The First Week: A Review

I intended to write this up last Friday, but we ended up having a family adventure that ran late and I simply was all out of brain power by the time we got home.

So how did the first week of school go?

• Peter finished his first project of the school year (a website all about him) and will turn it in tomorrow. He thinks his teachers are the good kind of funny and is enjoying himself. Two hard-ish things: 1. Peter is still sitting by himself at the peanut-free table; he's getting extra reading time, but also feeling lonely. 2. Because of a change in the class schedule, he'll only have gym for one trimester this year; neither of us thinks that's enough.
• Cooper is really happy with school, which is a relief. His homeroom teacher, who Peter also had in sixth grade, told him he looked like his brother but was MUCH quieter. That is a factual observation. Cooper has been really worn out each evening though, which has led to a lot of yelling and anger and time in his room to cool down.
• Phoebe had a fantastic week, though she reported that her teacher had a disappointingly small classroom library, only one set of bookshelves. And she reported that he told them he'd bought hard books because he'd heard they were such good readers, but Harry Potter was the most challenging thing in his collection. That's okay, she can keep bringing her own book in.
• Sophie had an excellent week, though she did leave her water bottle on the bus just prior to the four-day weekend and that led to many tears and a temporary refusal to leave the bus stop. Her teacher surprised and thrilled me by emailing on Friday night to let me know how the week was. Here's what she said:
• Sophie had a fantastic first week in kindergarten!  She was all smiles and so caring and helpful this week with her friends!  She won the clappers for being our leader for the Pledge Of Allegiance each day this week.  She was so excited when she saw her sister too throughout the day!  Keep up the amazing work Sophie!
• Topher took fantastic naps each day and loved having time with me, but missed the big kids quite a bit. Each time one of them got on a school bus throughout the week he would look at me, shrug his shoulders, and ask (with sounds, not words) where they went. Then he would grin and giggle and dance in the afternoons when the buses delivered them home.

Overall, a great first week.