The Third Day of School

(My hiatus is over. I can't say it was particularly enjoyable....thus, the lack of blogging. I have written a few posts, but never posted them due to their pessimistic tone. The last few weeks have been rough. But I am back, and my head is once again above water. Until today, I was embarrassed to have myself over given the piggy state of my house. So, enough of that...on to the good stuff...)

I dropped the ball and didn't post the 'first day', on the first day. So you will get the 'first day', on the third day..... ;)

The first day of school finally arrived! My hopes were a little too high (as far as what I would accomplish with a quiet-er house,) but all is well now.

Casey is LOVING Jr. High! He goes just in the afternoon for lunch, art, band, and drama. He studies his math, science, English, and history online through BYU's distance learning program. We feel good about his education for the first time ever. He has had excellent teachers in the past, but the structure of a normal classroom is not for Casey. He can score A's and B's on his tests despite completing the assignments. He gets so distracted that he struggles to finish stuff. Through the independent studies courses, he can set his own pace. The best part is: each semester consists of, on average, 6 lessons (with 'speedback' assignments) and a final. That's it!!! No busy work. No "this is due tomorrow," and "that is due Monday," and "read this by next Friday." He has complete ownership. Hopefully it works out the way we plan. If it goes well he can even work ahead grades. And in the end, he receives an actual diploma- not a GED.

Who knew that once you hit 5th grade it is no longer cool to have Mom pop into your class to snap your picture? But thanks to my speedy Nikon, I was able to capture a shot right after she moved the paper from obscuring her face. Notice her lovely shade of red.... Hailey loves her teacher. I knew she would. She is a kind lady- much like last year's teacher. She will do well.

Tyler is shining already. That says a ton about his teacher. It takes a lot to get that kid genuinely excited. Mrs. L won an award from the district called "Tech My Class". Her classroom is being completely re-done. New sheet rock and paint. New carpet, desks, and chairs. Video cameras, mP3 players, iPods and these cool 'clicker' thingies. The clickers interact with the smart board so the kids get immediate feedback on tests and such. Way cool! The teacher even keeps her own blog (a woman after my own heart!) and wrote a class song. She is the one teacher still teaching there that had Casey in her class (OK, his 6th grade teacher is leaving after this year.) Just coincidence, I'm sure. They all say they love Casey.

The first day, Hannah reported that her teacher wasn't as nice as she thought she was going to be, because "she treated them like they were in kindergarten!" Can you even believe it?! I assured her that it was just the beginning and things would get better. And they have.

Nathan hasn't left me alone about going to pre-school. Several times a day, he asks 'how many more days?'. And he is not happy when my answer doesn't change. He wants to eat with the big kids at school. So tomorrow, that is the plan. Hailey has the honor of serving school lunch. On pizza day, nonetheless.