Back to School Night

Got to go meet some teachers last night. I'm torn - I like the Texas system of Meet the Teacher before school starts, because then the kids are a little better prepared for that first day. But this system has its merits as well. The best one being the kids already have a few projects done and on display.

First up, Joseph's class. His teacher is Mrs. Dulcich, who's young and adorable and been teaching Kinder and 1st for 8 years. She has provided two class mascots, a stuffed monkey named Mona Monkey, and a stuffed teddy named Buddy Bear. At some point during the year, Joseph will get to bring one of the mascots home over the weekend. I can't think of anything he'd love more. As it is, he sleeps without about 42 stuffed animals on his bed. He only had one project on display (presented here as a patchwork quilt from my cell phone and Microsoft Paint):


"My name is Joseph and I like to play with my toys and my bed!"

As was the case in every class, some idiotic parent decided that the night with 20 other parents in the room all trying to meet the teacher would be the perfect time for a detailed and expansive conference about their kid, so I only had time to give Mrs. Dulcich a quick "Just-wanted-to-let-you-know-Joseph-is-loving-your-class-and-learning-lots!" before I ran off to Joshua's class. (There were only two meeting times, and with Matt sick that meant I had to try and squeeze in three classes somehow.)

Joseph really is loving Kindergarten, by the by, and doing really well. He's learning all kinds of nursery rhymes and songs and is making friends and doing great. We knew he would.

Ran off to Joshua's class after that. He's got two teachers this year. Mrs. Fisher is the "main" teacher, and is there on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays. Mrs. CrazyFrenchNameICan'tSpell is the Monday/Friday teacher. She got laid off last year, so I think the district's solution in several cases was to take the laid off teachers on as long-term substitutes of a sort. Anyway, they're both good eggs. I really love Mrs. Fisher. She looks to be about 50-going-on-20. She's got a tattoo and apparently rides Harleys with her hubby. Hey, here's a shocker: when I introduced myself as Joshua's Mom, her response was "OH! Joshua is SOOOOO creative!" Yeah, never heard that before! She was laughing because he's constantly asking her if it's okay to write a story in his free time. Like she'd ever discourage or quash creative writing! Apparently he likes to read them to the class when he's done and she loves that. She's in my good book.

Josh had four projects on display, two "all about me" and two "What I Did Over the Summer" things (one was, predictably, about Disneyland, and the other about our Utah trip). I shall now go and do some cheap stitchery from my crappy cell phone photos... and voila!



"I am an artist.
I am a brother.
I am a scientest.
I am a friend.
I am an eagle soaring in the sky."

Apparently Josh really loves science right now. Here's his write-up from the "Me Bag" project they did on the first week ("Have your child place three things in this bag that will help tell the class about him.").



And here's one of his "What I Did Over the Summer" stories:


"Over the summer I went to utah. My family went with me. [Note from Amy: we're very obliging that way.] I went to a store. I went to a park. I went to the Genarel Conference tower. I went to a Joseph smith national building and a book store of chirch."

Um, so it's possible she may now know we're LDS. Just possible! :D

Then I ran over to Ben's classroom in hopes of catching Mrs. Stafford before she shut down for the night. She was still wrapping up her presentation, thankfully. We were able to have a nice little chat afterward. Yet another shocker: she must have said 17 times how smart Ben is. "He's a VERY smart boy!" She likes him because he's focused and gets his work done and creates no problems. She's noticed he's shy, but he's getting more comfortable. In fact, on Friday he's going to invite a kid over to play. Awesome. His only project on display was a handwritten paragraph about his first day of school. He also did a "BioPoem," but he missed school yesterday (stupid cold going around!) and didn't get to hang his up. I look forward to seeing it, though; he wrote some surprisingly good poetry in 3rd grade.



"The first day of school was great! At first I was realy nervous, but soon I felt comfterable because there are kids I know here."

I let her know that even just a couple weeks in, Ben's already having a better year than 2nd & 3rd grade combined. I can't tell you what a difference it makes for him to have ALL his Primary classmates there at his school, and some in his class. It's just night & day. I'm so happy.

What I got out of last night, overall, is this: each of our boys has been blessed with exactly the right teacher for his needs this year. Heavenly Father's really watching out for our little guys.

...Not so little anymore! :)