ReadySetMom

Back to school today: hip-hip-hooray!

The snow has melted. Hallelujah! I'm so happy. You may see me jumping from mountain-top to mountain-top! I went to bed with such foreboding last night as the snow continued to pile up in these West Hills. Thank goodness the snow has melted.

Today we will greet the bus driver with glee! How are you, Mr. Al? We've missed you!! With joy, I pack a lunch box! I'm not even daunted when we find 3-week old pears rotting in a small container in my first grader's backpack. Rotted pears! No big deal!

With joy we are going back into the routine. We'll get back in our groove. We'll impose the detox efforts we've been warning about for days. No more PBS Kids. No more holiday treats. We're going cold turkey. Wish us luck.

Have a super day everyone!! As for all the teachers, well, if the hyper-activity of my kids is any indication, I wish you luck. No doubt, it's going to be a chore getting these kids to settle back down. Perhaps ritalin in bulk?

Looking for some worksheets and extra homework for snow day activities

OK. I never thought I'd confess this, as I'm not really into the home-schooling thing. But help me someone help me!! My first grader needs something to do. As for me (because it is all about me) I seem to be working my way through the five stages of grief. Anger and denial have slowly ebbed away. I fluctuate now between bargaining, depression and acceptance: my kids will most likely be out of school until 2009 (January 5th, I believe is the date). If someone out there's got tire chains, please bring me some mind-altering substances in bulk.

So are there internet sites out there that offer resources for home-schooling that you like? I'd love some worksheets or exercises I can have my first grader work on. She really loves school and learning. We need structure and things to fill these long, long snow days. Any ideas? Please...?

Advice on Portland Public Schools TAG (Talented and Gifted) program

Arlene is venturing into the unknown with her second grader. Do you have any advice for her?

Hi!  I'm a frequent reader and wondered if you or your readers can help me.  We just moved from Beaverton last year to PPS, and now my second grader's teacher suggested we look into the TAG program for his math skills.  I don't really know anything about it, and wondered what others parents experiences with their kids being labeled TAG has been like.  Do the other kids think of them as brainiacs?  Do they get teased?  Does it push them too hard?  We filled out the paperwork for it to see what happens.  But just wondering what others think about it before we're totally into it.  Thanx!!

Any readers out there with experience to share about Portland Public Schools Talent and Gifted program?

School rules

On Monday, we got some fairly sucky news about a new classroom rule: no more keychains hanging on backpacks in Room 11. For my daughter, life pretty much ended with this decree. She didn't mind so much about the ban on Pokemon cards. Or the "no hats" during class time rule. But this one hit home.

Prior to the keychain ban, you could hear her coming down the hall by the distinctive clinking and clanking of keychains, bracelets and baubles she'd amassed since starting in elementary school last year. We discussed the reasons behind the teacher's new rule: they were creating a distraction to learning. I can't argue with that. Our teachers work hard. So very hard. Dealing with kids showing off their keychains to one another during learning time isn't where they should be spending their time. So, we removed the keychains from her backpack after many tears were shed. We created a chain, and hung it in her bedroom.

Which school rules have been particularly hard for your kids to handle?

Share your elementary school experience

I'm always surprised when I hear other moms talk about what their kids do or don't get to do in elementary school. I always figured most public schools, with the exception of charter and immersion schools, offered the same amount of PE, music, recess, etc. My daughter is in first grade at Rieke, and I'm pretty satisfied altogether. I mean, first grade has been quite the transition from kindergarten. It's hard! It's not nearly as warm and fuzzy as kindergarten and lots of work. I kind of get it -- there are test scores to improve and benchmarks to meet (thanks, No Child Left Behind). So I'm really, really grateful for the amount of 'special' classes they get.

At Rieke, the kids (the kinders and firsts, anyway) get two PE and two music classes each week, and one visit to the library. (I think half-day kinders get one class of each.) They also have two, sometimes three, recesses each day. Frequently a visiting artist or parent will lead a special art project, but it's not nearly as often as I'd like. I wish the school had an art room, like the one I had in elementary school. I can still picture it clearly -- the smell of glue and paint, art all over the walls -- and Mrs. Ritter welcoming us in her strong foreign accent (weird that I can't remember her native tongue. Ah, momnesia.)  

My daughter has 22 kids in her class with one teacher and no aide. (I think you have to have 25 kids to get a PT aide.) But each morning and afternoon, a parent volunteers in the classroom while the kids do worksheets and projects on their own. During this time, the teacher is working with small groups of kids on reading. I can't imagine how the classroom would function without the parent volunteers -- I guess the teacher just wouldn't do small-group work.

This formula is working just fine for my daughter -- she reads well and totally gets the math. (We also work with her a lot outside of school.) She's social and active and pretty happy at school. I worry about some of the other kids, boys mostly, who seem to struggle a lot. I feel a lot of affection for the kids in her class -- they are like a team, and you want them all to succeed and love school! All in all I feel like my daughter is getting a pretty well-rounded (public) school experience. Sure there are things on my wish list -- a school garden program for one and more arts for two, but we can supplement that here at home.

Are you happy with your child's school? Do they get music, PE, art, recess or any bonus programs? Are the class sizes large? Tell us where your kids go to school (public or private) and how it's going for you and your family.

Struggling with the hard work of learning

I had my second parent help day in my daughter's first grade classroom today. What struck me is how much work is involved in the learning the kids are doing. Some struggle to sound out each letter, and piece together the meanings of the sentences before them. Other kids make it look so easy. Some shed tears when the frustration becomes too great.

As parents, we are so far removed from classroom learning that we forget how hard our kids are working while they are at school. Reading can be so rewarding, yet also a source of deep frustration when it doesn't come so easily. I like the analogy they are using in the classroom: like riding a bike, they need practice to learn. That the hard work will eventually be worth the effort.

When will the fundraising onslaught end?

The school fundraising bombardment is upon us, and I am feeling besieged.

In the weeks since school started, we've been asked to write checks for gift wrap, a read-a-thon, book fair, pink flamingos, a pancake breakfast and scrip. The requests to contribute to the school's annual art auction, the biggest moneymaker of the year, are already rolling in and it is still months away. To top it off, my son's in 5th grade, a major year for raising funds because it's his class' final year at the school and they work on a big legacy project.

I don't fulfill all requests for funds, mind you. Even without the huge economic mess that is swirling around us, I usually pick and choose which activities to support and which to decline. Also, there are only so many times we can hit up family members to sponsor the kids, especially now that both of them are in elementary school (at Forest Park in Portland).

But what is more worthy than my children's school? If I'm going to donate a finite amount of money this year, I'm definitely going to funnel it to the place where my children spend six-plus hours a day.

Are you feeling similarly besieged and pinched? Is there a constant stream of requests coming from your school? Or do your children attend a school that makes one lump-sum request at the beginning of the year to cover many activities? 

Letting an older child stay home alone

My 9-year-old has just started staying home by himself for short periods of time.

The decision to allow this didn't come easily. We live in a safe neighborhood and he generally has good judgment. But I still think of him as a small kid and I watch entirely too much scary TV news. Leaving him at home by himself felt irresponsible, even though he is about the age when it is considered appropriate.

Before his first home-alone experience, we had him take a Red Cross class called, "When I'm in Charge." It covers personal safety and first aid issues, how to correctly answer the door and phone, and gun and internet safety. It was a good class that involved a lot of role playing and went over written materials that were easy to follow. The class is designed for kids 8 to 11 years old.

The first opportunity for staying home alone presented itself on an afternoon when my daughter had soccer. My son didn't feel like coming along, and since it was just for an hour and I would be only five minutes away, I agreed he could stay home. But not before we pulled out the Red Cross book, went over key points (know my cell phone number, dad's cell phone number and 911) and agreed on a phone strategy (he could answer when he heard my voice on the answering machine).

Since then, he's been home alone a couple of times. He usually calls me a few times, which is fine, and all in all it's working out. I am a natural worrywart, so we are going to continue on this path with baby steps. But it is definitely a good thing that he's learning responsibility and gaining confidence in his own judgment and abilities.

What is your experience with leaving a child home alone? At what age do you feel it is appropriate? When would you allow your child to carry a house key?

Looking for the perfect treat for a school birthday celebration

We've recently talked here about snacks at school and low-cost birthday party ideas.

I have a question related to both of these subjects: What special treats do you bring to school to celebrate your kids' birthdays?

Our school requires that only store-bought food be served. (Maybe all public schools have this policy against homemade goodies.) Treats must not contain nuts because some kids are allergic. Healthy snacks are encouraged.

That leaves us with ... birthday carrots!

Seriously, do you bring sugary frosted cupcakes to share on your kid's special day, because they're fun and traditional and maybe there will be one left over for mom? Or do you have a healthier, but still party-related, suggestion that's more exciting than a granola bar? What about non-food (non-junk) giveaways, like colorful pencils or little notebooks?

Four kids in my daughter's kindergarten class have birthdays this week, and they'll be celebrating them all on Friday. You can bet I'll be quizzing my 5-year-old on the treat selection.

How to overcome the language barrier at school?

There are many schools in the Portland area with a huge number of ESL students. Hope's son attends one where 50% of the students are non-native -- mostly from Spanish and Russian-speaking households. She and her husband attended a PTA meeting the other day, and they were one of two English-speaking couples in the audience. A Spanish interpreter was present, but Hope is looking for ways to communicate with the parents in her school without an interpreter present. She writes:

I would love to start a Yahoo group or something so we could communicate outside of school, but how do you deal with translating back and forth?  Is there a site that will automatically do that? It would just be nice to be able to have a way to communicate with the other parents outside of school without having to find an interpreter. The school is getting ready to offer both English and Spanish classes to parents, but in the meantime...

I know from my own limited experience that parental relationships and communication help to make a school community strong. How do you make that work when parents can't understand one another? Does anyone have experience with a social networking site that provides translation?