We have survived the first 5 weeks of school! Yay! It's been quite a transition, having 2 of them in school full time this year and Charlotte in school 2 mornings a week. This is the first week that has been a "normal" week, with everyone settled and in our routine.
I'd forgotten just how busy the school year is! Somedays I long for the slow pace of summer and all the fun things we did and not being so tied to a schedule. I had so much that I thought I was going to get done when school started and my list seems to be getting longer by the day and my days seem to be getting busier -- how is that? It seems like most days I don't even sit down! With Charlotte in school 2 mornings a week, I'm volunteering at the big kids school in a kindergarten classroom either one or both mornings for a bit. I love doing this! It's fun for me and helps the teachers out too. :) And, we've added a new mentor family which is keeping me quite busy as well. Add in church, soccer, playdates, and let's not forget the never-ending pile of laundry and life is just busy! But, I love every moment. I love falling into bed at night just exhausted because I've given it all that day.
The school transition has been a tough one on Harrison. Poor kiddo. He cries almost every morning when he gets to his classroom, but is fine after just a few minutes. It's just a rough time for him. He's is missing be home with me so much and the feeling is definitly shared by me! I miss having my sweet boy with me all day. Even though he went to preschool this year, he really spent most of his week with me and I guess we just had too much fun! He's getting better all the time but it just breaks my heart to see him crying. Thankfully, by the time I pick him up each day, he's happy and full of stories about school. He's found a best friend who is the sweetest little boy and they have made a group of about 5 little boys that play together at recess every day. I love hearing him talk about them each day!
Madeleine is doing great, as usual. Third grade is quite different from second grade though. She has alot more homework this year -- we always have math and reading homework as well as studying for a weekly spelling test and whatever other test she might have. So far, they've had 2 big math tests, 5 multiplication tests, and a geography test. Yikes! And, reading today isn't what reading was when I was in third grade. Madeleine is currently reading a scaled down version of The Odyssey. The Odyssey. Crazy?! They read one chapter a day with their reading group and she has to read one chapter at home and respond to a writing prompt over what she read. I have to admit though that I'm enjoying reading it along with her. :) We are trying to create the come home/do homework asap routine which is tough, but in the end she's always glad to have it out of the way and be able to play until bed.
One of the things I did at the beginning of school to help us create a routine was to make morning/night charts for Madeleine & Harrison. I made them to cover the first 5 weeks and so we finish up today! They have done a great job and now our mornings are much easier and we get a lot done before heading out the door -- most mornings the kids even have 15-30 minutes to play which is something they both just need. At the end of each week they get to pick something from the treasure chest which is filled with toys, lego sets, games, candy, etc. Everything had a point value and they could earn up to 5 points/week for filling out each day (snuck in a little math lesson there too!).
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