First day of School for Katie, Ryan and Emily. August 30, 2010
Ryan is in 7th grade. His middle school on base is terrific. When he and I went to a Middle School orientation for new parents, the principal told us that if we haven’t ever been in a DoDDS (Department of Defense Dependents School) before we are surely in for a treat… and not only that but that this school is the best Middle School you’ll ever see. Of course Principals have to say that, but still, Ryan and I glanced at each other and Ryan nodded his head enthusiastically. Leaving Blackmon Middle School in Georgia wasn’t easy for Ryan. He loved it, loved the teachers, loved his classes, loved his honors math program, everything. Could there possibly be another school to live up to his high standards? Ryan came home off the bus on Monday declaring how ‘rockin’ (yes, this is a word he uses frequently) this school is. He LOVES his teachers, he LOVES his classes, he just loves everything. But of course he does… he’s Ryan.
I have to say I was quite impressed at the initial orientation. The African American Principal Mrs. El Sayed, has attitude, charisma, spunk and a great ‘tell it like it is’ honesty. All of the faculty talked about ideals and virtues we believe in… your children still need to be checked on… check their homework, check their backpack, check their computer, keep the computers out in a main area of the home, come with the smallest concern before it becomes a large one. She even taught the students the difference between ‘snitching’ and ‘reporting’ and says that this Middle School doesn’t have near the problems other Middle Schools face because things are brought to their attention and addressed while they are still ‘small’ things. Anyway… I’m sold. Sounds great to me. She’s fabulous.
I went to the Back to School Night last night and with a map of the middle school went to a parent meeting with each of his teachers with four minutes in between to find each class. His teachers seem absolutely fabulous and I’m so pleased. [ I had Matthew with me and Ryan’s math teacher said, “Is that a little Ryan?” ]
School is from 8:05 to 2:55. He gets on the Middle School bus down the street at 7:24am and gets back home at 3:25pm. Earlier than our Georgia schools by 35 minutes. Nice.
Ryan’s schedule…
-
Advisory -- Monday, Wednesday, and Friday for 15 minutes. (Like Homeroom).
-
Seminar -Tuesday and Thursday mornings, a one hour period to use to finish up upcoming homework, study for tests or read. Love that idea.
-
Language Arts (Core Class)
-
Science (Core Class)
-
Computer Applications (Elective) *he’ll learn more about Excel, PowerPoint, Photoshop etc… as well as a little digitial photography.
-
German (Elective) *favorite class so far
-
Social Studies (Core Class)
-
Math 8 (Core Class) *so… seeing that Ryan took 6th grade Honors Math last year they tested him and suggested that he move up to Math 8 (Pre-Algebra). Then he’ll take Math 9 (Algebra) next year in 8th grade.
-
(Next semester he’ll take Health/PE in place of Computer Applications… and Creative Thinking in place of German.)
Katie is in 5th grade this year at the Elementary School on base. The Friday before school started we went to ‘meet the teachers’. We found the girls names in each of their class lists and proceeded to track down their classrooms. We are learning that DoDDS teachers LOVE being DoDDS teachers. Small class sizes and plenty of money for supplies and curriculum needs. The actual school is old, but the classrooms are well equipped with smart boards, new desks and the latest curriculums.
Katie’s teacher is Ms. Ryan. While chatting with her I asked how long she had been here. She said, “Well, this is kind of embarrassing, but I came in 1980 and I told myself ‘I’ll just stay until I don’t like it anymore’.” Then she told me everywhere she’d travelled naming countries I’ve never heard of. “You will love travelling here Katie!” she said. She seems wonderful and Katie loves her. Besides her normal 5th grade curriculum, Katie’s class has a specialty classes… PE, ART class, Music, Spanish Class and Host Nation (which is learning about the culture and language of Germany) all taught with specialized teachers. All three girls have all of these. It’s quite impressive.
One of the things Katie is most excited about is that her class is ‘buddy classes’ with Megan’s Kindergarten class. Once a week they will go down to Megan’s Kindergarten class to help out. The girls are thrilled. Katie also likes the ‘eating in class rule’… if they bring something healthy to munch on, they can have a snack while they’re working in the morning.
Emily is in 2nd grade. Emily’s teacher is Ms. Brown. When we entered the classroom Ms. Brown started talking to Emily and being silly. Hi, what’s your name? Is your nickname George? Do you like popcorn? Do you like to dance? So silly that Emily didn’t quite know how to react. Ms. Brown has a big popcorn popper in her room and uses it daily. “We always snack on popcorn… no butter of course… especially during UNIT TESTS… yuck… AND we crank up the music and DANCE.” She also told me that for the first twenty minutes of the day she takes her class outside or in the gym to exercise so that they are awake and ready to learn. She seems absolutely fantastic. Emily was beaming walking out of the classroom while Katie and Megan were saying, “No fair!!” Emily’s class has 16 students!
Emily loves recess, going to German class, going to Spanish class, eating healthy snacks in class, going to PE, Music, and lunch.
First day of school for Megan, September 7th, 2010
Megan was so sad that Kindergarteners started one week after the other kids. On the first day the big kids went off to school she nearly died of boredom and had to ask nearly every hour…“how many days till I start school?”
Kindergarten started a week late so that the Kindergarten teachers could make home visits. On the Tuesday, Mrs. Erickson and Ms. Ashley (teacher’s aid) came to visit us at our house. Mrs. Erickson explained Kindergarten procedures while Ms. Ashley pulled Megan aside to test her alphabet, numbers, adding, and read sight words so that they would have a general idea of where everybody was starting from. We are really lucky to have Mrs. Erickson. She has a wonderful reputation and is highly sought after. Soon after I arrived a friend told me to fill out a ‘teaching style request form’ listing several of her qualities. I think there are five or six Kindergarten classes so I feel really blessed that we got her. She is very organized and has really brilliant ideas.
Going to the Kindergarten open house on Friday and seeing her fabulous Kindergarten room only made things worse. “Mom, when can I come here?” The Kindergarten rooms are really big with LOTS of centers and even a full KITCHEN. She cooks with the kids several times a week. This month they are making homemade apple sauce and apple pies. Seriously? I wish I could be in her class. She also encourages parents to come in WITH their little kids in tow. That sounds perfect. There are only 16 students in Megan’s class as well. It’s going to be a good year.
Megan loves everything about Kindergarten… the ‘Kindergarten only’ playground, cooking in the kitchen, eating lunch in the cafeteria, riding the bus with Emily and Katie, going to the snack station where they get to eat how every many crackers (or whatever) the bowl says, playdoh station, and her new best friends. She has a good friend from our ward in her class with her, which is fun.
So, here we go. Into new schools, with new teachers, new classes and new friends… and we’re off to an excellent start!
We thought we’d have enough time for a boat ride after dinner but we stayed too long at the playground. While walking by the lake, though, we noticed some ducks and decided to throw out extra bread crusts to them. Emerging from nowhere these big fish came up trying to gobble up the bread. They opened their mouths wide and waited for the next piece. They were absolutely disgusting but we still kept feeding them just to watch them open their gross mouths. Yuck. 
