Of Dolphins and Invitations

Fifth Grade!

Ah, back to school...

Busy afternoon. Abby off to first day of fifth grade in the morning, and Lizzy in the afternoon, then me off to a job interview, then to the bus stop to wait on their bus. And wait and wait and...

Kindergarten!

...the first day of school is hard on the transportation department. The bus was about a half hour later than they claimed it would be, and about twenty minutes later than I actually expected it. You see, Lizzy is not the only child beginning kindergarten today; there are so many kindergartners in our school this year that the bigger kids overflowed into the five portables... and five new ones as well. All those little ones in new situations, overwhelmed with information and new experiences, all that makes for a very slow transportation day.

And all Lizzy noticed about the bus is that there are no seatbelts. She was very impressed. But of course she was in Pre-K for two years, so it's not like she doesn't have experience in school; the bus is a whole different thing.

She really likes her teacher though, and so far I do too. Kindergarten teachers are a special breed. And Lizzy's looks like a good one. For instance, she has already worked out how to deal with Lizzy's birthday tomorrow, explained that there are no known allergens in her class this year (always a concern for me) and somehow managed not only a little treasure hunt for the kids today (their class mascot, a plush toy called Dazzle the Dolphin, went missing, and in their quest to find him they took a school tour, only to find him in their classroom, where he had apparently been procuring goldfish crackers for a snack), but also wrote up a newsletter and a separate postcard for each child about their first day (I compared Lizzy's to another child's, so I know they're not boilerplate, though they may have been mostly pre-written. But still).

Abby's teacher, as indicated previously, is a Shel Silverstein fan (and besides, her name is Liz, which my Miz Liz finds to be almost as impressive as beltless school buses). We like her.

No homework tonight, except that there is a "My first day" paper for Abby and a "what I did this summer" poster for Lizzy, both due Monday.

As for my school, my class is done, and I know I passed. I got a high score on my individual paper, so all that's left is the team assignment. That week break between classes was seriously helpful.