lucas around some of the time to entertain his brother. First day pics:

Connor is in 4th grade; he was thrilled to find out his teacher is Mrs. Katz, which is who he wanted. He calls her the queen of the school; she has a crown to match the title. She is known for being very outgoing and outspoken, hilarious, and an excellent, enthusiastic teacher. He has become a math whiz, will be in the chess club again this year, and plans to play basketball this winter. He is getting better each year at making friends, and this is something we continue to work on. He always has a reputation for being kind to everyone and exhibits excellent behavior in the classroom. And can I just say... 4th graders look OLD!

 

Isabel is in 1st grade, and loves everything about school: being busy all day, being with friends, making new friends, seeing old friends, learning, reading, all the specials (music, art, PE). and more. She is beyond happy to be back in school. She was put into one class and then moved into a different class the day before school started, because she needed to be with the top reading group in the 1st grade, and the top 3 other girls were all in one class and Isabel was moved so she would have a group at her top level to keep her challenged. She has Mrs. Wingfield, who Connor also had in 1st grade. We looked into some gifted/talented programs for Isabel last year, but since kindergarteners usually aren't a part of GT at the school, we decided to wait and look into it further this year. She thrives in the academic arena. Her teacher calls Isabel "her star."

Lucas started kindergarten. His year has been a little crazy, because kindergarten enrollment numbers skyrocketed over the summer, and they are adding not one but two kindergarten classes right now, and working on hiring those positions. So he has had a couple of different subs until a teacher is secured. Not ideal, clearly. The good thing is that Lucas is my chill kid; he is fairly laid back and goes with the flow, and it hasn't seemed to bother him much, but it will be nice to have an official teacher in place, sooner than later we are hoping. It'll be at least next week before one is secured, so that will be 3 weeks of school with no real teacher. Otherwise, Lucas seems happy to be in school. He loves doing projects, riding the bus and eating lunch at school, and has also made some new friends (he started knowing no one in his class, which has been a first for us), but he can't yet remember their names. :)

Here's to a great school year!