Thanksgiving feast

Thanksgiving is a big deal in kindergarten. They've been working up to it for weeks. They talk about Indians-- what tribe, how many, what they wore. Until my kids started preschool, I had never thought about what TRIBE of indians were a part of the feast. I just thought they were, you know, American. My bad.

They talk about pilgrims. In fact, my son thought dressing up today was a good idea, in case he decided to be a pilgrim. Pilgrims dress up in sweaters, apparently.

And, they choose. No one pressures them or labels them "pilgrim" or "indian" for the day-- oh no, we wouldn't want to offend anyone. So they get to pick. My son was debating his options at the dinner table last night. At least one of the advantages of being an indian wasn't being half-naked or anything.

They make thanksgiving turkeys with feathers that say what they are thankful for. (My daughter's said "swimming and seeds." Who knows what that means?)

If we made Thanksgiving nearly half as big a deal at home as they do at school, maybe we'd raise kids that know a little bit more about history and recognize what they have to be thankful for. I read a quote today that referred to being generally thankful as being a purely American trait. In most other cultures, they have very specific things for which to give thanks-- school. plumbing, clean water. I hope that this year at our house, we'll follow the school's example and give each person an opportunity to express genuine thanks for the blessings in his life.

6th Grade Buddies

At our elementary school, each kindergartener is paired with a 6th grade buddy. At least, I think each one is-- I hope it's not a special kids thing. Anyway, the sixth graders come down to their class and spend time reading and doing projects with them; it seems to happen monthly.

Today he brought home a Happy Thanksgiving card from his buddy, we'll call him George. George says nice things about my son being funny and such. It's really sweet, and I can tell that my son really looks up to him.

What I wonder is, does George really like my son? Or is it some sort of set up or threat? If they met in the hallway, would he say hello? Or is it just a class assignment.

I'm sure it doesn't matter at all to my son, and he benefits anyway. I just wonder if it's as fun being a buddy as having one.

Red table go, Green table stay

My son was moved from one four-person table to another in class yesterday. My motherly wisdom tells me this is not just for fun. We were worried about a friend sitting at his last table-- they tend to get in trouble together-- so I am not surprised.

Are these 4-people tables conducive to learning? It seems like sitting at a desk by yourself would be a much easier way to learn without being distracted by others. Less fun? Maybe, but isn't that the point?

Do all classrooms have these group tables now? What's better, social interaction or isolation? Discuss.

Wanted: Suitable Playground Buddies

WANTED
Playground buddies for kind-hearted kindergarten boy, more interested in role-playing than kickball. 1-2 years playground experience maximum. Must love Star Wars, fake battles, and chasing the occasional girl. Superpowers preferred. Absolutely no pranksters, false friends, or tattle-tales. No one likes that. Please send application to Elementary Mama ASAP.

I never thought I'd dread bedtime stories

I've been working with my kindergartener on reading. For those of you who have experienced the agony of a child who is learning to read, you'll relate.

We were reading before bed, which is a pattern I started in utero. Our kids have more books than the school library. Yet, no reader. So, we work on it before bed. He's definitely a phonics kid-- and he sounds out all the words like they must teach him to do at school. So, we read. It's excrutiating. I mean, I'm thrilled at how much he's progressed since starting school, but by the time we finish a sentence, even I have no idea what it meant. I have to go back and reread the page, just to get a concept of what the book is about. But he's trying. Really he is.

I have a friend whose daughter is a speed reader, and I'm totally jealous. I'm not trying to brag or anything, but I literally do not have any memories of learning to read. I read at 3, and had a mostly-photographic memory, so if I learned a new word, I remembered it. This does not seem to be my son's learning style. I get that. Everyone is different.

I'm just trying to decide if my kid is normal, or if he's struggling more than he should. Have you felt that way with reading, or math, or whatever? I think of him as such a smart kid, but the reading is slow going. What should I do next? Help.

The feathers in my cap

Last week, we had another case of preschool craft/kindergarten craft syndrome, where my kids who are 3 years apart did the same craft on the same day. Whatever. You can never have too many indian headdresses at Thanksgiving, that's for sure.

But my son's came with the added instruction that the kids in his class get feathers for being good. What defines being good, I ask? "Well, you can get in trouble one time," he says, "but not two times." Okay. So each day he gives me a feather report.

The first day, feather.
Second day, no feather-- there was some feather crisis where the feathers were subquality (read: not from Ralph Lauren or something), and so no one got feathers
Third day, no feather. Yesterday the story was that he wasn't sure who got feathers or why, but he thought his teacher didn't see him doing good things, which of course he did.

So, of course, I'm thinking about asking the teacher to define the qualifications for feathering, so that I know what it means when he gets and doesn't get a feather. I think this definitely qualifies as micro-managing my child's education, don't you?

Fundraising Nightmare

We've already done frozen food. Now my daughter's preschool is doing cookie dough. Then on Friday, in walks my kindergartner announcing "Mommy! Great news! We're selling coupons!" Well, I do like a good coupon, but much to my dismay, the coupons are nothing less than, you guessed it, the $20 Entertainment book. Of course, all the other schools sold those 6 weeks ago, and when we started frozen food I made a rookie mistake by assuming we were not doing Entertainment books. I bought one from someone else.

So, guess who's going to end up with two books? I guess we could just send back the one they cleverly send home, but I feel that would tag my son as a "non participator" for life. Sucker.

Math whiz

What really constitutes being a math genius in Kindergarten? I know counting to 100 is a big deal-- we've read Miss Bindergarten Celebrates the 100th day of Kindergarten and all that. My son likes to practice the counting to 100 by ones, fives, and tens. I guess one does need to be able to do that.

It appears we what we used to call equations are now "math sentences," and I assume they are to be memorizing 1+4=5 and all that. I think my son really digs on this math stuff, because he enjoys the quizzing we do at home.

The counting and such done in Kindergarten really doesn't seem to be advancing the skill set beyond what they've learned in Pre-K, does it? I know, not every kid had preschool, but we're not going to beat the Chinese counting to 100. I think I'm taking this all way to seriously.

The Real Housewives of Elementary School

Last Friday was party day. We had a true Halloween party, whereas a lot of schools just have a "fall party." I wonder why it's okay to have Halloween at some and not others, and I also wonder why Halloween is still given a name, when Christmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah is not. Whatever. Pagan holidays about bloodshed, okay. Religious holidays about warm fuzzy stuff, not.

What an experience. I signed up to help with the party, as any good part-time working mother would do. What I did not expect was the pretentiousness that invaded the school for this relatively simple party. Each classroom in the same grade level has the same party, so no one will feel bad about having a better or worse party than the other kids. The mummy game is okay, but we can't let the kids wrap each other because someone will feel left out. Every mom who wants to help can, even though there are 15 moms in a class of 24.

And many of the moms? Let's just say that, though I've never seen the Real Housewives series, I am pretty sure we have some moms who are auditioning. $300 designer jeans, Burberry shopping bags with costumes, designer t-shirts were the norm. Not the exception, the norm. I always pick something that I think looks good, yet is highly washable for unknown kiddie chaos. Apparently that is the wrong thought process. Looks are more important. It's all about me, not the kids. My agenda, my schedule, my looks, my reputation. Including what costume my kids are wearing. All about me.

Wow, what a disappointment. Is this just my school? The "elite" grade school? I mean, we are still in public school, aren't we? When we had leftover toilet paper from games (lots of it!), they were trying to figure out what to do with it. I suggested giving it to the local battered women's shelter or social services and the room mom looked at me like "What in the world is that?" A friend said that I have an educational opporutnity in front of me. It's going to be a long 9 years in this school, is all I'm saying.

Do any of you have these women at your school? What's the deal? Comment!