Friends Don't Understand Why I Read the NYTimes Online

This is why. Great story, great writing.

Way Up North

We're visiting friends in Albion, CA which is near Mendocino. It's a beautiful cold (low 50s) and damp day. The sky is grey and the water is grey and there are whales out there somewhere -- we haven't seen the whales themselves, but we see the spray from their blowholes. One of the houseguests here is a Cordon Bleu-trained pastry chef, so we are expecting something spectacular for dessert!

Quote of the Day, Christmas Eve Edition

Boylee: I have to go to bed. It's practically my job!

Last Week at the Music Center

With Papa and Noni.

We Sewed a Fighting Sash

He selected the fabric.

Quote of the Day

Boylee: "Mama, will you teach me how to sew?"

Mama: "I would love to."

Boylee: "I'm so happy I'm about to start crying!"

A Sad Legacy?

So Boylee had a headache. Then he said the light was hurting his eyes. Then he barfed.

So maybe that was his first migraine? Or just food poisoning/stomach flu. We shall see how he feels tomorrow.

Chanukah was a Big Hit

He loved everything he got -- which was mostly books. But this was the gift on the final night, and he can't get enough of it:

It's got the perfect combo of chaos and drama for our little Boylee.

The Buzzard Before the Big Show

Ready for Tomorrow

I had to do a kamikaze run today in search of menorah candles. Somehow I'd ended up with only half a box left for this year, and those candles do go fast when you start getting to the sixth and seventh nights. Ralphs and RiteAid were useless, but Bed Bath and Beyond had lots of candles left. And the candles were pretty, and 50% off.


But the best score was that placemat thingy -- the package said something like, "the holiday is full of traditions, like the tin foil you use to keep the wax off your table, but use this instead." At 50% off it was worth trying, and Boylee was mightily interested in the printed prayers -- the one we know already, and two more that he wanted to read himself.

Maybe next year: a bigger, better menorah.

Our Family Chanukah Gift to Each Other

We needed it, plus it'll make it easier for people to find our house.

Progress Report

Today Scott and I went to our first official conference with Boylee's teacher. (Boylee stayed home with a sitter.) Here are some highlights:

Boylee has perfect attendance so far. That's kind of a surprise with all the hysteria over illnesses this year.

For all of the Social Skills and Learning & Social Behaviors, Boylee scored "A," which stands for always. This is for phrases such as, "Shows respects for the rights of others," "Seeks help when necessary," and "Collaborates with a variety of peers." Stuff like that.

For all of the academic subjects -- Language Arts, Math, Arts, Social Studies and Science -- Boylee scored 3s and 4s (on a scale from 1 - 4) which mean "Progressing towards understanding and application," and "Demonstrating understanding, consistent application, and independence."

He got no mark for PE, since he broke his arm in the third or fourth week of school, and has only been cleared to rejoin PE at the end of this week.

Here's what the teacher wrote:

Boylee is a cooperative student and is making progress in all areas. He is showing interest and enthusiasm for the things we do. He volunteers often and speaks with confidence to the group.

In particular, the teacher noted that Boylee stood out in the ballet portion of their dance curriculum. She said the dance teacher was enthralled with his focus. (Right now they're working on the Hora, so I guess ballet is over for now.)

The one area of improvement she suggested? Boylee needs to be slightly less social when the kids are sitting on the carpet.

Princesses for Everyone!

You do not have to be a girl to like a Disney princess movie, as Boylee proved last weekend.

He gave me a big thumbs up when it ended.

My favorite character was Ray, the Cajun firefly.

The Four Seasons of L.A.

Rain
Fire
The Academy Awards
The Other 48 Weeks of the Year

An Editorial

From hollywood-elsewhere.com:

Amazing Mystery of Anvil


So how did Sacha Gervasi's Anvil! The Story of Anvil manage to win two IDA Documentary Awards -- i.e., best feature-length doc and best music documentary -- last night while not even making the Academy's feature-doc shortlist? How could there be such a huge disconnect from between the Academy's documentary committee and the IDA? Especially with Anvil's recent nomination for a Best Doc Spirit award?

Is it that the IDA and the Spirit committees are younger, hipper, less stodgy? Except Anvil! is about balding heavy-metal musicians in their 50s afraid of losing their mojo. The film is about struggle, rebirth, redemption. It's primarily a heart movie. The ending is pure Hollywood. How old and blinkered and plugged up do you have to be to consider Anvil too hip for the room? 85?

Anvil producer Rebecca Yeldham told me this morning that "one of our most amazing screenings was up at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival where the median age was 55. And when it ended we got a rousing standing ovation from an audience of upper middle-class Jews. It's really a movie for everyone. Hopefully people will open their minds [after last night's win]."

An editorial from me: Do yourself a favor and rent this movie!

Letter to Santa

Dear Santa dont think I dont believe in you so let me just get this straight I do believe in you.

On the wish list:
DS (that's a game system)
Star Wars and Batman Lego (games for DS)
Diary of a Wimpy Kid Do-It-Yourself Book
Diary of a Wimpy Kid #1
Costumes
Lots of Star Wars toys

What Boylee & Aunt Laura Worked On

The Next Project

Wings for Boylee's buzzard costume, for the class play.

Vegas Highlights

At the family reunion, Boylee met a distant cousin and discovered they have a lot in common.

Vegas breakfast buffet highlight: ICE CREAM!

Cirque clowns clowning around before the show started. Boylee said, "He looked right at me!"

Finally Finished the Pants

It's not that it took this long, it's that I stopped altogether when Boylee broke his arm. He needed comfort pants that were easy to pull off and on with one arm. And I guess the delay doesn't matter, because they're too big!

But I am proud of myself because they're very nicely done, and they're by far the most difficult project I've ever attempted.

It Really Is Fantastic

Boylee laughed his head off, as did we all.

46 Days Later

The tattoo made it through!

For the next two or three days he's allowed to treat his arm however he likes -- if he wants to keep it bent, or cradle it, that's fine, according to the orthopedist. After that, he has to work on straightening it all the way, and bending it all the way. After about one week, the doc predicts, he will have full range of motion, but with some discomfort. In two weeks, he should be able to do it all without discomfort. And in three weeks she'll see us again just to do one last x-ray and make sure the last little bit of healing has happened.

No PE for two more weeks. Back to gymnastics whenever he feels that he's ready. Piano? Maybe in a week or two.

Raising Money

This is a constant issue at our school, and here are some easy ways you can help:

If you have a Ralphs Club Card -- please give me the number and let me register you. You won't notice any difference, but a portion of your purchase cost goes to the school.

Same thing, if you have:

• Target credit card
• Vons card
• Albertsons card

If you are in LA and you're planning on shopping at The Grove or the Americana at Brand, and you have five extra minutes to spare, stop at the Concierge Desk on the way out, show them your receipts and name Boylee's school, and then a portion of what you spent will be donated to us.

And the school just started collecting Box Tops for Education which look like this:

Check for them on products you buy on the supermarket. Each one nets us 10c, which is a little but does add up.

Lastly if you are going to buy anything from Amazon, if you could click through via the link on our school webpage...we will get a portion of your purchase price.

I know these are semi-annoying, but every little bit helps these days.

1st Grade Newsletter

This is what the 1st grade teachers sent out today:

Dear Parents,

The first grade students have learned so much already and we’ve only just begun! Please take the time to read what the first graders are learning in and out of the classroom.

Small Moments

Personal Narrative Writing has been the focus of Writer’s Workshop this month. The Small MomentsUnit is derived from an actual occurrence in our lives that is meaningful to us, emphasizing certain qualities of good writing including: detail, dialogue, setting, sequence and answering the reader’s questions. Above all, this unit is helping to teach the students how to focus (“Zoom-In”) and write with a sense of story. As students work to write a Personal Narrative, they ask: “How do authors tell a “small moment” story?”

Writers are learning how to define a small moment and stretch it out to make the moment feel important and interesting. Writers plan a story and touch each page as they determine what happens first, next, and last. Writers use their senses, their feelings and inner thoughts as they write and share small moment stories.

First Grade students have practiced making their writing more accessible for their readers. They have looked specifically at features such as their handwriting, spaces between words and punctuation.

Students also continue to try to stretch out sounds to make words and use what they know to make their writing more readable.

The students are also learning how to use resources in the classroom to build a repertoire for spelling tricky words. Word Study, Word Wall and Snap Word Chart also help students write their thoughts and create stories.

Students are reminded to make sure their writing is focused and that they can make a whole story by zooming in on the most important part of an event. Rereading is encouraged to make sure what is written makes sense and is easy for other people to read.

As students continue to write, they will learn the following:

• How to write stories with problems and solutions.
• How to create a character that is like them.
• How to begin to create a storyline and become storytellers.
• How to reread, revise and publish.

Reader’s Learn To Use Strategies

In Reader’s Workshop, the children have learned to use different strategies to figure out tricky words. They learned how to use tools to help them with independent reading. Some of these tools are: using pictures as clues, rereading to make sense of the story, sounding out the initial/final sounds, blending through the entire word, asking questions while reading and more!

While reading with your child each night, we encourage you to ask, “What strategies are you using to figure out that word?” This is a good way to get the children to think about their thinking (metacognition) and get parents involved in the process. Readers will continue to practice using strategies taught to figure out words. Just Right Books will help students think and talk about books and grow ideas.

As students continue to use strategies, we will encourage the reader to put emphasis on retelling as they begin to understand: the Characteristics of Good Retelling such as “who” (the character), “where” (the setting), “what” (the plot) and continue to read with fluency and understanding.

Wonderful Questions

The children in first grade this year at {school} have a lot to be excited about. The students have already ventured out into their school neighborhood to visit the library. And, throughout the year, they will work to become experts as they try to figure out answers to their “Wonderful Questions.”

This year, the children will come to know all about their school neighborhood. In fact, when we ventured out into the neighborhood on the field trip to the library, along the way they thought of more “Wonderful Questions” to ask the people they encountered. We asked children’s librarian questions about the various facets of the library, including its architecture, and learned that Frank Ghery designed it. We also read books about our neighborhood, which our young “experts” will use as a resource to find answers to some of their questions.

Library

Here are just a few examples of the students’ wonderful questions: “Why is Hollywood famous?” “How are there so many mountains in Hollywood?” and “Why was Hollywood invented?” Although the children might not have their questions answered all in one day, they are learning how to become researchers and are learning how to ask the questions that good researchers do.

Number Sense, Patterns and Geometry

Hands on experiences are helping us to answer the question, “What must I do/know to become a great Mathematician?” We have learned about Grouping and Grouping Strategies, been introduced to and worked with Base Ten Rods and Units, Compared and Ordered whole numbers to 100 by using symbols =,<,>, and worked with Patterns on the Number Chart. Presently, we are becoming Shape Detectors as we work with plane and solid geometric shapes.

As a daily warm-up, the children will continue to practice addition facts. This is a partner activity where a buddy holds the cards and the children read and memorize the addition sentence. Also, the children will learn the concept of addition and subtraction, first, by telling “joining” and “separating” stories. They tell their stories using a storyboard and manipulatives. Students also come to know the inverse relationship between addition and subtraction facts.

“No Homework” Activities to do with your child:

Do: “Mental Math” Word Problems….”_______is greater than __________” or “_______is an amount that is less than ____”. “Two groups of ten, and 5 extra ones = ______________.”

Do: (Phonemic Awareness) Rhyming…Parent says three words (two words rhyme.) Student repeats only the two words that rhyme.

Do: (Phonemic Awareness) Onset/Rime … “Isolate the onset” …Parent says two words that begin with the same letter sound (onset). Student repeats words and isolates (says separately) the beginning sound. For example: “Fan and Far.”

Children's Library

This Upsets Me

This fabulous documentary got left off the Academy's short list for awards. It bums me out because it's definitely among my very favorite movies of the year. Rent it -- even if you have no interest in heavy metal or the lives of has-been musicians. It's one of the most uplifting, inspiring stories you will ever see, despite the heavy metal and the has-been musicians.

If You Have Two Seconds

Go here and vote for Suzanne McMinn! She's one of my favorite mommy bloggers -- a single mom, living with her three kids in backwoods West Virginia. This is more than a contest, the winner gets an actual job, and she sure could use it.

Updates

I've been remiss about posting lately...'cause not much is happening. But here are a couple of highlights:

-- Boylee is counting the minutes until he gets his cast off, next Monday afternoon. Meanwhile, he's made amazing strides with his left hand. Drawing, writing, using a fork, etc. -- it's amazing how resilient kids are.

-- We had a getting-to-know-you 1st grade picnic. All of our own class was there, plus the other 1st grade, and the kids from the K-1 split. We met lots of parents, which was great since we're new at the school. Almost all the conversations went like this: They'd ask, "Which is your kid?" I'd say, "Isaac, the one with the mohawk and the broken arm." And they'd laugh, and nod knowingly. Basically, it seems every other kid has gone home and told his or her parents about Isaac with the broken arm and a mohawk, and now he's famous.

The Afternoon

First I picked up Boylee a little early from school.

Then we went to the barbershop to get his mohawk refreshed. (No pictures.)

Then we went to the orthopedist to get his cast cut off!

The dragon tattoo was still there! The guy who makes and takes off the casts even said he remembered it!

Boylee said it felt hard to straighten his arm.

Then he had x-rays.
Then he got his new cast. Two more weeks. Oh well. He did feel sad, but he accepted it. It's the pesky elbow bone that is a slow healer.

The Good News & The Less-Good News

He got his cast off! And he got another put back on. Two more weeks. Pix to follow.

What We Did On Friday

1st Grade Field Trip!

First we walked to the tiny park right next door to school and had snack.

Then we walked past the post office and looked at it. Then we walked to the library, met the librarian, and talked about libraries. All the kids got a real library card and got to choose one book to check out. I was in charge of keeping an eye on Boylee and two other boys, and they were all very into the books they 'd selected.

Then we went to the YMCA and had a tour.

The highlights according to Boylee: the YMCA pool, playing in the racquetball court, and the library. The highlights according to Mama: the reactions of the various people we met along the way as we tromped 60+ kids through some very, very funky streets.

What We Did After School Today

Boylee loved it.  Especially the Thriller part.  Luckily the theater was almost empty (it was 3:15 on a weekday afternoon), so I could explain some confusing stuff -- like how it was all just from rehearsals, which is why Michael Jackson wasn't always singing particularly well, or going all-out on the dancing.  But he was still pretty enthralled. His favorite part was Billie Jean.  But he also got really into the Thriller bit.

Daddy Did The Makeup

Boo!

Best $10 We Spent At The School Halloween Fair

Quote of the Day

Me:  Boylee, what do you want to be when you grow up?

Boylee:  I first thought policeman, but I think I just want to be someone who always loves you.

An Explanation from the Principal

(I changed the identifying details)

+++++++++++++++


Dear First Grade Parents,

I would like to thank X and Y for communicating with all of you and bringing to light the concerns that many of you are having regarding the present size of each first grade class.

As mentioned in our letters to parents in the October 15th and October 22nd - Thursday packets, we have been in the process of an enrollment drive with a goal of 20 new students by November 1. I am pleased to report that we have met and exceeded that goal at this moment.

Prior to launching this enrollment drive, the teaching staff and I spent approximately 6 hours, over a three week period of time, developing contingency plans for a variety of possible classroom arrangements depending on the number of students we would attract and at what grade level they would enter. We made the decision to place the new students into the existing classrooms for the 10 day period from October 23 to November 1; thus giving us time to see where the growth occurred and only make one organizational shift of classrooms. By making only one shift it will cause the least amount of disruption to students.

In the past seven school days we have received the largest number of new students at the first grade level: Total = 9

Boylee's Class Size

Friday, October 16 = 24
Monday, October 19 = 26
Tuesday, October 20 = 26
Friday, October 23 = 28
Monday, October 26 =28

The Other 1st Grade
Friday, October 16 = 24
Monday, October 19 = 26
Tuesday, October 20 = 28
Friday, October 23 = 28
Monday, October 26 = 29

As I mentioned, the staff and I decided to enroll the students during the two week period of time into the existing classrooms; thus, for the past 4 days we have had more than 24 students in each of the first grade classes. To assist with this, yesterday, we assigned additional aide time to each of the classrooms to make sure that the teachers are able to continue the excellent program and to help with making our new students feel welcome.

Our Charter was written four years ago to include multi-age classrooms, as our possible classroom structure. Multi-age classrooms are a signature for the organization of teaching and learning at UCLA's Lab School, the instructional model we pattern much of our program after. The current enrollment situation looks like it will allow us to move in that direction and create one blended class for kindergarten and first grade by the end of this week.

This is a good classroom organization for K and 1 students. A small group of kindergarten students will be blended with a small group of first grade students into one classroom with each grade attending class for the same number of minutes they currently do. When the kindergarten students are not present, the first grade students will work in a small group with the teacher for the remainder of their instructional minutes. Depending on the final tally of students, the first grade students in this blended classroom could experience a 12:1 student - teacher ratio for part of their day. By carefully choosing the students for placement in this situation we will be able to better meet individual student needs.

Our intention is to begin the new classroom organization on Tuesday, November 3; so, by the end of the week, staff members will talk with the parents of the students that we feel will benefit from a blended grade level situation and explain our rationale. Additionally, on Monday, November 2, I will schedule time to meet with the parents of the students forming the new class and describe the benefits of this to the parents. I will email you with the time and place on Monday for the meeting.

As always, the staff and I remain committed to the best education possible for our students and I remain committed to having happy, enthusiastic learners in our school. If students want to come to school, they will learn!

Thank you so much for you help and understanding as we move through this exciting transition.

Dagnabit

Now Boylee's class size is up to 28.

My Boy and Astroboy!

Boylee laughed, and cried (3 times!) and laughed some more...then said he didn't like it!

Less Bad and So-So

Less bad: Boylee's class size is 26, not 28. Not great, but at least as I understand it, this is the max and it won't be going up again.

So-so: The school won't be able to move into its shiny new space until September. The permitting process is taking a long time, and they discovered that the earliest we'd be able to move in would be April, just a few weeks before the end of school. So they'll move over the summer and welcome us to the new space when school starts up again. I'm bummed, because that space is so great, but we'll deal with it. For now we'll just deal with the highly-urban experience of our current school location. I always wondered how kids go to school in crowded places like Manhattan. Now I'm experiencing something like that: a tiny school, wedged into a tiny spot, with traffic issues, a non-stop stream of "interesting" people on the sidewalks surrounding the place, graffiti, and assorted other elements.

After The Party

Saturday night we had a bunch of families over for dinner. I think it ended up being 13 adults and 11 kids between the ages of 2 and 6.5. (It was chaos! Fabulous chaos!)

Whenever we have a big group over, we fill a metal tub with ice and use that for our drinks. Boylee got in it the next morning, and apparently that melted ice water was still cold!

Why We Switched Schools

Uncle Kev asked.

Before kindergarten, we looked around our area for the "best" public school for Boylee -- not in terms of test scores, necessarily, but in terms of the kind of education going on. We applied at a magnet, two charters, and two "open enrollment" schools (places where they have extra spaces that they hand out via lottery.) We got rejected everywhere except one of the open enrollment places, which happened to be very near our house.

And we ended up really liking the public school that Boylee went to last year. It was very much a regular public school that had a great principal and a hardworking PTA. It was in a middle- to lower-middle class neighborhood. We were probably among the most well-off people at the school -- which means there was a definite limit to how much money the PTA could raise to pay for the extras that the district wasn't paying for, like field trips and arts education. But with the massive budget cuts that have been implemented and with more coming down the line, we knew that school was going to have a very tough time keeping up. And at one point there was a huge threat that the school would be closed altogether because of its small size -- around 210 students K-6.

When the enrollment period came around, we tried again at a magnet and two charter schools, just to keep our options open. We got rejected everywhere, but by then we heard that our current school wasn't closing and we were prepared to stay, to participate as much as possible, raise money, etc. Then suddenly just before the end of the school year we heard that we won a spot at one of the charter schools we'd applied to. We took it.

Boylee's school is an arts charter. Which means, basically, that instead of doing a unit of dance, a unit of drama, a unit of fine arts and a unit of music, spread out all throughout the school year (as it was at last year's school), they do all of that each week. And because the arts are an integral part of their learning system, these elements won't be cut when budgets are right. That's really the only reason we switched.

The current school really feels like a work-in-progress. This is only their fourth year in existence, and they're fighting to get into a permanent location, hopefully by this spring. I have a feeling that at the end of the school year, once we're settled in the new space, I'm going to say that this is a GREAT school. Right now it feels like it's trying very hard to be great. Hopefully we will get there.

Meanwhile, almost all of the friends we made at the old school have left. One moved, two went to a different public charter school. One stayed, and then had a horrible experience with first grade -- apparently life in the main part of school is quite harsh compared to the gentle kindergarten yard we experienced last year. Her child was being bullied. And the budget cuts are being felt, though the PTA raised enough money to keep the library open. When my friend went to tell the principal they were switching schools, he told her that the situation would be getting worse before it gets better.

I Really Want To Love This School

But they're making it hard. I'm pretty sure Boylee's class size just went up to 28. That really bums me out. It's too many kids, in general, for first grade. And the classroom is tiny. And I'm just pissed about it.

How He's Doing

Great, as a matter of fact.

He's playing, having fun, going to school, and getting it all done with his left hand. Plus we've convinced him that all this lefty stuff is only going to improve his piano and gymnastics.

I Stopped Working On The Fancy Pants

For Boylee one of the hardest things about having a cast is how hard it is to pull up and zip and/or button his pants. So I've been hard at work making soft, easy-pull-up pants out of jersey. Boylee approves heartily. Next I'm trying some fleece.

What Happened Was

Around 10am, Boylee was running during P.E. and a friend somehow accidentally tripped him. He fell onto his back, with his arm somehow twisting underneath him.  His arm hurt right away, and the P.E. teacher gave him a basic check -- he could wiggle his fingers, he could move his arm, and he could give the teacher a high five.  So they gave him an ice pack and contacted us.

Here's where the total fail starts:  They called our house, got the answering machine, but didn't leave a message.  They called my cell, got my voicemail, but didn't leave a message.  They called Scott's cell, got voicemail and did leave a message.  Then they sent a text to Scott's phone.  But Scott  has been working nights and was asleep, his phone tucked away somewhere.  And I was oblivious, since no one had left a message on my cell or the home phone.  

Scott woke up a few hours later and first saw the text.   I called the school, totally outraged, but at that point they all thought Boylee was basically fine.  But they did call him to the office, and when I asked him if he wanted to stay at school or be picked up he asked to be picked up.   But when we got home, he was crying about his arm and it seemed more than just a boo-boo.  Coincidentally, we had an appointment to get his H1N1 vaccine, so we went off to the doctor...and the receptionist took one look at him and said, "His arm is broken!"  She was right. 

Luckily the orthopedist is right across the street from the pediatrician, and they fit us in right away, and that was that.  But I'm still ticked off at the school for not leaving more messages for us.  I mean, if they're going to take the time to call all the numbers, it only takes 30 seconds more to leave a message!

Turns Out The Mohawk Was Not The Most Dramatic Event Of The Week

Story to come...but basically Boylee broke two bones near his elbow today in P.E.

And then there was a major communication FAIL at school and we didn't hear about it for three hours, while he sat in class, and did music, with a broken arm.  I'm definitely beginning to develop a love/hate relationship with his school. 

Reactions

Everybody loves the new 'do.  Teachers, kids, random people on the street, everyone. Except one kid at school who told Boylee he looks like a pony.  Oh, well.