Back to School 2020

With the crazy year of 2020 and covid-19, there was some uncertainty about whether or not the kids would actually be able to go back to school. I was happy and relieved when Utah, and more specifically Wasatch County, decided to let the kids go back to school full-time.  Of course, there were alternative options for those who wanted them but our kids were ready to go back full-time-and I didn't really give them any other choice.  The only concession was that they would need to wear masks for the duration of the school day-on the bus as well.  The kids weren't excited about doing that and they don't love it, but they have adapted well.

Molly is in 8th grade this year.  It is her last year of middle school and I think she enjoys being the oldest in the school.  She was excited to get into the broadcasting class.  They make the movies for the Highlander news that play every Monday morning.  You have to apply and get accepted into the class.  She also got into Archery this semester.  She chose to do percussion for her art elective and it was a rocky start (she hated it for the first two weeks) but she has really started to like it.  I don't think it will be something she sticks with but it's better than choir, in her opinion.  She is a very social girl, has lots of friends, and enjoys that aspect of being back at school.  She is conscientious of where her grades are all the time.  She hates math and loves English.  She is in honors English and honors History.

 

Stockton is in 6th grade and has joined the ranks of middle schoolers.  It has been a smooth transition for him.  I have enjoyed the bond this has created between him and Molly.  I talked about some of his favorite classes when I did his birthday interview, but his favorites seem to be Percussion, Intro to Tech, and Graphic Design.  He has friends in every class and a whole group of kids that he eats lunch with.  He is a good student and always gets his work done when he needs to but he doesn't worry and stress about it like Molly does.  They have such opposite personalities.

 

This was an assignment Stockton had during that first week of school  It caused a double take because of that first question: Who is your hero? Answer: my mom.  Awww.

 

Brynn is in 4th grade.  She was hoping so bad to get Mrs. Hall, who Stockton also had, and was excited when she found out she did get her.  They put her class back together (after being together 1st and 2nd and then split for 3rd).  It's a big class but manageable for 4th grade and Mrs. Hall.  I think 4th grade is such a fun grade-all of my kids have loved the Utah History curriculum and this teacher really makes it so awesome.  Brynn is having a great year.  She has a homework packet that gets sent home on Monday and due Friday and she is really good to get that done on her own although I do go back and check it, mostly for spelling mistakes.  She has spelling words each week and the required reading that everyone has.  She had to be the cutest 4th grader out there!

 

For a week and a day, until Kindergarten started, Ivy had me all to herself.  We started doing our activities every day.  Sometimes she already knows what she wants to do and sometimes she draws an activity out of our activity jar that we made.  On the first day, she knew that she wanted to do a puppet show with her princess dolls.  We tied yarn around all of them and she did the show from the loft while I watched from the couch.

 

Ivy had her Kindergarten assessment at the end of that week.  She was able to meet her teacher, Mrs. Smith.  I waited outside for her but she seemed pleased when she was finished and excited to start school. 

With four days until school, Ivy wanted to get out all the dolls, Barbies, and Build-a-Bears and dress them.  I had the job of laying out all the clothes and accessories so Ivy could pick what to dress them in.

 

On Ivy's last day before Kindergarten (cue the tears and sappy music), I took her on a lunch date to feed the ducks.  We packed a picnic for us and some leftover bread scraps from the freezer for the ducks.  When both of those things were gone, we played hide and go seek for a while and then went home.  She had already met her teacher at her assessment, but we got to go to a back-to-school night that night and see her jungle-themed classroom.  I really can't express how grateful I am to have spent all these years at home with the kids.  It is also hard to express how surreal it is to change into a different stage of life where all my kids are in school for at least part of the day.  I was definitely feeling all sorts of emotions that night tucking Ivy into bed.

 

Ivy started her first day of school on August 25, 2020.  She woke up excited and ready to go!  We had done all our school shopping online but Justin and I had found this little outfit at TJ Maxx the weekend before for only $12 and that's what she picked for her first day.  She looked adorable.

 

I told her that I would drive her to school that first day but she wanted to ride the bus with Brynn.  I guess all these years of watching everyone else board the bus made her have no fear when it came her turn.  I drove both of them down to the bus stop and when that bus pulled up, she didn't even look back.  I guess that's how I would want it to go.

Additional note: I've talked about it here before but our district went to all-day Kindergarten two years ago.  This caused me some angst because I really, really didn't want Ivy to go all-day.  The thought of it made me sad.  For about a year and a half, I wasn't able to come to a decision about full or half-day (I could opt out if I wanted).  I talked to teachers, parents who have done both options, and I even toured the charter school in Midway since they have more students who do the half-day option.  I was worried that she would be the only kid in the class that was leaving early and that she would end up not liking that and wanting to stay all day.  Finally, I decided that I was just going to opt-out of full day and pick her up before they would go to lunch.  I talked to Ivy about the decision and got her geared up for staying just half a day and being able to spend the rest of the day with me.  I felt good and at peace with my decision.  Now, here is where covid actually worked in our favor this year.  Because of covid, the district offered to everyone a half-day, hybrid option for all grades as one option for returning to school.  Because of this, Ivy is able to be in a class where all the kids are going half day.  One of my biggest worries isn't even an issue because Ivy doesn't know what she is missing out on.  Her class is also small-only 11 kids-so she is able to reap all the benefits that come with that as well.  The full-day class does science and history in the afternoon so she is getting all the same reading and math curriculum that the full-day is getting.  It really has worked out so well and I am so happy.  

This is our schedule for the day: I pick Ivy up after school, around 11:20, we go home and she eats lunch while I read to her.  Then she gets about 30 minutes of Kindle time while I take a rest/nap (essential for me if  I want to make it through my piano lessons without nodding off), then an activity for the two of us.  Then she occupies the rest of her time with playing on her own or helping me with whatever it is that I need to do until the other kids get home.  She plays with Raylie Anderson most afternoons while I do piano.  She doesn't have much homework.  I kept her power words from preschool so I'll go over those sometimes.  More recently, she has had some little books sent home so we will read through those together.  I found some piano videos that she does after school.  She does a ballet class with her friend, Verity Phelps, once a week.  She is excelling in Kindergarten and her teacher reports that she is top of her class-academically and socially-and wishes that she "had a whole classroom of Ivy's."

As for me, I am enjoying the few hours of quiet that I have during the week.  I am teaching preschool on Wednesday and Friday mornings.  This works well because Justin is working from home exclusively right now so he can get Ivy on those days.  On the off-chance that he has to go into his branch, the preschool principal has arranged for another teacher to either stay later or come in to take my last half hour so I can get Ivy.  I am loving only teaching twice a week rather than the three I did last year.  It has made a big difference in my level of busy-ness. As for piano, I signed up quite a few students this summer and fall and I have 17 students this year, most after school but I do one homeschooler on Thursday morning and the Treu family (mom and two kids) on Wednesdays from 1-3.  I miss the relaxed and carefree days of summer but I am a routine-driven person so having a schedule makes me happy as well.  As long as I stayed organized and structured (and get my nap), our days are very pleasant and life is so, so good.