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

Double Milestones

I was already feeling a bit emotional on the way to Devin's Pre-K graduation....realizing that he was about to start his "elementary school career" when he announced that he has a wiggly tooth. His FIRST wiggly tooth.

"No! Not today!" was my first thought. I just didn't think I could handle anymore milestones occurring on this day. *Sigh*

But alas, I have no choice.Today Devin graduated from pre-k and got his first loose tooth. My baby is getting so big, so fast. I have such a desire for the baby-ness to still be in the house but I know that I can not hold Devin back. He is ready for Kindergarten, smiles with "windows," sports teams, and play dates without Mom. I'm happy and yet so sad.

Snow Days

We are on our 3rd snow day in a week (with the potential for MORE snow on Friday...). I must say this is getting to be a bit much, even for New England. I am wondering if Devin will EVER get back to school?? He has been out for over a week between being sick, MLK Day, and now the snow day. We are having snow now which is expected to turn over to freezing rain later this afternoon (that's fun- the possibility of losing power, extremely slick roads, etc). Will we be in school tomorrow? We should be there Thursday and then MORE snow Friday? COME ON Mother Nature! Give us a break! Please! I'd like to go to work and enjoy my son more in late June when we can be outside swimming in the pool, playing at the splash park, and meeting up with friends!

For now, we are pulling out some of his "old toys" that he hasn't played with in a while to keep him entertained.

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.

T'was the Night Before School Started

and all through the house not a creature was stirring....not even Devin.
Mommy and Daddy snuggled up in their beds with visions of pre-school tuition dancing away from their heads.

The outfits were lined up on the dresser for the week- all new and tidy. The bags were overstuffed with asthma and allergy meds for Devin. A fan, water, granola bars, school supplies, and coffee for Mommy, and Daddy.....well Daddy's been working right along.

TO BE CONT.

Phone Photo Friday

Beach Day at School

Devin's class~ sunbathing indoors (Devin is on the whale towel)
Devin and Miss Emily

Studious

Pre-school is hard work.

Wordless Wednesday~ Painting at School

Pre-School Update

Devin is loving, LOVING his new class/teachers! He looks forward to going to school every day and asks with great enthusiasm and excitement every morning if it is a school day. They have been doing lots of hands-on activities including an apple tasting, making artichoke dip, and making play dough. They are working on the letter A, the color red, the circle shape, and one-to-one correlation with numbers 1 through 5. They've also been busy playing, reading stories, and singing songs. As you can see, Devin has many reasons to love school.

Devin also tells us, "I'm learning to read!"

As Devin's mother and a teacher I am so excited about Devin's enthusiasm for learning and school!

1st Day of Pre-School

Since I had to go back to work today, Devin had to go back to school, and thus vacation is over! BUT Devin is now officially a Pre-Schooler! He is at the same school he went to last year (for day care) where they did a lot of playing, but also projects, circle time, and so on. This year he is in a 3-and-4 year old class with "Miss Marilyn" and "Miss Emily" where he will continue to get lots of free play and outdoor time, with a little more focus on academics such as colors, shapes, numbers, alphabet, writing, and learning through discovery. He was very excited to go back to school and see all of his friends.

Here he is outside of our house today:
Devin is really looking like such a big boy to me lately. It could be the nearly 2 inches he grew this summer.....

Pre-School Celebration (Post Do-Over)

Saturday was Devin's first Pre-School Celebration. It was so cute! The kids sang songs and they showed a picture slide show with shots from throughout the year. They followed that up with a brunch buffet catered by the parents. Yum!


Here is Devin with one of his best school buddies, "A"
This is Devin sitting with "Mrs" K during the slide show. She was Devin's first teacher when he started at this school in the fall. He absolutely adores her and was heartbroken when she got married in May.
Devin's current teacher, Miss K, her daughter, and Devin. There was some serious tickling going on during this picture!
Mommy and Devin trying out the pinwheel Miss J, the owner, gave him in his goody bag.
Daddy and Devin posing for a picture.
Here is a video clip of the song that Devin's class "sang/performed" minus a couple of the shy kiddos who backed out at the last minute! Clearly my kid isn't shy~ little ham!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Devin the Philosopher

Devin and I had quite the philosophical conversation this morning on the way to school.

He was telling me that camels have humps. He then started singing the song (not quite sure of the proper title) "Alice the Camel has 2 Humps..." but he was wondering why Alice turns into a horse when she has no more humps. I told him it was because she had no more humps, but that really its just a silly song.

Well Devin, being the thinker that he is, wanted to know what happened to the humps. "Do they pop like bubbles?"

I thought that was pretty darn clever. "Nope, really Devin, its just a silly song but you can ask your teacher when we get to school." Sometimes kids just need some confirmation from someone besides their mother. I guess Mom really doesn't know everything?!?!?

Anyway, as soon as we walked into school he walked right up to Miss Katie and started asking her about Alice and the humps. Miss Katie had no clue what was going on, poor thing! I quickly explained. The 3 teachers that were near-by all commented that Devin would ask about the theorist side of the song. My little wise man!

Please Forgive Me

I know that my blogging has been less that desirable lately. I have been trying to spare you the sicky details, as there have been many. Currently, though, Devin appears to be healthy and "normal" which is such a welcomed sight! I am hesitant to say this though because it seems once I notice this he becomes sick again. To recap, in the past 2 months Devin has had 3 ear infections, 1 stomach virus, and a chest virus, plus his usual asthma. No, its not been fun!

Devin did manage to make it to his Valentine's Day party at school on Friday the 13th. On the same day, Erick was invited in to school to do a special presentation to the class on the mail/post office. They have been talking about this all month and thought it would be fun to have a "real" mailman come in. Erick was flattered and went in armed with stickers and stamps for the kids to play with. He also brought along Devin's valentine treats for his friends as a "special delivery" which Devin and Daddy handed out to the kids. I only wish I could have been there to witness the cuteness and of course take pictures. Here are my guys before they headed off to school. Of course Devin *had* to wear his mail shirt (from Halloween) just like Daddy!!

Just in Time for Christmas

Devin has conjunctivitis!We knew it was going around his day care, but we were hoping he would miss this one! Since Devin started showing symptoms just after noon time today, we missed the morning week-end hours and will have to wait until Monday morning to get him eye drops. Looks like Daddy will be staying home with him, since I only have 2 more days until my vacation starts!

Really?

This was one of our conversations on the way home from school today (Aaron seems to be one of Devin's favorite friends to play with at school):

Mommy: Devin, Where was your friend Aaron today?
Devin: He sick. He throw up. Aaron throw up in car Mommy.
Mommy: Oh really?
Devin: Yeah (as he makes some, uhhh, noises to go along with what he is telling me) he sick.

Interesting.......sure do hope Aaron is feeling better and that Devin doesn't catch it!!!!!! lol

First Day of Pre-School

As previously mentioned, Devin began pre-school today. He LOVED it! He had a great day. Devin LOVED the playground the best and spoke of the slide many times. I asked him if he took a nap with the kids and he said, "Yeah I close my eyes!" while squeezing his eyes shut! He then said, "Thanks for my bear Mom." because I sent one of his "loveys" with him to school. I asked him what Miss Tara taught him and he told me "C" and tried to make a C in sign language with his hand. Too cute!

Here is Devin at about 7 this morning, ready to go to school!!!


There are several reasons that we like this school....its run by teachers for teachers, it has small class sizes (6 in his class), it is fairly close by, and they use a (basic) curriculum that includes a letter a week...those are just a few of them!