Kindergarten Boy!

Devin started KINDERGARTEN on Tuesday!!! What a big boy!! Here he is, ready to go Tuesday morning in front of our house with his pack back and name tag on. We were just about ready to head over to our neighbor's house where he hangs out for about a half hour before she brings Devin and her grand daughter to school in the morning (I pick them up in the afternoon). The kids go to a private kindergarten from 9am to 2pm.

Once he was at school, it seems like the kids got right to work. He brought home a paper in which he copied the alphabet and wrote his name and told me about doing some math- writing his numbers (but I didn't see it). The concept of "seat work" was definitely something that Devin did not welcome with open arms and we had to talk about that Tuesday night and do a bit of practicing. I'm told he did much better with this on Wednesday (yay!). In some ways I do feel bad for the kid with his mom being a teacher and all.

I am super-happy about his teacher being strict and expecting near-perfect behavior from him though. While she expects this, she is also understanding that there is some adjustment time needed and that he is having some health problems (see below). I'm hoping this helps to prepare him with great behavior for first grade in public school next year.

On Wednesday he told me that he worked on patterning and that his was blue, yellow, blue yellow, etc. They got to make their pattern with stamps. He really enjoyed this. They also did a Bible Story with the pastor and he told me about how God made all of us. I'm so glad that he is able to get the Christian aspect of education this year without being in a Catholic school.
Through all of this Devin has been battling an ear infection....since his surgery on August 23. His poor right ear has been so angry that its resisted the Floxin drops, azithromycin (oral antibiotics), and the Cortosporin drops (when used alone). He is now on Cefdinir (oral antibiotics) as well as the Cortosporin drops. I sure hope this does the trick! He is due for some relief (which is what I was hoping for with the surgery!). We are scheduled to go for a recheck with the specialist in Boston next Thursday.

Signing off for Now,
Mom of a Kindergartener....Karla

Monday Randomness

* On Sunday we went to a birthday party for one of Erick's cousin's daughters. She turned 9 and had a Hello Kitty themed birthday party at a place called AMAZEment. Devin had loads of fun! The first hour of the party was dedicated to swimming. Devin started off in the shallow end with some of the other kids. After an half hour or so he decided he wanted to go in the deep end with the "older kids." In order to go in the deep end, you had to pass a swim test. He marched over to the lifeguard full of Bravdo and asked if he could do the Swim Test. The swim test consisted of swimming length-wise down the pool in the 6ft section without stopping or touching the walls/floor. I knew that in the summer (4 months ago!!) Devin could swim the width of the deep end, but I wasn't sure that he could make that great length required for the "test." Wouldn't you know, Devin swam than length no problem! About half way through he turned his head and said, "Mommy! I'm doing it!" I was so proud of him! I am thrilled that he has not lost any of his swimming skills. Needless to say, Devin spent the rest of the swimming time playing in the deep end. After swimming the kids played in a giant maze climbing structure complete with slides. Then came pizza and cake followed by tokens/games. What a fun place for the kids!

*Devin is officially all registered for Kindergarten. Erick, Devin, and I went to the private, Christian pre-school/kindergarten (that I visited back in the fall) this afternoon. After the 3 of us were shown around by the director and able to meet the Kindergarten teachers/check out the classrooms we gave the deposit and paperwork to hold him a spot for fall. We are very excited and think that this school will be a great match for Devin. He really seemed to like it and mentioned a few times that he is excited for kindergarten and thinks he will like his new school.

*Devin is also signed up for baseball! This April Devin will be playing on an Instructional 4 year Old Team. (He missed the cut-off by 1 day for T-Ball.) My understanding is that Instructional will be very much like T-Ball, but for 4 year olds.

*I am getting a car starter put in on Friday. Oh boy! I can't wait! With temperatures like today -8, feels like -22, I could definitely use a car starter!!

*What do you think Lolly is trying to tell me? She was sitting in my school bag for a long time tonight!
Look at this silly kitty doing her stretches!!

Busy Busy Busy

We have been very busy lately! I'm not even sure where all of our time has gone....its just been busy! Appointments, karate, sports class, birthday parties, broken car (bought a new one- LOVE it!), and kindergarten searching have consumed our time lately.

I know its sounds early for kindergarten research as it doesn't start until next fall, but registrations start in January!!! That's only 2.5 months away! Eeek! So far I have visited 2 options.

Option #1 Our local public kinder, where my former colleague is the assistant principal. They have 2 lovely classrooms with small class sizes (average of 10 kids per class), a teacher and para in each class, but the sessions are only 2.5 hours a day. This does not fit with my work schedule at all. I work 5 hours a day, not including meetings, travel time, etc. For this option I would need to pay someone to babysit/daycare.

Option #2 I have also been researching many private options. I went to visit a non-profit Christian school. It only goes up through Kindergarten, but its program seems wonderful! They offer a full day 9 to 2 program with extended day (before and/or after) pay-as-needed-option. They have 2 kinder classes and more students per class (about 15) but also have 1 teacher/1 para. They provide lunch and snacks included in tuition price. This school also uses the Language Arts and Math programs that his above mentioned public school uses (and that is definitely where he will be going in first grade!) There is also the added bonus of the Christian values and lessons in this school without the strict Catholic school atmosphere.

Results: I think OPTION #2 will ultimately win out because we would rather pay tuition to have Devin in an all-day Kindergarten program than to pay someone to babysit him to have him in a 2.5 hour program. The school in Option #2 also came highly recommended by colleagues and friends.

Edit
Stacey brings up an interesting point in her comment for Option #3, that we did consider. I live and work in different districts and would have to pay to have him attend my school district. I would have to apply to get him into one of our inner city full day kindergarten programs, preferably the one that I work in. I also think that comes with its own set of issues. At this stage I think its would be easier to have Devin at "his own school" 5 minutes away.