Nerf Gun Wars

"Mom - did you get any more double A batteries" (It's 7:45 am on a school day and Ian is supposed to be eating breakfast)
"Not yet. What do you need batteries for anyway?"
"Max's Barricade. It's the only [Nerf] gun that Lucy (Age 4) can load and shoot."

Not sure if I should be over the moon because the boys are including their (very independent) four year old sister in their Nerf gun wars, or terrified that my four year old is going around shooting things with a Nerf gun. What a weird place to be.

Total band uniform fail, fabulous concert, enjoyable evening.

Procrastination does not pay off when you can't find your tuxedo shirt, your mom hasn't hemmed your new tux pants, and you take tap shoes instead of dress shoes to your band concert. It makes for a very hectic afternoon. But somehow, in spite of our lazy start to the band season and multiple hiccups, Max's Fall band concert was fantastic.

The BEST Hair

So Max - my oldest and "He of the very stylish and cool hair" - won an award at school and NEVER MENTIONED IT until tonight. Granted - it's only been a few weeks since school got out, but still - he never mentioned it. His peers voted him the Best Hair in his half of the 6th grade. I was DYING laughing when I saw the certificate - and realized that he never mentioned it because his Dad is constantly harassing him about getting it cut. Tom likes the clippers. He likes the kids to be clippered, and he'd like Max to be clippered too. But for the past year I've run interference, driven him to the local haircut place, and Max gets to have his hair cut however he wants to have his hair cut. 

The thing is, Tom actually appreciates the fact that Max has chosen something other than "just whatever" or "clipper #3" as his haircut style. It's intentional, which meets Tom's requirement for everything from home decor to landscaping to attire. But Tom would NEVER in a million years tell that to Max - you know - "He of the very stylish and cool hair" because he still likes the clippers. So I think it's cool that Max won an award given by his peers in the 6th grade that recognizes not athletic ability or brains, but something different for him. As one friend said to me (in another, unrelated context," maybe he really is becoming a renaissance man, and that's kind of a cool thought.

Contemplating Your Belly Button

Out of Lucy's mouth just now:

Ha ha! Everyone has parts.

Nipples and parts.

Look at those cute belly buttons.

Look - baby parts! They are so cute!

This book is funny.

I gonna get another book that is funny.

Yeah, she's three. But it's a brilliant book. Have this one (Contemplating Your Belly Button) along with The Gas We Pass, The Holes in Your Nose, and the classic Everyone Poops. I love my mom for buying these for the boys. She spent hours reading these with them when they were little, and I'm sure that she appreciates the giggles that her youngest grandchild is getting out of them!

SCIENCE FAIR!!!

Ian and Sam decided to participate in their school's Science and Engineering Expo (squeeeee!!!). The first ideas out of their mouths had to do with things exploding, baking soda volcanoes, and crating machines that would throw stuff. Of course, right on the form it says no baking soda and vinegar volcanoes (not proper science) and no projectiles (too dangerous for the under 10 crowd). So they talked it over with each other, talked it over with their big brother (who had loads of crazy and not quite right for ES science fair ideas) and talked it over with Tom and I, and decided to race Lego cars down a track and see what happened when they added weight to the car. Track building was a little tricky but they got it worked out, the experiment went well, and they wrapped up their project looking like super scientists.

They presented their research (He he he!) at the Expo at school to rave reviews. And on their birthday, to boot! Great job guys! see a future full of loads of science fairs, following in your mama's steps!

Give two kids some marble track pieces...

And they build an AWESOME marble track!

Lucy's Butterfly

Mom, draw me a butterfly.

Mom, draw me Sam.

Mom, draw me a doggie.

Hey Lucy, why don't you draw me a butterfly?

O.K.

Here's the happy butterfly from my little lefty:

You go, big girl!

Middle School Sports

Growing up in Texas, I started playing organized team sports in middle school. I started on my less than illustrious volleyball career in middle school initially to avoid taking PE - really, really didn't want to take middle school PE. That philosophy actually did well by me through high school - joining the team to avoid taking gym class/off season training. I started playing basketball after volleyball season was over (when I was a Freshman) so I didn't have to do volleyball off-season, then took up track to avoid basketball off-season. Anyway, it all started for me back in middle school.

Up until middle school I wasn't a big athlete. I participated in the neighborhood fun and games, and gym class and playground activities, but nothing organized. I was more of a dance person - ballet, gymnastics, and clogging floated my boat. But starting in eighth grade, I was all about sports, and it seems that some of that has rubbed off on my eldest. Earlier this year Max tried out for and made a flag football team at his middle school. Max isn't a big guy - just average size for a 6th grader, but he's fast, and he's nimble on is feet. Those two summers of rugby have really improved his football game, and his soccer feet are clearly an asset. He was one of 25 kids in 6th grade that made the football teams. They do play flag football, which is the only reason we agreed to this. Coming from Texas we knew better than to toss our little guy into pads - that's just too scary for this mom and dad. Anyway, the were four teams in the middle school's football league, and Max's team went undefeated this past season.

Unfortunately, due to rain and snow (in October - can you imagine?) they missed a few games, but they finally called the season, and his team was undefeated. I was able to catch just one game - the rest were rained out - but I did see him catch an interception and almost make it across the goal line. It was cool seeing Max, all 56" of him playing football next to some 8th graders that were well over six feet. Flag football season is over now, and while Max is still playing soccer (although indoors - it's starting to get cold) he's already expressed interest in joining a basketball team. While my heart jumps at the thought of one of my kiddos playing the sport that I grew to really love and enjoy, the idea of him trying out for and making a basketball team at his height makes me giggle.

If you give a kid a violin

We are BIG fans of the Give a Mouse a Cookie series here in this house. Last week someone gave my kids violins. Of course my first thought was to run screaming from the house. How on earth could this possibly end well - not just one violin, but two. Then they started playing, and it was a totally different experience than when my oldest was given a violin. When Max first started playing violin we really thought that he couldn't hear that he was playing the wrong notes (and we weren't too far off - but turns out he's a brilliant trumpet play and can hear those notes perfectly). But Ian and Sam are different. First day out of the case, they wrote some music and played a song for us. They only know how to pluck the strings, not even how to play anything but open strings, their violins weren't completely tuned when they first brought them home, but they created music. So apparently in my house, if you give a kid a violin...

...he'll make music.

First Day of School

After recovering from the crying and fussing about that we had yesterday, it was good to hear that the kids who actually DID go to school had a great day. The little boys were very excited about their first day, had little to tell me but both thought that recess was fun. It is pouring outside so not sure what was fun about that, but they
thought it was fun. Max liked some of his teachers a LOT, and some he left out completely, so I'm guessing he was non-plussed. He learned some stuff about the school, where his locker might be (they'll get those next week), and that he's the only 6th grader in the Advanced/Symphonic band. Not sure what that means either, but hey, he's excited. All three boys were glad to go back the second day, and so I'm hoping that this will be
a great year. Buses ran on time, supplies were delivered ahead of time, and everyone made it to and from school in one piece. Max made some new friends, Ian and Sam ran across loads of old ones, and all is right in the world. And now, I nap.

Left Behind

Just dropped off the three oldest at their respective bus stops. Unlike some parents who were crying, some who were up and down all night, and some who were anxious for the transition to middle school or a new grade in elementary school, I was (and still am) peachy. Problem is, I have a little girl sitting next to me crying that her brothers are gone. Apparently we didn't prep her well enough for the first day of school. The boys? They are all good to go. Lucy? Not so much. She's now sitting in her room balling her eyes out because she's not happy that she didn't get on a bus, wasn't dropped off at school, didn't get to pack a lunch, and is still here. With me. Alone. All day. I guess it just wasn't her plan for today, but not sure what else we could have told her. I told her we'd do something fun (not inclined to at the moment as she's being rude in the midst of her fussing). I think once she calms down we'll color or watch some Dora. But who knew that the person that would have the toughest time would be the littlest one who was left behind.

If this were any other job I'd be fired

Two years ago I was smacking myself up the side of the head because I left some letters and supplies at home. Today we went to our 6th year of Open Houses, hit two of them today, and didn't break a sweat. Instead of just attending, I set up the PTA stuff, handed out the school supplies, and helped with the ice cream scooping briefly. We had school spirit shop sales that exceeded our expectations, served up a TON of ice cream (probably close to 800 scoops) and got most of the supplies out the door. In addition, we visited three classrooms for the two little boys, cleaned up the cafeteria and gym, and came home. All this after attending Max's open house this morning and exploring his new school (sans ice cream). Wild, crazy day.

We got all three boys settled in their respective schools, have school supplies in hand or delivered, and we are ready to go. How different it is two years down the road. No pressure to bring the supplies to school, no worries about writing the letter, and a much, much easier time. Oh how things have changed (for the good).

September 06, 2009

If this were any other job I'd be fired

Wait, this is my full time job yet after this screw up no one sent me to the unemployment office. Let me explain. I am a stay at home mom. I have four kids, three of whom are in school. The baby would LOVE to be in school (and she finds herself there often while I'm volunteering for things), but she's still a little squirt and has a few years left before she joins her brothers. Anyway, today was the boys' school open house, and we were not only supposed to take them in to meet their teachers, but also bring their school supplies up, and write letters introducing them to their new teachers. Well, I took them to the open house. Yes, we showed up - on time, I'll add - but that was it.

I wrote no letters and the school supplies are still sitting in my basement. I failed on two out of three counts on this particular project. If I was getting evaluated for this performance I'd get really, really low marks, or even fired if it was a big project for a client. But for some reason I'm allowed to slide, a lot. At my job, you see, the rewards are huge, and the repercussions of miscues (that's what we'll call it - a miscue instead of a complete failure to execute) are minor, if any. No one here is watching me to see if my performance is up to par, and no one judges when I miss deadlines or slip up a bit. So I guess I'll be driving up to the school on the first day loaded down with supplies. And I guess I need to hop on writing those letters before next Tuesday. And then I'll be thankful that I can't get fired from this job because apparently I am a little too lax on the details periodically. Then again so is pretty much every other mom that I know - they slip up occasionally too - so I'll just step back now and take a breath. Oh, yeah, and get those letters done ASAP.

This is an original DC Metro Moms post. When she's not lamenting her own lack of discipline, Suzie blogs over at Confessions of a Not So Well Behaved Woman.

Adequate Yearly Progress

Once again the issue of Adequate Yearly Progress and the Federal mandate to have all kids passing all state achievement tests by 2014 has popped up. Several years ago I wrote about how we looked past the tests at the school that my kids attend. As my kids roll up and out of one of the best schools around, I look back on what I wrote. Along with over half of the schools in our district, we once again failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress. We made it last year so the ramifications are less than they would be had we not made it last year, but something has to give. The idea of Federal waivers that will drive states towards holding teachers accountable for test scores (and towards Race to the Top which our state withdrew from), well, that's unacceptable. We can't hold teachers hostage and at the same time accountable for test results. SO much of my kids' day is already driven by SOL tests (that's what they are called in VA). Can't imagine what life will be like if there are waivers in place that tied the teacher's hands even further and they aren't allowed to actually teach? Sigh...

But for now I'll look back on what I wrote back in 2007, after only one year at our school. Four years later I would write exactly the same thing. And I feel much more passion for this school that does such a good job of bridging the divides that we see at other schools, that reaches those kids who are left behind at other schools, and looks at the whole child as a way to educate them.

October 05, 2007

Adequate Yearly Progress

I recently had a discussion with a mother whose child was in preschool and she was wondering where to send her kiddo for Kindergarden. She was concerned about the low scores and also the large number of kids on free or reduced lunch at the local elementary school, yet she'd heard so many good things about the school. There was a diconnect. While some folks in the area understand all of the dynamics of the Fairfax County schools, not everyone "gets it." I know that we didn't when we first arrived here, yet I find myself regularly explaining to family and friends why the test scores don't accurately reflect the education that my son is getting at this school. Here is a blog entry I wrote a few weeks ago in response to the report that Fairfax County failed to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress across the board, and also as an answer to the question of why we send our son to this school.

"The Fairfax County school system for the first time failed to meet academic goals under the No Child Left Behind Act, largely because many students with limited English skills struggled on reading tests that were given in response to a federal order, according to school officials and scores released yesterday." -Excerpt from the Washington Post; By Maria Glod and Michael Alison Chandler; Washington Post Staff Writers; Friday, August 24, 2007; Page A01

My child attends a school that did not make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) according to government standards.

My child attends a school that has not made AYP in the past as well.

My child attends a school where 45% of the students are not proficient in English.

My child attends a school where 54% of the students are on free or reduced lunch.

My child attends a school where he is a minority in many ways.

My child attends a school where 42% of the population participates in the English for Speakers of Other Languages Program.

But my child also attend a school where there are children from 40 countries that speak 20 different languages.

My child attends a school where there is true racial diversity - 14% Asian/Pacific Islander, 6% Black, 48% Hispanic, 26% While, and 5% Other.

My child attends a school where there were no serious incidents or firearm violations, and only two fights last year.

My child attend a school that has had more winners of the Fairfax County Teacher of the Year than any other elementary school.

My child attends a school with an outdoor habitat learning lab, a black box theater, a museum in progress, a state of the art communication lab where students produce their own TV shows and videos, a staffed math lab and a staffed science lab.

My child attends a magnet school for the arts and sciences.

My child attends a school that has a foreign language partial immersion program in Spanish.

My child attends a school that offers about 30 before and after school classes ranging from athletics to science to band to arts and crafts. These classes cover things like photography, healthy eating, drama, basketball, sewing, soccer, science experiments, and many more. These classes are open to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay.

My child attend a school where kids are given a chance to learn, regardless of where they came from or what language they speak.

My child attend a school where he learns.

My child attends a school he loves.

My child attends a school that really doesn't leave any child behind, regardless of the adequate yearly progress that we do or do not make.

This was posted at Confessions of a Not So Well Behaved Woman on August 26, 2007

Bailey's 5th Grade Chorus singing the National Anthem!

How many camps did YOU sign up for?

It's summer camp time again. Feels like we were just dusting the snow off the car, but I'm already behind the curve. I wrote this a few years ago but am running into it again this year. Last summer the boys did one week of camp - all together - all at the same place, and loved it. The rest of the summer they goofed off, ran amuk, swam, and goofed off. A kids' dream summer if you ask me. Yet here we go again looking at brochures, wondering if we shouldn't fill a few weeks for them. But is filling a few weeks right?

May 23, 2008

How many camps did YOU sign up for?

I have been asked that question more times than I care to remember - and it's just that - it's ME signing up for camps, not how many camps are the kids attending this summer. Why on earth is there this big push to fill their days anyway? I have no idea what is at the root of this drive to fill the kids' summer with activities around here, but it is a constant pressure to do so, at least in my circles.

We never had that big push in Texas to fill our summers, and there surely wasn't as much cool stuff to do there as there is here in the nation's capitol. We're all of 20 minutes from DC proper, and the museums, the Mall, the galleries, zoos, and the historical places (that aren't so fun for kids but involve a Metro ride so they really are fun in the end) are all free or very low cost.

The gymnastics place offers a camp, but so does the soccer, the school district, the gym, the county rec centers, the preschool, other local private schools, and then the list branches out. I can't imagine how much money we'd spend if we filled our summer with camps, especially for three kids, but that's just what some folks are doing. When did it become OK to take all those precious summer days away from kids? How else are they going to learn how to deal with the "boredom" and head off on grand adventures in the basement, the back yard, or at a friend's house? Where are they going to get that much needed kiddo downtime that lets them unspool from the school year? If all of their days are filled with camps and classes and they have back to back weeks of those camps and classes, when do they have time to goof off? What are we teaching our kids by filling their every summer day with camps and classes?

I understand the need to provide care for your child over the summer, but at what point does one decide that filling an entire summer with different camps is good for little folks? And what's with asking me what camps I signed up for? I'm not going anywhere...at least not to camp this summer. Although, that could be fun - mommy camp...hmmm....

An original post to DC Metro Moms Blog.

Homework - Do it or what?

I recently got a note from the little boys' teachers - Ian and Sam haven't turned in their homework in several weeks. After my initial, "Really, that long?" and a quick giggle to myself about the fact that they actually chose NOT to turn in their homework, I went to find out why.

My role in this house is and has always been more of a homework reminder, not a homework do-er or a homework checker. Yet here I find myself thrust into the role of follow up and follow through person because my kids, who were doing the work and not turning it in, or not doing it and telling me it was done (two very different kids) didn't get the job done.

In this house we give you time to do your work, a place to plop down and read/color/calculate/create/write/whatever, and help if you get stuck and ask, but I'm not checking each night to see if the work is complete and correct. My job is to provide a place for the boys to work and an environment in which they can successfully complete their work, but not to do the work for them or to turn it in for them. Well, they hit their first bump in the road on that one. Not turning in your homework at our school has weird consequences because we don't have grades. They get grades for efforts and achievement, but only O, G, S, and N. This might be the time for an Nor two to show up on a report card. I'd give it to them if they were my students. This time though, I got a quick note from the teacher that they were missing the work, and a polite request to get them to turn it in.

I believe that elementary school is the time and place to learn how to manage your time, complete assignments, and learn to be organized in general. This is the time to try things and fail, when those consequences aren't as great. I don't tie my kids' shoes, pack their lunches or make sure they've completed their homework - this is when they need to learn to stand on their own and do all of those things. It is a safe environment to do so - where else besides elementary school can you walk in with mismatched clothing, incomplete homework, and no protein in your lunch and still have a very successful day? My kids are learning the ropes and are much more independent than others, but if this means that they will sometimes not turn in their homework on time, well, so be it. This is their chance to learn what those consequences are without having it impact the rest of their lives (or their future educational career - remember that big fat zero in high school for not turning in one assignment?). I'd much rather have them learn that lesson now than in middle school, or heaven forbid, in high school.

So apologies to their 2nd grade teachers. My kids will not always turn in their work complete and on time, but know that when you send those notes home that they are learning that lesson and you are setting them up for a much brighter educational career, and a much easier life path.

Trumpet Master Max

Max - rocking the trumpet at his band's holiday concert at Barnes and Noble. Well, as much as you can rock out Jingle Bells and other holiday standards! He IS the trumpet master!

Lucy's latest reading material

First day of second and fifth grades!

This year is Max's last year in elementary school. He's the big guy on campus, he rules the school, and he's the boss (well, not really any of those but it is cool to be in fifth grade)! Ian and Sam are moving up in the world and have started second grade, and they are enjoying not being the youngest in school but square on in the middle. So off we sent our three boys to their first day of school - no haircuts, no new clothes, old ratty shoes, and very excited (both us and them) at the prospect of a new year full of new adventures!

End of School

The startling thing about the end of school is that he walls go from being filled with pictures, art, writings, even photographs,

to being completely bare. It's the same every year - they clear everything off of the walls that have been added over the course of the year, and we are left the last week or so with a stark image of the school:

It is startling to see the walls go blank, but comforting to know that they will be filled right up again next year as the kids go back to school. Not sure if it's this year, Max's final leap from one grade to the next at Bailey's, but for some reason this really struck me.