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The Kindergarten Post October 5, 2007

Posted by spacemom in : Current Affairs , 4 comments

I figure each parental blogger has a post on Kindergarten. The woes, the drama, the stress.
Here is my take on the modern Kindergarten.

Years ago, a little girl rode a bus and went to Kindergarten. It was a half day. She would sing songs, each cookies with her tiny bottle of milk (glass!), build with the play blocks and listen to stories. This girl was lucky. She had an older sister who had taught her to read! But the teacher did not like that. When it was story time, she would read a page, turn the book around and ask the children what would happen on the next page based on the pictures. The little girl, eager to please, would read ahead and then tell the class exactly what would happen. The teacher grew angry and told the little girl she was to never read ahead again. It was not fair to the other children. The little girl learned that it was wrong to show your skills and that reading was a bad thing. She learned that lesson again and again as she grew up, including being forced to read sections out of books before she could check them out of the library.

Fortunately, my children will not have these issues. Today’s kindergarten is different. This morning, Soleil came over to our bed at 7. We turned on the TV at 7:30, had her get her clothes for the day and change while we showered. Then we had breakfast and walked to the bus stop. Soleil was on the bus by 8:35am.

She will take a long ride to school, learning how to work with other kids. She has already learned that the older girls on the bus protect her. When a little boy scratched her, the big girls comforted her and told the bus driver. She gets to school and waits in the line for her teacher. Her teacher brings all of the kids to the class room. They take out their notes for her, hang their backpacks in their cubbies and go to free play until the teacher is ready for circle time.

At circle time, they discuss the calendar, they fill the calendar with patterns, they count the number of days they have been in school and learn about the hundreds (not yet), tens and one places for writing numbers. They don’t realize they are learning this, but they are. The leader of the day discusses the weather. They read a book and talk about feelings.

Some time during the morning, they work on their letter of the week. This week is T. They’ve already talked about A and I. They practice writing the letter and making the sound. Then it is time for math. Math is fun. It is all games. Right now, it is all probability and graphing. Again, the kids don’t KNOW these are the terms. They pull out one of three things from a container and color in a bar on a piece of paper for each item they pulled out. Then they see which item "wins".

They have choice time, where they sign up for activities. The activities include drawing, painting, writing, playing with blocks, the discovery zone, reading books, writing notes for other class mates (really drawing notes for most kids), listening to story books, dramatic play or the quiet zone. They must cooperate and wait turns if an activity is all signed up. They learn to problem solve if something goes wrong. The teacher and her assistant hover, but do not interfere unless needed. They guide the children into finding the answer.

They have snack and lunch and recess. They have art class, gym, library (Soleil’s favorite..and on Fridays!), and music. They learn to stand in line and follow instructions. Teachers in the school praise children who they catch walking and gently remind those who run that it is not acceptable to do so.

The teaching team has a "literacy program". The children are sometimes given a teacher choice at choice time. They have to work with the teachers during that time. Sometimes it is coloring a book and reading with the teachers. Sometimes it is working on letter recognition. Sometimes it is a math game with words.

The school started a program for the children called Open Circle. They discuss responsibility for the community and for others. They discuss respect and rules. Soleil knows the word "non-negotiable". She knew it already, but now her class does too.

At 3:00pm they go home. Soleil and most of her class go to Kids’ Club, the town’s after school program. They take a bus, they snack (again) and then play. Coloring and reading, painting, playing. This is where I worry more. Soleil made a sign the other day "Please rescue animals". Complete with Diego, Alicia, Dora, Boots, Baby Jaguar and a tapir, a toucan and a few other animals. Some of the second grade girls starting singing "Kill the animals". This made her angry and she marched around with her sign. Go Soleil!

Is her day far more packed than mine was at Kindergarten?
Yes 

Do I feel she is being pushed?
No. The school approaches the lower grades with a very nurturing view. And Soleil thinks it is all games (although she knows she is learning).

I don’t find Kindergarten to be boot camp, or difficult. I think it is the right level of exploration and learning for these kids.

I am thrilled with Kindergarten so far!

Wacky Wednesday October 3, 2007

Posted by spacemom in : Parenting 101 , 1 comment so far

Every work morning, I try hard to organize my day on the ride in. 

Wednesdays are the hardest. I usually have a team meeting on Wednesdays. This can take anywhere from 1-2 hours. I think today will be short. I like to try to work out during the week. I have been slacking with the travel in August, the mono, and with the new school routine. I am trying to get back to it. I did yesterday, but I am not sure I will fit it in today.

Wednesdays also involve a new dance. The public transportation dance. We have a large meeting once a month with the MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)  group on Wednesdays. Because of the timing, I am going to have to start taking the T (the subway) to the last station, and then take a bus to our town and walk the last 0.7 miles home. It’s not bad. I did it this past Wednesday. I was able to catch the bus in good time and for this trip, I met Soleil at the after school program. In the future, I am going to need to go later and walk home in the dark.

 In one sense, I think I like the time to think. It is not quiet time to think, but it is time to think. But, the time involved is insane. To go 15 miles, I need 1.5 hours. That’s before the walk. That is a big chunk of time. I wish I could do this more often, but let’s be serious. I don’t have 2 hours to spend on my commute each way, each day. As it is, we spend 45 minutes on the commute each way (it is really only 20 minutes direct, but with traffic and a drop to daycare…it goes up to 45)

I sometimes wonder how people do it. And then I realize, we all have our wacky Wednesdays. At least one day of the week, if not more, are just plain crazy!

And we all get through it. 

 

Tagged By Mrs. Figby October 2, 2007

Posted by spacemom in : Life...otherwise , 3 comments

I am in Daisy Girl Scout HELL! Seriously. I have a troop of 8 girls that I need an activity for on Friday. Oh and the Mentor is working with the OTHER Daisy Troop. I think I’ll  take a flying fuck at a rolling doughnut.

So to sooth my panicked heart, I will complete my meme from Mrs. Figby! 

 

First, The Middle Name Meme:

Rules: You must list one fact that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your middle name. If you don’t have a middle name, use the middle name you would have like to have. When you are tagged, you need to write your own blog post containing your own middle name game facts. At the end of your blog post, you need to choose one person for each letter of your middle name to tag. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they’re tagged and to read your blog.

R is for  realist. Because deep down, I am a realist. I hate that.

U is for Unix. I love programing and I work on a unix system. But Alas, I often have to program in wimpy languages like Perl

T is for Tequila. Seriously I love this stuff. Not in large volumes, but if I had to pick an alcohol, this is it.

H is for homicide, which is the usual plot device in the stories I read, either murder mysteries or detective stories. 

 

Meme #2. This meme consists of ten questions to be answered.

1. If you could have super powers what would they be and what would you do with them? (Please feel free to be selfish, you do not have to save the world!)

I think I would enjoy having the power to stop time. So I could take a really long nap, or bake something and not get too tired and not miss time with the people I love.

2. Were you to find your self stranded on an island with a CD player…it could happen…what would your top 10 blogger island discs be? 

First, I would process the sand to make a solar cell. Then I would play some Jimmy Buffett, Brooks and Dunn, Bethovan, Billy Joel, AC/DC, Duran Duran (SHUT UP!), Random Jazz, Random Classical and my Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles album. 

3. If you were a smell what would it be? 

Chocolate. But then I would be hungry all of the time. 

4. What bird would you most like to be?

 A Blue Jay. Pretty and Nasty all at the same time! 

5. If you were a bird who’s head would you poo on?

Dick Cheney. (didn’t even need to change Mrs. Figby’s answer)

6. Are there any foods that your body craves? 

 Doritos and Whoppers (the candy, not the hamburger) 

7. What’s your favorite time of year? 

Winter, I love the crisp cold clear nights. 

8. What’s your favorite time of day? 

At night, in those 30 minutes between the girls going to sleep and us going to bed. 

9. If a rest is as good as a change which would you choose?

I would have to go with change. I love to rest, but I would rather have an adventure. 

10. If you could have a dinner party and invite any 5 people from the past or present who would they be? (Living or deceased.)

Madeline L’Engle, Gandhi,  Bruce Boxlietner (he’s just so cute!), Thomas Jefferson and Lou Gerhig.

 

Tagging, Whew, lucky my name is short! I tag…..Figlet, LawMommy, Sherrie andSparky 

Monday Mayday October 1, 2007

Posted by spacemom in : Kids, Dr. Jay , 3 comments

I called Jay at 4:45pm with a little used call in our house…Monday Mayday. I needed help and soon or I would strangle the crazy one who kicked, stepped on her sister and then scratched her in the face. Yes, Luna was on the warpath today. I don’t blame her since we were stuck at home waiting for the fridge guy to finish the repair. Apparently, "after noon" means anytime between 12 and 6pm. He came at 4:10pm.

So I was strangely domestic, washing, drying, folding AND putting away 4 loads of laundry, having the kids sort the toy box into "save" or "give away" piles. They were quite good at it, although I would have given away more than they did. We watched Diego, and played dress up, "baby, Mommy and Grandmother" (guess who was Grandmother?) and then had the Violent One go insane and attack her sister (it was over rice cakes, RICE CAKES)

Fortunately, Jay got home just in time to take them on an adventure while I make dinner. I hate cooking, but it’s a hell of alot easier than a Monday of kids.