It's been a crazy few weeks here. The kids started school and we immediately started looking for someplace new for them. Within a few days, I had contacted a new school and talked to the principal. It turned out that he was someone we knew from years ago when we were doing water rescue training with our first Leonberger, Audubon. I took that as a good sign.
After meeting with teachers, observing classes, and having the kids shadow for a morning, we made the decision to move them right away. Or more accurately, the kids made the decision to move. That happened on a Friday and by Monday, I was turning in the withdrawal forms at their old school and the registration forms at the new school. After getting immunization records and new uniforms, they started at their new school on Thursday.
Their first day was a bit crazy - they had an all-school mass, where the priest introduced them to the rest of the school, and then school pictures. The up side is that they get to be in their class pictures, but it was a wild way to start off at a new school. They both canme out smiling at the end of the day, though, and were excited to go back on Monday morning (they had Friday off).
Last week was their first full week, so they've had a chance to get a feel for what it's really like. Our daughter is in kindergarten and her new class is less demanding than what she had before. To make up for that, her teacher is working with her and another little boy using the second grade reading program and she will be working with the resource teacher on more challenging reading, writing, and comprehension and potentially math as well. At this point, she's just having fun meeting new kids and finding out about the different programs this school has.
After observing classes, we decided to move our son up to third grade instead of keeping himin second grade. It seemed to be a better match for him academically and socially, and so far, he's really liking it. The personal responsibility and homework demands are much greater than what he's had in the past, but he's stepped up to the challenge and has even taken a couple tests already. It should get easier for him as time goes on, since he'll have had the chance to learn the material with the rest of the class instead of having to pick it up quickly at the end of a unit. He was telling me today how much more he's learning in his new class than he did at his old school, so it seems like it was a good move all around.
And that's where we are. I'm trying to get a feel for the volunteer system at this school and adjusting to the new schedule (they start 30 minues earlier now and get out 15 minutes earlier). We've had the chance to meet parents from both kids' classes at the parent socials and our daughter got her first birthday party invitation. Our son even went on his first field trip (Monterey Bay Aquarium, where he apparently was able to answer all the questions and lead the tour around the facility). Life rolls on and we're going along with it.
