Roundup
Today is the last day of kindergarten for Isaac. It also marks two months that I've been unemployed. So what better day to do a big catch-up post? Heh.
Isaac's Birthday
was fun. In the morning we stopped off at Dunkin' Donuts for Munchkins to bring to his class (they ate them at snacktime). I also got a "birthday donut" (with pink frosting and sprinkles) and Ruthie and I sang Happy Birthday over it.
On the side of the Munchkins box it says DONUT HOLE TREATS and Isaac mis-read this and asked me, "why can't you hold the treats?" :)
I picked him up early from afterschool, along with a friend of his whose mom is also currently "between jobs," and we went to get Ruthie and then took the subway to downtown Boston where we met up with my mom for the Scooper Bowl. This is a charity event where for $8 (or $4 if you're a kid) you get all the ice cream you can eat. It was pretty awesome. We ate a LOT of ice cream and then the kids ran around like crazy. ;) Then we said goodbye to Isaac's friend, and the kids and I and my mom went to our favorite diner for a quick dinner, then home and bed.
Isaac's Party
was great! I was sooooo nervous about the weather, but it came through. It turned out to be like the only sunny day we've had all month (possibly a very slight exaggeration). We had something like 13 kids, including some younger siblings of Isaac's friends. We played in the back yard and had a blast. Yay!
Isaac's Teacher
I can't remember whether I posted here, but Isaac's kindergarten teacher missed the last month of school due to illness. The day after Memorial Day was the last day she was in school. The following day she was sick, and then again, and again, and the school said she'd be back the following week; but then she was out again, and they brought in a sub, and she was out that whole week too and they said she'd be back the NEXT week; but then she wasn't; and around Tuesday of that third week they finally announced that she would be out the rest of the year and the sub would stay. The exact nature of her illness remains unknown. The school, of course, won't say anything because they have to protect her privacy; and many of us parents sent her emails but as far as I know, no one has heard back. So it's sad and disappointing for us, and I'm sure for her as well. I feel bad that she didn't get to see out the year with the kids. I emailed the principal asking him how we could get end-of-year appreciation cards/gifts to her, and he promised to deliver them; so I got her a card and wrote a note and left it in the office. I hope it got to her.
The sub seemed fine, I guess. I didn't get much of a chance to interact with her. Isaac says he likes her because she lets them have extra choice time (the part of the school day when they can choose their own activities). Heh.
Today, as I understand it, we find out who will be Isaac's first-grade teacher next year. I don't know much about either of them, so I'll be fine either way, but it will also be interesting to see who will be in which class. Isaac has several friends from the other kindergarten class -- kids he has played with at afterschool -- including one of his best friends. A couple of weeks ago the school gave us a form we could fill out with the names of up to 5 kids whom we'd like to have in our kid's class for next year. So I put down his favorite kids, some from his K class and some from the other. We'll see where that goes.
End of Kindergarten
Isaac has had a really great year in kindergarten. He has learned so much and had a lot of fun. Yesterday they sent home an absolutely ENORMOUS pile of papers, stuff he has written and drawn throughout the whole year. I had a lot of fun looking through it. There are a lot of sheets with a pre-provided prompt, like "One thing I did this weekend was..." or "When I see a person I love, I like to..." etc. and there's a space for writing the end of the sentence, and a space for drawing a corresponding picture. Some of them were REALLY interesting and fun. I'll try to scan some and post them here at some point.
It was also interesting to look at his math workbook. The most interesting part for me was not the actual worksheets that Isaac had done, but the little comments that his teacher had written after observing him doing the worksheet. On some of them she just wrote "Ind." meaning that he did it independently; but on others she wrote little notes about his thought process and how he figured out the problem. For example, there's a page that shows pairs of dice and you're supposed to write the total (e.g. a die showing 2 dots plus a die showing 5 dots, you write 7). The teacher wrote: "All ind. Verbalized - 2 plus 5 = 7. No counting, has memorized. Ind revised digits." That last part refers to the fact that he had at first written a 7 and a 5 backwards, then crossed them out and wrote them the right way.
Anyway, so all that was really neat. I sure hope the teacher makes a full recovery and comes back to teach again next year, because she's great.
The Job-Hunt
...continues apace. I've now had two interviews at one particular place (I posted here under friends-lock about one of them) including a five-hour marathon last week. They want me to come in again next week for another five hours, so that seems promising. I also had another interview last week about which I'm not so sure, but we'll just see.
The money is starting to run low, so I sure hope something comes through soon. oy.
Ruthie
is three, and very much so. She's so vibrant and funny and fun...but she also drives me crazy! She whines a lot lately, and has been hitting me on occasion. But it's all okay. She's a good kid and we're working on it.
Ever since Ruthie had a tummy bug a couple of weeks ago, one of her things to say when she's cranky is that she feels like she's going to throw up. I don't usually put much stock in this because I think it's mainly a way to get attention. So the other day she says "I feel like I'm gonna frow up," and I said gently, "you are fine, you're not sick any more," to which she replies, "When I'm not sick I throw down." LOL!!!
Ruthie also has this way of saying "Laaa" that absolutely cracks me up. I can't in any way describe it, but when she does it, I literally laugh until I cry and can't breathe. Literally. I'm giggling now just typing about it. It's bizarre and inexplicable. Heh.
Other Stuff
Um, there's plenty, of course, but I think this post is long enough already, don't you?
Anyway, uh, so life is just perking along basically. I've got a bit of a cold this week and am cranky, but whatever. It could be a lot worse.
Isaac's Birthday
was fun. In the morning we stopped off at Dunkin' Donuts for Munchkins to bring to his class (they ate them at snacktime). I also got a "birthday donut" (with pink frosting and sprinkles) and Ruthie and I sang Happy Birthday over it.
On the side of the Munchkins box it says DONUT HOLE TREATS and Isaac mis-read this and asked me, "why can't you hold the treats?" :)
I picked him up early from afterschool, along with a friend of his whose mom is also currently "between jobs," and we went to get Ruthie and then took the subway to downtown Boston where we met up with my mom for the Scooper Bowl. This is a charity event where for $8 (or $4 if you're a kid) you get all the ice cream you can eat. It was pretty awesome. We ate a LOT of ice cream and then the kids ran around like crazy. ;) Then we said goodbye to Isaac's friend, and the kids and I and my mom went to our favorite diner for a quick dinner, then home and bed.
Isaac's Party
was great! I was sooooo nervous about the weather, but it came through. It turned out to be like the only sunny day we've had all month (possibly a very slight exaggeration). We had something like 13 kids, including some younger siblings of Isaac's friends. We played in the back yard and had a blast. Yay!
Isaac's Teacher
I can't remember whether I posted here, but Isaac's kindergarten teacher missed the last month of school due to illness. The day after Memorial Day was the last day she was in school. The following day she was sick, and then again, and again, and the school said she'd be back the following week; but then she was out again, and they brought in a sub, and she was out that whole week too and they said she'd be back the NEXT week; but then she wasn't; and around Tuesday of that third week they finally announced that she would be out the rest of the year and the sub would stay. The exact nature of her illness remains unknown. The school, of course, won't say anything because they have to protect her privacy; and many of us parents sent her emails but as far as I know, no one has heard back. So it's sad and disappointing for us, and I'm sure for her as well. I feel bad that she didn't get to see out the year with the kids. I emailed the principal asking him how we could get end-of-year appreciation cards/gifts to her, and he promised to deliver them; so I got her a card and wrote a note and left it in the office. I hope it got to her.
The sub seemed fine, I guess. I didn't get much of a chance to interact with her. Isaac says he likes her because she lets them have extra choice time (the part of the school day when they can choose their own activities). Heh.
Today, as I understand it, we find out who will be Isaac's first-grade teacher next year. I don't know much about either of them, so I'll be fine either way, but it will also be interesting to see who will be in which class. Isaac has several friends from the other kindergarten class -- kids he has played with at afterschool -- including one of his best friends. A couple of weeks ago the school gave us a form we could fill out with the names of up to 5 kids whom we'd like to have in our kid's class for next year. So I put down his favorite kids, some from his K class and some from the other. We'll see where that goes.
End of Kindergarten
Isaac has had a really great year in kindergarten. He has learned so much and had a lot of fun. Yesterday they sent home an absolutely ENORMOUS pile of papers, stuff he has written and drawn throughout the whole year. I had a lot of fun looking through it. There are a lot of sheets with a pre-provided prompt, like "One thing I did this weekend was..." or "When I see a person I love, I like to..." etc. and there's a space for writing the end of the sentence, and a space for drawing a corresponding picture. Some of them were REALLY interesting and fun. I'll try to scan some and post them here at some point.
It was also interesting to look at his math workbook. The most interesting part for me was not the actual worksheets that Isaac had done, but the little comments that his teacher had written after observing him doing the worksheet. On some of them she just wrote "Ind." meaning that he did it independently; but on others she wrote little notes about his thought process and how he figured out the problem. For example, there's a page that shows pairs of dice and you're supposed to write the total (e.g. a die showing 2 dots plus a die showing 5 dots, you write 7). The teacher wrote: "All ind. Verbalized - 2 plus 5 = 7. No counting, has memorized. Ind revised digits." That last part refers to the fact that he had at first written a 7 and a 5 backwards, then crossed them out and wrote them the right way.
Anyway, so all that was really neat. I sure hope the teacher makes a full recovery and comes back to teach again next year, because she's great.
The Job-Hunt
...continues apace. I've now had two interviews at one particular place (I posted here under friends-lock about one of them) including a five-hour marathon last week. They want me to come in again next week for another five hours, so that seems promising. I also had another interview last week about which I'm not so sure, but we'll just see.
The money is starting to run low, so I sure hope something comes through soon. oy.
Ruthie
is three, and very much so. She's so vibrant and funny and fun...but she also drives me crazy! She whines a lot lately, and has been hitting me on occasion. But it's all okay. She's a good kid and we're working on it.
Ever since Ruthie had a tummy bug a couple of weeks ago, one of her things to say when she's cranky is that she feels like she's going to throw up. I don't usually put much stock in this because I think it's mainly a way to get attention. So the other day she says "I feel like I'm gonna frow up," and I said gently, "you are fine, you're not sick any more," to which she replies, "When I'm not sick I throw down." LOL!!!
Ruthie also has this way of saying "Laaa" that absolutely cracks me up. I can't in any way describe it, but when she does it, I literally laugh until I cry and can't breathe. Literally. I'm giggling now just typing about it. It's bizarre and inexplicable. Heh.
Other Stuff
Um, there's plenty, of course, but I think this post is long enough already, don't you?
Anyway, uh, so life is just perking along basically. I've got a bit of a cold this week and am cranky, but whatever. It could be a lot worse.