Aedan: 29 Months, Week 2
On Tuesday this past week some moms from the MOPS groups planned to get together at the playground on Tuesday morning. I try to go to as many of these events as I can so that I can try to meet other moms. However, I also had to get the grocery shopping done because we had no food in the house to make meals. I got a list together quickly that morning, and Aedan and I headed off the Walmart to go shopping. I didn't bring a snack with me like I usually do to keep him occupied at the beginning of the trip, so he wanted to get out of the cart a lot faster than usual. However, he usually does a really good job of staying with me, helping me push the cart, and getting things off the shelf and throwing them in the cart for me. Our list was shorter than normal, so we got our shopping done and got back home in decent time. Then, I quickly put away the cold items and left the rest on the counter so that we could make it to the park for the play date. We were a half an hour "late" but there were plenty of moms and kids there and not really a certain time you had to be there anyways. It was fun to stand around and talk while the kids played on the playground, although Aedan tends to stick close to me in situations like this, especially when he doesn't have Sissy to follow around and play with. One mom brought chalk, and that was a big hit with some of the kids toward the end of our play time. Here are some pictures some other moms took that morning.
On Tuesday evening there was an internet safety class at church that I wanted to attend. Special Agent Todd Wilton from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security/Homeland Security Investigations discussed the risks, consequences, and ways to protect kids from online predators, high risk social media apps, sextortion, cyber bullying, sexting, and much more of the dangers children can encounter on the internet. I was interested in going, but it also would count towards my 12 hours of training for getting our foster care license. I ate dinner quickly with the family before heading out for this seminar. It was only supposed to go from 6:30-8:00, but ended up going until 9:00. I found it interesting but nauseating at the same time. I can't believe everything out their in the world and people that are specifically trying to lure children. When I got home to tell Ben about what I heard, I just said, can we just go live in a hole somewhere? There are so many things to be afraid of, especially now that we are beginning the process of letting our first child enter the public world in kindergarten. Just a couple weeks ago I was made aware of an issue with another boy in her class dealing with some pretty rough life situations, and just thinking about everything we will encounter as our kids grow up overwhelms me sometimes. It shows me more and more how I need to trust the Lord to provide for and protect my children, and that I need to pray for them earnestly every day.
Wednesday morning is my day to volunteer in Samantha's classroom while Ben hangs out with Aedan. I helped laminate and cut out posters for her, as well as helping the kids with writing workshop. I'm glad that I can be useful in her classroom and be involved in the school. After Ben picked me up and then we dropped him off on campus, Aedan and I had a few errands to run. We dropped our foster care application off at the DHSS since we finally heard back from all our references, so now we are officially moving forward with this process. I also picked up an infant car seat so that I could try it in our car along with our kid's car seats. I wanted to be sure it would or wouldn't work before assuming we would have to look at buying a new car. We also went to get a train table from someone selling it. Aedan was pretty tired that afternoon, had developed a pretty bad stuffy nose, and looked like he could have fallen asleep in the car after running our errands.
I have been trying to exercise more regularly. In fact, I am training to do a Turkey Trot 5K in the middle of November. I have an app on my phone to help me work up to running a 5K, and I try to fit in my half hour of running whenever I can. The track at the Norris Center is easy to get to, and I am allowed to push Aedan around in the stroller while I run. Sometimes he is more amused than others, and I try to give him a snack to bide some of the time, but he always gets antsy towards the end of the half hour. Once I get to my five minute cool down, I let him get out of the stroller and walk/run with me. On this particular occasion, we found a tennis ball that was left behind, so I let him throw the ball and run to get it. He thought that was pretty amusing, and he was so adorable running around the track with his Superman shirt with cape and his rain boots. However, running in rain boots is not the easiest, as you can see in this video, because he trips and falls at the end of it. After he fell, we decided to take his boots off and just let him run around in his socks. Aedan much preferred that. It's not always perfect, and I don't get a work out in every day, but I am trying to make exercise a priority, and I know it's good for Aedan to see that I am taking time to be healthy myself.
The kids have been extra cranky the last couple nights, making our evenings not be quite as enjoyable. I don't know if Aedan is still getting his last molar in, or if he is just dealing with a cold and runny nose, but it seems like he has entered a new phase in his behavior lately. He's testing limits a lot more, saying no to me a lot, crying and overreacting to the littlest things, and refusing to leave places or get ready for bed. You know, anytime we make him do something he doesn't want to do, he lets us know, loudly and clearly. Then, Samantha has just seemed tired, like she hasn't been getting enough sleep this week, even though we try to put her to bed at a decent time each night. She is so good all day at school that it seems like by the time she comes home, it's hard for her to behave anymore. She has attitude, fights with Aedan, gets in his face, and just is generally mean, both to Aedan and to me. Who knows what's going on with the two of them some days, but I definitely prefer the nights when we all get along and have fun together.
I got a message from Samantha's teacher asking me if I wanted to sub for her on Friday afternoon so she could go see her son for Homecoming. Originally, she hadn't planned on taking time off, simply because her class is such a handful. However, since she knew that I was available on Fridays and already knew her class some from volunteering, she decided to take the time off. I had a couple other options where I could have subbed for a teacher full day, but since I already promised to sub for Ms. Cornwell, I didn't want to go back on my word. Plus, I was excited to be able to sub at Bahweting and hopefully get my foot in the door to sub for other teachers as well.
Since Ben had to stay home with Aedan during the afternoon, we decided to take advantage of our time together in the morning with me not subbing to get some errands taken care of. We got our Michigan license plate which felt kind of weird because we have had an Indiana license plate since we moved to Bloomington six years ago. (While we lived in Oxford, since it was only a temporary position, we were able to just renew our Indiana license plate, so we were never "official" residents of Ohio and still had Indiana driver's licenses and license plates.) We decided to pay the extra $5 for the picture of the Mackinac Bridge and the sunset in the background. We like the look of this plate, and figure since we live on the other side of the bridge, we should have it represented on our license plate.
After that, I spent some time trying to get three car seats to fit across the backseat of our SUV. Again, I didn't want us to be forced into buying a mini-van in order to foster a child, if there was a way I could make it work in the one we have. The infant car seat from the DHSS office was narrower than what we used in the past, which worked to our advantage. I was able to scoot Aedan's car seat over toward the door an inch or so, giving me just enough room to secure the infant car seat in the middle with the seat belt. Since Aedan's car seat is a Britax, it's super easy to install, and I was able to smash the car seat down enough to make it level, even closer to the edge of the seat. It took some finagling, and it definitely is a tight fit, but it works. All three car seats are installed tightly, properly, and securely. I tried it in all three scenarios we might encounter: with an infant, a rear-facing child in a convertible seat, and a forward-facing child in a convertible seat. All three ways I was able to get the car seat to fit tightly and securely. I was so pleased that I was able to get it to work because at this point we really can't afford a car payment every month, but I don't want that to prevent us from accepting a foster child in our home. I took pictures for proof for Lauri so she knew we are prepared in any situation.
Since Ben had to stay home with Aedan during the afternoon, we decided to take advantage of our time together in the morning with me not subbing to get some errands taken care of. We got our Michigan license plate which felt kind of weird because we have had an Indiana license plate since we moved to Bloomington six years ago. (While we lived in Oxford, since it was only a temporary position, we were able to just renew our Indiana license plate, so we were never "official" residents of Ohio and still had Indiana driver's licenses and license plates.) We decided to pay the extra $5 for the picture of the Mackinac Bridge and the sunset in the background. We like the look of this plate, and figure since we live on the other side of the bridge, we should have it represented on our license plate.
Then, Ben hung with Aedan so that I could go out and do some shopping. It's really hard to find the time to go shopping even when I just have Aedan because he's not going to be too patient while I try on clothes in the dressing room. It's amazing what I can get done in an hour's time, and I desperately needed some new things. (It was nice being able to finally use my Kohl's gift card that I got for my birthday.) After I was done, I came home for a quick lunch and then got ready to go sub at Bahweting.
I have to admit that I was a little nervous about subbing for Ms. Cornwell. First of all, it's a kindergarten class, and I've had a lot of experience in elementary grades, but none as young as kindergarten. Plus, with my time volunteering on Wednesday mornings, I have seen how wild it can get sometimes, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to keep them under control. When I got there, the kids were at recess and then went straight to a special, so I had some time to talk to Ms. Cornwell and Ms. Newell about the plans for the afternoon. The first thing we were to do was Social Studies were they were making books about themselves, drawing pictures of themselves, what they care about, and what they can do. Some students did a better job at this than others; however, I think there are just some kids that don't enjoy coloring and drawing like Samantha does, so this task wasn't that enjoyable to everyone. I wasn't sure how much to "force" them to put more effort into their pages, but we did get through it. We had snack time after that, and then we were to do an X page since it was the letter of the day. However, Ms. Newell decided that they needed a break from sitting in their seats, so we decided to do the treasure hunt first. There were times when the kids got a little too loud and made the alarm go off on the stop light (meaning everyone had to put their heads down and be quiet for one minute), but overall, I felt like things were going okay. When I introduced the scavenger hunt, I made it clear that if they were running around the room, pushing each other, or getting too loud, they would have to sit at their seat and not participate in the scavenger hunt. The kids were pretty excited about going around the room to find the clues, but we were at an impasse when we got to the third clue because we could not find it anywhere. Finally, we discovered that one of the little boys had found it by the sink and decided to throw it away. I dug through the trash can and was able to find a small piece of it that gave us enough of a clue of where to look next. At the end of the scavenger hunt, there was a box of prizes and Ms. Newell helped them each pick something from the box. A lot of the prizes were whistles of one kind or another (which probably wasn't the best idea for a bunch of kindergartners), and we gave them a few minutes to play with their prizes at their seats.
After all the toys were put away, I had the kids join me at the carpet to read the X story before they went back to their seat to trace the Xs. That worksheet was simple and most were done in just a few minutes. Ms. Newell had plans to give out prizes for Dojo points, but she didn't have everything organized, so I started reading a book while she got prepared. However, once she got started passing them out, it took too long to do one student at a time, and the rest of the class was getting out of control waiting for their turn. I decided to get the book The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything to read to the class. With it being October, this is a good book to read; plus, I knew it would hold their interest and give them ways to interact with the book. There were still some kids who weren't paying attention (the usual ones), but most kids really enjoyed acting out the book with me, repeating the phrases that come up frequently in the story, and guessing what might happen next for those that had never heard the story before. I had a lot of fun with the kids that afternoon. After everyone got their Dojo prizes, we got everyone packed up and ready to play outside until it was time for dismissal. This part of the day was a little wild, and again, this is the hard part of being a sub because I have no idea what their normal routine is, how much noise she lets the kids get away with, or even when we should pack up and get ready. Nevertheless, I think it went pretty well for my first day in their class as their teacher and not just a helper. We got outside and discovered that it was lightly raining. Another kindergarten class was actually on their way inside. The kids were disappointed when they thought we might not be able to play, so I gathered them around and made a deal with them; they could play, but if it started raining any harder, we would have to go back inside. They liked that plan and ran out to play. With this rain that was coming through, came a cold front as well, so it was definitely getting chilly outside, especially for the kids that were just wearing t-shirts. I made sure to tell them that it was going to start getting colder outside now and they needed to be sure to bring jackets with them to school from now on. From there, it was time to go back to the room, grab backpacks, and head out to the buses for dismissal. Everyone got to where they needed to be, and Samantha and I headed back to the class to clean up and wrap things up. Ms. Newell was so kind in her words to me that afternoon. She said how good of a job I did, and how she was going to be sure to send an email out to other teachers and paraprofessionals about me if they ever need a sub on Fridays. I really appreciated that she said that, and even though I didn't have as much control over the class as I would have liked, I feel like it was a successful day overall. Plus, it was really fun being with Samantha for the afternoon. :)
After all the toys were put away, I had the kids join me at the carpet to read the X story before they went back to their seat to trace the Xs. That worksheet was simple and most were done in just a few minutes. Ms. Newell had plans to give out prizes for Dojo points, but she didn't have everything organized, so I started reading a book while she got prepared. However, once she got started passing them out, it took too long to do one student at a time, and the rest of the class was getting out of control waiting for their turn. I decided to get the book The Little Old Lady Who Wasn't Afraid of Anything to read to the class. With it being October, this is a good book to read; plus, I knew it would hold their interest and give them ways to interact with the book. There were still some kids who weren't paying attention (the usual ones), but most kids really enjoyed acting out the book with me, repeating the phrases that come up frequently in the story, and guessing what might happen next for those that had never heard the story before. I had a lot of fun with the kids that afternoon. After everyone got their Dojo prizes, we got everyone packed up and ready to play outside until it was time for dismissal. This part of the day was a little wild, and again, this is the hard part of being a sub because I have no idea what their normal routine is, how much noise she lets the kids get away with, or even when we should pack up and get ready. Nevertheless, I think it went pretty well for my first day in their class as their teacher and not just a helper. We got outside and discovered that it was lightly raining. Another kindergarten class was actually on their way inside. The kids were disappointed when they thought we might not be able to play, so I gathered them around and made a deal with them; they could play, but if it started raining any harder, we would have to go back inside. They liked that plan and ran out to play. With this rain that was coming through, came a cold front as well, so it was definitely getting chilly outside, especially for the kids that were just wearing t-shirts. I made sure to tell them that it was going to start getting colder outside now and they needed to be sure to bring jackets with them to school from now on. From there, it was time to go back to the room, grab backpacks, and head out to the buses for dismissal. Everyone got to where they needed to be, and Samantha and I headed back to the class to clean up and wrap things up. Ms. Newell was so kind in her words to me that afternoon. She said how good of a job I did, and how she was going to be sure to send an email out to other teachers and paraprofessionals about me if they ever need a sub on Fridays. I really appreciated that she said that, and even though I didn't have as much control over the class as I would have liked, I feel like it was a successful day overall. Plus, it was really fun being with Samantha for the afternoon. :)
That evening we decided to go out for dinner at a local restaurant called The Antlers. It's a pretty popular family place, and we figured we'd give it a try. It's called The Antlers because the restaurant is full of taxidermy animals from deer, to bear, to lions, and more. The kids thought it was pretty interesting to just look around the restaurant. Our food was pretty good, and it was a good experience, but like a lot of the local "tourist" restaurants, we felt like it was a bit overpriced for what you got.
We usually take Saturday mornings at a more relaxed pace since we don't have school or church to get ready for. I wanted to exercise, and I suggested that Ben and the kids come over with me to play in the gym while I ran around the track. We brought balls with us for them to play with, but for some reason they just weren't in the mood that morning. I thought that they would enjoy it more since they always liked doing this sort of thing at the Taylor gym. Once I was done running, we went back home to get ready for ice skating lessons.
After the first lesson last week, our goal for Aedan was to be on the ice without me and to not cry. For Samantha, we wanted her to work on skating with both feet and paying attention to herself and not the others on the ice. Aedan's class had another helper out on the ice so that both boys could get one-on-one attention, and that definitely helped a lot. Aedan did cry once near the beginning of the lesson, but his teacher told him, "No crying, remember?" and then he stopped. Throughout the lesson, he was more and more successful at standing up more steadily and moving even a little bit. Samantha definitely caught on a lot faster this week and did a great job trying everything the teacher was having her do, which is what we want, for her to work hard and to try. She even got going pretty fast a few times. During the personal coach time, for which we haven't signed Samantha up for, she got a lot of skating practice in, going back and forth and around and around the ice. The more exposure and practice she gets, the better she will get at skating. It was nice for Ben and me as well because while they were both out on the ice we were actually able to carry on a conversation with each other. Here are some pictures and videos of their second ice skating lesson.
After the first lesson last week, our goal for Aedan was to be on the ice without me and to not cry. For Samantha, we wanted her to work on skating with both feet and paying attention to herself and not the others on the ice. Aedan's class had another helper out on the ice so that both boys could get one-on-one attention, and that definitely helped a lot. Aedan did cry once near the beginning of the lesson, but his teacher told him, "No crying, remember?" and then he stopped. Throughout the lesson, he was more and more successful at standing up more steadily and moving even a little bit. Samantha definitely caught on a lot faster this week and did a great job trying everything the teacher was having her do, which is what we want, for her to work hard and to try. She even got going pretty fast a few times. During the personal coach time, for which we haven't signed Samantha up for, she got a lot of skating practice in, going back and forth and around and around the ice. The more exposure and practice she gets, the better she will get at skating. It was nice for Ben and me as well because while they were both out on the ice we were actually able to carry on a conversation with each other. Here are some pictures and videos of their second ice skating lesson.
After eating lunch, we got the kids down for naps because we had plans to go do something fun that evening, but it would require Samantha to nap so we could stay out later. We had an early dinner and then headed across the International Bridge to the John Rhodes Community Centre in Canada. We were met with a beautiful sight as we drove over the bridge. It had just finished raining, but the sun began to shine, allowing us to see these beautiful rainbows in the sky. Samantha kept saying, "I just can't take my eyes off the pretty rainbows. I hope we can see rainbows again some other day."
Ben heard about this community center with a pool, and the price to get in is not that bad, especially with the difference in currency exchange rates. It was open from 6-8, so we tried to get there right around 6:00 so we could enjoy as much time there as possible. We got changed into our bathing suits and then headed out to see what the pool was like. As you can see in this picture that I got from their website, they had quite a few fun features. The little blue slide on the right side was for toddlers and younger kids to go down into a narrow pool that wasn't too deep. Then, in the middle of the picture is the zero depth pool that leads to a hot tub type area in the back. The best thing about this pool is that they keep it at 94 degrees, so the water was warm and wonderful, my kind of pool. You can't tell by this picture, but there are several water features in the zero depth area like the red umbrella looking thing that sprays down water around in a circle like a fountain, the red half circle that sprays water straight up into the air, and several other spray features. The area was nice because it was perfect for Aedan to walk around in and float in without us having to be worried about him. Also, you can see the blue water slide in the left of the picture, and this was the best feature to Samantha. She wanted to try it, but had to go down it without her floatie on and be able to swim out of the small pool on at the bottom on her own, which she had no problem doing. From that point on, all she wanted to do was go down the slide over and over again. I was so glad that she was having a good time. Before we left that evening, she made sure we knew how much fun she had and expressed great interest in coming back again sometime. This will be a wonderful place to come during the cold winter months when we want to don our bathing suits and enjoy some warm water and a break from the snow.
After a busier day on Saturday, we had a more relaxing Sunday with church as our only plan. We went to both services since we volunteered in the children's ministry during second service. It was our first time staying for both services, but the kids did just fine, which we were glad for. Before we left, it was pointed out to us that someone decided to anonymously donate a crib and mattress for us to use for a foster kid. We were amazed at the generosity of the church and blessed by their support of us even though we've only been attending for a few months.
No trip to Canada is complete with a stop at Tim Horton's, so we stopped quickly for coffee and doughnut holes before going back over the bridge and getting the kids in bed.
After a busier day on Saturday, we had a more relaxing Sunday with church as our only plan. We went to both services since we volunteered in the children's ministry during second service. It was our first time staying for both services, but the kids did just fine, which we were glad for. Before we left, it was pointed out to us that someone decided to anonymously donate a crib and mattress for us to use for a foster kid. We were amazed at the generosity of the church and blessed by their support of us even though we've only been attending for a few months.
We tried to get Samantha to nap a little on Sunday because she developed a little bit of a cough/cold herself, and she may have slept for about twenty minutes but then was up calling for us. I ended up just letting her play quietly in her room instead, which she was just as happy with. Aedan was sleepy and took a good nap, and here they are being sweet together after he got up. When he wakes up, he often likes to cuddle with someone and on this day he chose to cuddle and hug Samantha. He loves it when she's home with him on weekends, and he can spend all his time playing with her.
With our upcoming trip to Upland for Homecoming this week, we have talked a lot about Ema and Papa. Aedan woke up from his nap in a very somber mood, saying "miss Ema Papa." We asked him if he would like to talk to them on the computer, and he liked that idea, but once we connected with them, he said hardly a word. He just sat there like you can see in this picture, starting at Ema and Papa on the computer. They tried a lot of things to get him to smile or talk or prove that he was not just a cardboard cutout, but he was perfectly content just sitting there and watching them, with his hands folded together. Samantha did all the talking and interacting for them. I think this picture of the two of them is so cute. They sure do love their grandparents. :)
Monday was technically Fall Break for Ben, so he didn't have any classes to teach that day. Because of that, I marked myself as available to sub. I didn't see any jobs pop up all weekend, but I set my alarm for Monday morning so that I could be up and ready in case one came up then. When I checked the app on my phone, there was one for a teacher at Bahweting that I gladly accepted. I was a substitute for a special education teacher who goes into mostly Kindergarten and 1st grade classrooms to support kids that are mainstreamed but need extra help and also pulls kids out for extra attention as well. Pretty much the only information I had to go off of was her schedule for the day. There were no plans or activities laid out of what I was supposed to do for the kids, especially the pull out students, so I basically just had to wing it. I started my day trying to help a little girl get from the cafeteria to her room and get set up for the day in her classroom. However, her schedule was changed that morning which totally threw her off, and I found her yelling and rolling around the floor, talking to another staff member. I tried to talk with her and get her to come with me, but she had no interest in talking to a new person, so a school social worker took her for a little while to calm her down. Then, I helped out in a first grade classroom for about an hour and a half since the main teacher was actually absent from that room as well, leaving the paraprofessional on her own. I enjoyed helping in that classroom and was really impressed with how well-behaved the kids were.
I had lunch at the same time as Samantha's class, so I was able to sit with her for lunch, which we both really enjoyed. It's fun to see her interact with her classmates, and I enjoy seeing her during the day. It's hard having her gone from home for a total of 8 hours a day, including transportation time getting to and from school.
For the afternoon, I had a few pull outs to do and dug around in the shelves in the special ed classroom for materials to use with the students. They went well, and it's amazing how quickly a half hour can pass by with a student. For the other part of the afternoon, I was assigned to help in Samantha's class. However, I was supposed to be helping with Math and Reading at those various times, which didn't align with what they were actually doing in the classroom. Since there was't much I could help with, I did more observation than anything else.
I was anxious to see how the classroom was organized and structured in the afternoon, and I have to admit that I was disappointed by what I saw. I went into Samantha's classroom at 1:00 and they were doing a worksheet where they had to trace the Y path to get the yak to his yard, then she said they could color if they wanted to. Well, after awhile (too long in my opinion, considering how easy the worksheet was), the teacher went around the check their paper and discovered that some of them had colored very sloppily (or not at all). So then she called all the kids down on the carpet to teach what "quality coloring" was. She said they should be coloring in the lines, leaving no white space, and using colors that make sense. Based on how they colored, they would get "graded" on their papers by either a sad face, straight face, or happy face. Then, she gave all the kids another coloring page, after they had already been coloring for quite awhile, and she expected them to do quality coloring on this page. Kids like Samantha took the lesson to heart, and Samantha literally colored every white space on the entire paper and earned a happy face. The kids that didn't color the first page nicely, just did the same thing on the second page, refused to do their work, and made the kids that listen to sit and wait while they were forced to do quality coloring. I left the class to help in another class and came back an hour later, and they were still working on the same coloring page. So they had spent and hour and a half just on coloring, and they are only kindergartners. The page had no academic purpose whatsoever. I was pretty upset by this and didn't know if this was normal or not; if the other Kindergarten teachers were doing this or not. I understand coloring neatly, but what if kids don't like to color? Why do they have to do this time-consuming work that has nothing to do with an academic subject? Why weren't they doing Math and Reading like they were supposed to be doing according to their schedule?
Since I have been volunteering in Samantha's classroom so much, I know more about how the classroom is being run than most parents would. Plus, I have an education background and have taught for seven years. So, it's so hard for me to see Samantha in this class because I don't see her being challenged. She already knows how to make all her letters, hold her pencil correctly, count to 100, do some basic adding, and even read basic sight words and is working on beginning readers. Some of the kids in her class don't even know how to sit in a chair and hold a pencil. I am just afraid that Samantha will not learn what she needs to learn, or that she simply will not be learning anything at school when she's there for 7 1/2 hours a day. I have seen another kindergarten class at that school that seems to be so much more organized, the kids are hard at work, and there is structure and routine to their classroom, at least from my observations of them. Samantha's teacher stopped giving homework for some reason, and I see no evidence of them practicing much reading. Even in Samantha's preschool class last year, they were doing letter writing practice every day, and a reader was sent home every week for them to practice at home. Plus, they were learning "popcorn words." I don't see Samantha's class doing any of this, and it's almost like they've regressed as far as academic work is concerned.
Samantha's class also has several boys that are quite out of control. One sits in the back of the classroom, but does not listen to the teacher, does not do much work, and does not sit down unless an adult is physically right next to him, and even then that doesn't always prove effective. Then, there are a few others who consistently disrupt class by getting out of their seats, bothering the people around them, throwing fits in class, and acting out in many ways. I feel like so much of the teacher's and paraprofessional's time is taken up by just dealing with these unruly boys, leaving less time to actually teach how they are supposed to teach and challenge the kids that are above average as well. They have helpers come in every once in awhile, but it just isn't enough when they all need one-on-one attention. I know that classes will be like this sometimes, and it's hard to know where to place kids when coming into kindergarten, but it has me wish that Samantha was in another kindergarten class. It's not fair that above average students like Samantha have to deal with the consequences of being in a class with students that consistently misbehave. For example, they have to put their heads down and be quiet for a minute every time their traffic light turns to red for being too loud. This happens a lot during the day, and it is almost always the fault of these kids that are acting out of control. Samantha is rarely the one being loud and disruptive, yet she listens and puts her head down quietly.
I have never seriously considered homeschooling because I would like to go back into the classroom to teach full-time myself some day, but seeing this class has made it hard for me to not just want to pull Samantha out of school and teach her myself. We believe that it is important to have Christian families as a part of the public school system, but it frustrates me that I could challenge Samantha more at home and we could get more done in a couple hours than it seems like they might do all day at school. I also know that there are other important aspects of being involved in a classroom, that they get opportunities like specials, different/better resources, social interaction that is important, and that it's not all about having the "best" education. I also know that Samantha is smart and will do fine no matter what class she is in because we are teaching her at home too, and as educators we are partnering with the school to educate our child. I just feel upset and torn about what to do. I don't know what steps should be taken, or if I just need to be more patient and allow the teacher to do her job, to get some of these kids tested for disabilities/disorders, and to just support her as much as I can. I don't know if this warrants a confrontation, or even if I would have the option of switching Samantha to another class. Plus, you know the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Also, I have developed a relationship with Samantha's teacher, and I'd like to think that she trusts me, so I would definitely hurt her by attempting to put Samantha in a different class because I didn't like how she was running hers. Plus, teachers talk about things like this, and I don't want to get a reputation as a high-maintenance, critical parent, especially because I would love to substitute in the school and possibly work there full-time some day, so I certainly don't want to burn any bridges by being insensitive or demanding. I am definitely feeling conflicted, disappointed, and upset. I want Samantha to be in a positive educational environment. I want her time in school to be fruitful. I want the best for her, and right now, I just don't know what that is supposed to be.
(Blog about October 4-1, 2016)
I had lunch at the same time as Samantha's class, so I was able to sit with her for lunch, which we both really enjoyed. It's fun to see her interact with her classmates, and I enjoy seeing her during the day. It's hard having her gone from home for a total of 8 hours a day, including transportation time getting to and from school.
For the afternoon, I had a few pull outs to do and dug around in the shelves in the special ed classroom for materials to use with the students. They went well, and it's amazing how quickly a half hour can pass by with a student. For the other part of the afternoon, I was assigned to help in Samantha's class. However, I was supposed to be helping with Math and Reading at those various times, which didn't align with what they were actually doing in the classroom. Since there was't much I could help with, I did more observation than anything else.
I was anxious to see how the classroom was organized and structured in the afternoon, and I have to admit that I was disappointed by what I saw. I went into Samantha's classroom at 1:00 and they were doing a worksheet where they had to trace the Y path to get the yak to his yard, then she said they could color if they wanted to. Well, after awhile (too long in my opinion, considering how easy the worksheet was), the teacher went around the check their paper and discovered that some of them had colored very sloppily (or not at all). So then she called all the kids down on the carpet to teach what "quality coloring" was. She said they should be coloring in the lines, leaving no white space, and using colors that make sense. Based on how they colored, they would get "graded" on their papers by either a sad face, straight face, or happy face. Then, she gave all the kids another coloring page, after they had already been coloring for quite awhile, and she expected them to do quality coloring on this page. Kids like Samantha took the lesson to heart, and Samantha literally colored every white space on the entire paper and earned a happy face. The kids that didn't color the first page nicely, just did the same thing on the second page, refused to do their work, and made the kids that listen to sit and wait while they were forced to do quality coloring. I left the class to help in another class and came back an hour later, and they were still working on the same coloring page. So they had spent and hour and a half just on coloring, and they are only kindergartners. The page had no academic purpose whatsoever. I was pretty upset by this and didn't know if this was normal or not; if the other Kindergarten teachers were doing this or not. I understand coloring neatly, but what if kids don't like to color? Why do they have to do this time-consuming work that has nothing to do with an academic subject? Why weren't they doing Math and Reading like they were supposed to be doing according to their schedule?
Since I have been volunteering in Samantha's classroom so much, I know more about how the classroom is being run than most parents would. Plus, I have an education background and have taught for seven years. So, it's so hard for me to see Samantha in this class because I don't see her being challenged. She already knows how to make all her letters, hold her pencil correctly, count to 100, do some basic adding, and even read basic sight words and is working on beginning readers. Some of the kids in her class don't even know how to sit in a chair and hold a pencil. I am just afraid that Samantha will not learn what she needs to learn, or that she simply will not be learning anything at school when she's there for 7 1/2 hours a day. I have seen another kindergarten class at that school that seems to be so much more organized, the kids are hard at work, and there is structure and routine to their classroom, at least from my observations of them. Samantha's teacher stopped giving homework for some reason, and I see no evidence of them practicing much reading. Even in Samantha's preschool class last year, they were doing letter writing practice every day, and a reader was sent home every week for them to practice at home. Plus, they were learning "popcorn words." I don't see Samantha's class doing any of this, and it's almost like they've regressed as far as academic work is concerned.
Samantha's class also has several boys that are quite out of control. One sits in the back of the classroom, but does not listen to the teacher, does not do much work, and does not sit down unless an adult is physically right next to him, and even then that doesn't always prove effective. Then, there are a few others who consistently disrupt class by getting out of their seats, bothering the people around them, throwing fits in class, and acting out in many ways. I feel like so much of the teacher's and paraprofessional's time is taken up by just dealing with these unruly boys, leaving less time to actually teach how they are supposed to teach and challenge the kids that are above average as well. They have helpers come in every once in awhile, but it just isn't enough when they all need one-on-one attention. I know that classes will be like this sometimes, and it's hard to know where to place kids when coming into kindergarten, but it has me wish that Samantha was in another kindergarten class. It's not fair that above average students like Samantha have to deal with the consequences of being in a class with students that consistently misbehave. For example, they have to put their heads down and be quiet for a minute every time their traffic light turns to red for being too loud. This happens a lot during the day, and it is almost always the fault of these kids that are acting out of control. Samantha is rarely the one being loud and disruptive, yet she listens and puts her head down quietly.
I have never seriously considered homeschooling because I would like to go back into the classroom to teach full-time myself some day, but seeing this class has made it hard for me to not just want to pull Samantha out of school and teach her myself. We believe that it is important to have Christian families as a part of the public school system, but it frustrates me that I could challenge Samantha more at home and we could get more done in a couple hours than it seems like they might do all day at school. I also know that there are other important aspects of being involved in a classroom, that they get opportunities like specials, different/better resources, social interaction that is important, and that it's not all about having the "best" education. I also know that Samantha is smart and will do fine no matter what class she is in because we are teaching her at home too, and as educators we are partnering with the school to educate our child. I just feel upset and torn about what to do. I don't know what steps should be taken, or if I just need to be more patient and allow the teacher to do her job, to get some of these kids tested for disabilities/disorders, and to just support her as much as I can. I don't know if this warrants a confrontation, or even if I would have the option of switching Samantha to another class. Plus, you know the saying, "The grass is always greener on the other side." Also, I have developed a relationship with Samantha's teacher, and I'd like to think that she trusts me, so I would definitely hurt her by attempting to put Samantha in a different class because I didn't like how she was running hers. Plus, teachers talk about things like this, and I don't want to get a reputation as a high-maintenance, critical parent, especially because I would love to substitute in the school and possibly work there full-time some day, so I certainly don't want to burn any bridges by being insensitive or demanding. I am definitely feeling conflicted, disappointed, and upset. I want Samantha to be in a positive educational environment. I want her time in school to be fruitful. I want the best for her, and right now, I just don't know what that is supposed to be.
(Blog about October 4-1, 2016)
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