Friday, August 28, 2009

Chu and Kindergarten

My oldest son, Matthew (we call him Chu at home), just started kindergarten last week. This is his second week of school. I've never been relieved my whole life that its FINALLY FRIDAY!! He was so excited to go to school last week he woke up at 5:30AM just to remind me to wake him up at 6:00AM. It's a big CHANGE for him. Waking up early, eating a very early breakfast and a different schedule than summer. A few days ago though I have noticed he's been having some meltdowns after school. I figured he's just tired and not wanting to do anything after school. But he has homework 4 times a week - Monday till Thursday. Right now they're having to do 15 minutes of reading everyday and writing. Matthew is not fond of writing at all. He's doing great in reading but when it comes to writing he's really dreading it. He says it's boring. I don't really want to push him but he needs to get his homework done. So doing homework with him is like pulling teeth everyday!! He doesn't want to take a nap after lunch anymore so he gets really cranky.
Today, I talked to some of the parents having the same problems with their children. They have to deal with their kids crying coming out of class because they said they got to orange that day. They have a discipline system where when they do something "bad"or not paying attention in class they get to flip a card and it goes from green, to yellow, to orange and to red. Matthew's gotten to orange once and yellow twice I think. At first, Ryan and I would talk to him about it...asking him what he did to get that and he can't even remember. We gave him incentives and positive reinforcements if he stays in green.
Then, when I talked to the other parents they said their kids feel the same way that the teacher is very strict...for a kindergarten teacher she's really not the huggable type...and not the kind who gives high fives to kids....uh oh...so for me this is a red flag and as a mother I feel so bad now...that I've taken a step back and really think about this. Maybe I've pushed Matthew too hard..this is just the second week of school for Pete's sake and he's already feeling so pressured to do all kinds of things. Not to mention, 3 &1/2 of school and no recess! Yes! the teacher said it's not even enough for them to get their academics done. These are 5 year old kiddos....and couple of weeks ago they've just been hanging around the house doing nothing but playing and goofing around.
Now I really feel like I have to volunteer as much as I can just to be able to sit in the class and try to see what's really going on. If it's too much pressure for my son, then we'll have to move him to a regular school. I liked that he's in the advanced class right now because in preschool he seemed to be bored but now I don't know anymore....
I have to see to it that from here on out...when he gets out of school everyday, we do something fun...just to have him loosen up a little...and to remind him that he's still just a kid. For the mean time, I'll keep a close eye, as much as I can, with what's going on in his class. I'm sure it's very overwhelming for the teacher to to be by herself with 25 kids (5 year olds) in her class. I'm sure she needs a lot of parent volunteers and maybe by then we can all loosen up a little!

Monday, August 24, 2009

Back to school

Last week, my son got back to school and it was a sad and happy day for me. He's growing up so fast and I'm happy that he's really excited to go back to school but I miss him so much during that time. I guess I just get all mushy everytime he goes back...but I'll get over it. This is a new school so I was anxious to see how he'll fit in and after a few days of being back to school he says he's loving it.

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Summit County

Well, I just got back from a very nice vacation in Summit County, Colorado. It was really fun. The whole family really had a blast. Before we left I've researched places we can go and things to do as a family. Having little ones, I know I had to plan things in advance that would work with their schedule and our budget. We rented a townhome in Silverthorne. I really recommend VRBO. We were able to get a great townhome that had 4 bedrooms and it was spacious and a great upgrade from staying in a hotel. I was really happy to find out that the prices in the grocery stores up there are the same as the ones we have back home. I love Kroger supermarkets ( King Soopers / City Market ). They have fresh produce and lots of organic items with prices that really fits your budget. They had tons of restaurants and fastfood places you can go to but a lot of times my family and I love to cook and have meals at home. Renting a townhome lets us do all that.
Oh, did I mention the Silverthorne Outlets. Talk about good deals. I love to shop name brands for less and this is the place to go. Especially for kids clothes. Just up the road from HWY 6 is Dillon and further up is Keystone. And if you take I-70 going west, the next exit #203 leads you to Frisco and Breckenridge.
I'm not much of a skier or snowboarder but in the summertime. These are just the kind of places I'd like to go to. Beautiful spots, LOADS of outdoor stuff to do...for the whole family. In Frisco, we were able to rent a boat. It was a 12 seater and $150.00 for two hours around Lake Dillon was not a bad deal. We were able to take our kids and each took a turn with dad on the wheel. They thought it was the best. I talked to my mom on the phone and she asked me where I was and I told her I was at Walmart at that time. She can't believe there's a Walmart up there but it's there in Frisco. We were able to get what we need for our little camping activity all at Walmart. Good deal. Frisco is a nice little town with breathtaking views of the mountains and the Lake Dillon. They also have little shops and museums in Main Street and the kids love to just walk around.