Kindergarten Graduation Already???

Today was Megan’s last day of Kindergarten.  I can’t believe that Kindergarten is already over.  Its hard to believe that 9 months ago, we were dropping her off for her first day of Kindergarten.  Even though the year got off to a rough start, it couldn’t have ended up more perfectly! 

Megan had a great year and learned so much.  She loved every day of Kindergarten. 

This morning, before I woke her up, I had to snap a picture of my sleeping angel.  She looked so peaceful and so much like a big girl. 

I can’t believe how much she’s changed over the past 9 months.  It has been so bittersweet to watch Megan grow into such a perfect, loving little girl. 

Last year, when Meg started school, I worried about every little thing.  I know now that I fretted over nothing.  Although Megan made mistakes and a few bad decisions, I know that she learned from them. 

This morning, as I was snapping a few pictures, I couldn’t help but notice what a big girl Megan has turned into. 

This morning, she had a graduation ceremony at her school.  All six of the Kindergarten classes put on a small production.  It was absolutely adorable to watch 120 students sing. 

After the production, we headed into Meg’s class for her “diploma” and a few pictures with friends and family. 

***Meg & Daddy***

***Meg & Mommy***

***Meg, Boompaw & Nawnaw*** 

Meg loved her teacher, Mrs. Kelly.  She was the perfect teacher for Megan and I am happy it turned out the way it did. 

***Megan and Mrs. Kelly*** 

***Meg and her locker – one last time***

I will try to publish a video later!

I’m a Bus Rider

A few weeks ago, three little girls moved into the house across the street from us.  One of the girls is in Kindergarten just like Megan.  They have become fast friends. 
Well, this little girl is a bus rider, so Meg asked if she could ride the bus too.  I hated to say yes, but couldn’t say no.  She was so excited about the thought of riding the bus that she was thrilled at just the thought.  So, as my heart was breaking into a million pieces, I told her I would talk to her teacher and that she could start riding the bus. 
Last Thursday was the “BIG” day.  I dropped her off at school and asked her again if she was sure she wanted to ride the bus.  She answered with a very enthusiastic YES. 
As the afternoon went on, I was anxious and nervous and excited all at the same time.  I knew she would be fine.  Her friend has an older sister and I knew that Meg would be taken care of.  Still, I was sadden a little by the fact that this is just more proof that my baby girl is growing up whether I am ready or not. 
Of course, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to see her as she climbed off the bus.  This being the first time, I was armed with my camera and ready to capture this milestone. 
Secretly, I was hoping that she was going to have a bad experience and would want me to pick her up like before.   Don’t get me wrong, I never want Megan to be sad or have bad experiences, but I loved picking her up every day from school.
Of course, she had a great experience and immediately told me that she wanted to be a permanent bus rider. 
So, my little girl isn’t so little any more.  She’s happy to be a bus rider and understands that there will be days that she will have to be picked up, but she’s ok with that. 
Monday, her third day riding the bus, we had a little problem.  The other girls that get off at her stop weren’t on the bus.  It was cold and rainy, so I was waiting outside for her with an umbrella.  As I heard the bus approach, my heart fluttered.  I was so excited that Megan was home. 
Imagine my disbelief when the driver slows down, starts to raise his stop sign, then speeds off again.  My heart dropped into the pit of my stomach.  I jumped in my car and chased the bus down. 
Thankfully, there was a little girl on the bus that noticed that Megan had missed her stop and told the bus driver.  He had already turned around and was dropping her off by the time I caught back up with them. 
Meg was so upset, partially because I had closed the garage, so it looked like I wasn’t home and because it had scared her a little. 
Meg is a strong willed girl and didn’t let this little incident bother her at all.  She still wants to be a permanent bus rider. 
  

Ponder Panther

I picked Meg up a few days ago and she was so excited to show me her Ponder Panther.  She won this for her sales for Jump Rope for Heart.  She was so proud of herself.  She told me that her name was called over the morning announcements and Mrs. Kelly sent her to the office to collect her prize. 

I’m so proud of her!  

Love Note

Meg got her first love note (and a dollar bill)  from a little boy at her school. 

The boy? 

Adam Ables.

according to Meg...

“Adam is HOT”

Not much else I can say to top that. 

My 5-year old thinks a little boy at her school is HOT. 

Making Valentines & school V-day party

 

 

Megan picked out Puppy & Kitten Valentine’s Day cards for her classmates this year.  She was so excited about them because they had tattoos that came with them. 

She told me that all of her classmates would love them because they were for boys & girls.  Meg makes me so happy when she thinks about the “group” as a whole.  Meg has a heart of gold and always thinks about other people. 

She has grown up so much this year.  Once a child who could be selfish and bratty, she is now a very selfless child. 

 

Meg and I sat down one afternoon after school so she could start working on her Valentine’s Day cards.  As she was signing all of them, she decided to also add a heart.  So sweet

 

 

 

Because of the snow day, Meg’s school party was postponed to Tuesday after Valentine’s Day.  Megan was so worried that there wasn’t going to be a party.  After I told her it would just be rescheduled, she seemed ok with it.  The postponement of the party actually worked to our advantage since Meg was sick on Friday.  She would have had to miss the party if it weren’t for the snow day.  Funny how things work out sometimes. 

The school party was a huge success.  All the children had a great time giving out their Valentine’s day cards to all of their classmates.  I’m so thankful that I’m the room mom.  I love to watch Meg interact with her classmates.  She’s as goofy as ever, but doing really well in school.   

I decided to take her home with me after the party.  The only thing she would miss was free choice time, so I didn’t see the harm.  Plus, she couldn’t WAIT to get home to look thru all of her Valentine’s that she received from her classmates. 

 

 

Top Kinder Hero

Meg did a fund raiser for Jump Rope for Heart a few weeks ago.  Meg asked her grandparents and aunts & uncles for donations.  She raised $235 and was the top fund raiser in Kindergarten and in the whole school.  She was so proud of herself. 

***Way to go Meg***

 

SNOW!

We had the most beautiful snow storm last week.  When we went to sleep Wednesday night, there wasn’t any snow in the air or on the radar, however, it was in the forecast :) 

I was super excited about the possibilities of snow.  I just kept thinking that Meg was going to have her first snow day.   When we woke up the next morning, the snow was coming down steadily and the snow was starting to accumulate on the ground. 

I was shocked when there weren’t any school cancellations.  It seems that since it was just snowing and the roads weren’t bad that MISD decided to chance it.

 Because of the snow, Jarrad didn’t have to work, so we took Meg to school together.  I don’t think Jarrad wanted me driving in the snow.  It worked out in my favor because I was able to take pictures while we were driving around. 

I love how the house looked.  I asked Jarrad to drive into the neighborhood the long way so I could get a picture of the house with the snow.  It’s so beautiful! 

As Jarrad and I were on our way to pick Megan up from school (early), we stopped at a stop light and the snow slid right down Jarrad’s windshield.  It wasn’t as bad on his side, but i couldn’t see anything out of my side of the car.

      

After we picked Megan up from school, her and I got into some warm jackets, hats, boots and gloves, then headed out into the front yard for some snow ball fighting and building a snow man. 

 

Unfortunately, Meg wasn’t feeling very good.  She had a sore throat, so she didn’t want to stay out too long.  Honestly, I probably shouldn’t have let her play in it knowing that she was sick (she had been running a fever the night before), but it was her first snow day and I wanted to have these memories with her. 

 

 

Here is our pathetic attempt at a snowman.  This was my first time making a snowman – it’s pretty obvious :)  All that matters is that this was something that Meg and I did together.  We had a great time. 

After we built our snowman, Jarrad came out with us and we had a mini snowball fight.  Meg’s got pretty good aim and an even better arm when it comes to hitting her daddy with the cold snow.  After a few minutes of snowball fighting, Meg decided that she had had enough and wanted to head inside to lay down for a nap (as I mentioned, she was sick – more to come on that). 

 

So, Meg headed in and I snapped a few more pictures of the snow.        

It was so beautiful.  The best part of our snow weekend, besides the fact that we ended up having a snow day on Friday (although Meg’s v-day party was scheduled for that day) and my parents came into town. 

Christmas Party for Megan's class

Megan's school Christmas party was on the last day before Christmas break.  I'm the room mom for Meg's class, so I organized the party :)  I had so much fun planning everything for a group of 20 kindergarteners. 

I brought cupcakes, treat bags and capri suns.  I also took two crafts for the kiddos to do.  They did a picture frame and a Christmas ornament.  We also played Christmas bingo.  The hour went by super fast, but they were able to do both crafts, play some bingo and have a cupcake. 

***the night before***

***the treat table***

***my goofy reindeer***

Ouch!

Last night, there was a "Math & Literacy night" at Megan's school. I wasn't really sure what it was, but we all went up there anyway.

While we were walking into the school, Meg was carrying her purse. I mentioned to her that I wasn't going to carry her purse for her if she got tired of carrying it. She decided she should put it back in her car.

As she was running back to my car, she got tripped up and went heels over head (yes, she did an endo). I went running when it happened because she had a lollipop in her mouth and I was horrified that she had hit face on the ground. As I was running, she turned around with huge tears in her eyes and she was screaming and crying (the lollipop fell out of her mouth). As my eyes scanned over her body, I couldn't help be to notice her bloody knees. She hit hard!

Thankfully, Meg had band aids in her purse (a little ironic, I know). Daddy grabbed me two band aid out of her purse, and we walked into the school to go to the bathroom to wipe them off a little before putting on the band aids. Before we went inside, I had to pull my camera out to snap a picture.

***scraped up knees***After we finally got her calmed down, we went into the cafeteria for cookies and nachos. At first, Meg wanted neither...she was still a little upset about falling in the parking lot. As more and more people started filling up the cafeteria, she started coming back to life.

She saw one of her classmates and slowly limped her way over to sit with Carson for a few minutes. I grabbed Jarrad and I a drink and nachos to share. And, of course, I got Meg a cookie. Nothing fixes boo-boos like a chocolate chip cookie.

When Meg finally came back over to the table, she was doing much better, but still limping and still a little sad. When I presented her with a cookie, she temporarily forgot all about her knees hurting.

Jarrad and Meg were sitting across the table from me and started telling secrets. Jarrad was telling Meg how clumsy I am and that when I was younger I used to trip over "nothing". I would just fall down for no reason. This is a very true statement and I'm glad it made Meg smile.

***Meg giggling at me after daddy revealed the "big secret"***

***daddy telling more secrets***

After we left the cafeteria, we headed down to Meg's classroom for the "Math & Lit night". There were two kindergarten rooms open (one for math and one for lit). We went into Meg's classroom for the Math portion and next door for the Lit portion.

We learned a lot of little things we can work on with Megan at the house and were given lots of hand outs to take home with us. Meg's excited about all the new "games" we can play.

***Meg looking up at her daddy***

Kindergarten Update

So, Meg has not exactly had what I'd like to call a good start to her education. She was so excited about her first day of Kindergarten, but things changed as the week progressed. Her first day wasn't good (we got a note home). As I learned at open house, Meg wasn't having a good experience at all.

Jarrad and I talked about her school situation and decided to give it a week. However, as the week went on, Meg was slowing changing. She was becoming secretive and withdrawn. This was the second week of school, and I could tell that Meg was breaking. She just wasn't herself. Every night, I would lay in bed trying to figure it out.

Monday of her second week was her birthday. She had a "good" day at school. However, on Tuesday, she got a frowning face because she "threw a tantrum on the floor". I didn't get any explanation as to what the fit was about, but decided it was just a bad day. Wednesday, she got card pulls for "not following directions" which resulted in a frowning face.

When I picked Meg up on Thursday, Meg was crying and upset...this was the icing on the cake...on Meg's behavior sheet, I got a note a short jotted down "note" that read "kicked ms mchugh". That was it...nothing else, no explanation, no call home, no detailed note with the situation. When I asked Meg about it, she didn't want to talk about it. I kept pressing and she wouldn't tell me why, but she did tell me that her teacher "was picking on her and bullying her."

I immediately called up to the school to speak to the principal again. Unfortunately, she wasn't available, but her secretary did tell me that she would either have the principal call me on Friday or schedule an appointment.

Long story short, I spoke to the vice principal and principal. They both agreed that the current situation wasn't working and suggested that we move Megan to a new class. So, that was exactly what we did.

Megan started with her new teacher Mrs. Kelly on Tuesday after Labor Day. Meg is her old self again and doing AWESOME in her new class. I couldn't be happier that I followed my instincts. Meg is now having the kindergarten experienced that I had hoped she'd have.

What a week...

***WARNING: A VERY LONG POST***

Meg was so excited about going back to kindergarten the second day. I loved her enthusiasm. She woke up before I even had a chance to go into her bedroom. She only put on her one outfit this morning and was super excited about it. I tried to talk her out of it since it was long sleeved, but she insisted.


Tuesday, when I picked Megan up from school, she seemed a bit off. I wasn't sure what was going on. I asked her how her day was and she gave me a "fine". I asked her if she made any new friends and she said "no". I asked her who she played with on the play ground and she said "no one". After all the questions, Meg said to me "What happens at kindergarten, is my secret."

After school on Wednesday, the questions and answers were much of the same. I couldn't figure out what was going on, but the more I pressed, the more withdrawn she seemed. I just figured I'd talk to her teacher on Thursday night at Open House.

Thursday afternoon, my parents got into town and went to pick Meg up with me from school. Meg was so excited to see Meme & Poppy.

That night, we all went to open house...when I walked in, I was SHOCKED at what I saw!!! Actually, shocked is an understatement. All of us were.

There were four round tables with four chairs at each table. On the tables, there were names at each seat. I noticed one small desk far removed from the group of tables...on the table there was a name label...an assigned seat - separated from the group, isolated in the back, "removed" from the other students.

The name on the label was Megan...yes, my child had been separated from all the other students, she has been isolated, removed. After the teacher gave her speech, she asked if there were any questions.

A few parents asked some questions, then I asked about the desk. Ms. McHugh simply told me that she was given 17 students and there was only space for 16 students at the round tables and Meg was given a seat there "by luck of the draw".

I then asked if it would be a rotated seat...she said "yes". Meme and poppy heard her say that it would be rotated every six weeks (I didn't hear her say that).

I could tell Jarrad was upset by the whole situation because he got real quiet. We went to dinner with my parents, and it's all we could talk about. We had so many questions and no answers!!! That night as Jarrad and I got into bed, we decided that I needed to go speak to the teacher about it.

I couldn't sleep a wink - I tossed and turned all night. I was never so happy to hear my alarm go off. I bounced out of bed, and gathered my thoughts. I walked Meg into class and asked Ms. McHugh if she had a few minutes to talk to me.

I was calm and simply stated that "I couldn't accept Meg's desk being separated from the rest of the class". What came out of her mouth next was a total surprise to me...she said "Well, the real reason Megan is sitting at that desk is because she was talking excessively." I couldn't believe it, Megan was sitting alone because she was being punished. I had received no notes telling me that Megan was being disruptive in class.

I told her that I couldn't accept Megan being isolated because she was bad...that it wouldn't teach Megan that there is a time to talk and a time not to talk. Ms. McHugh then said "well, since I moved her over there, I haven't had any problems with her". I couldn't believe she said that - seriously, if the child has no one to talk to, of course there won't be any problems.

After talking for a few more minutes, Ms. McHugh agreed to move another student to a desk next to Megan's. I figured this solution was better than nothing, but wasn't thrilled about it. I left the class and came home and cried.

I felt like I had failed Megan. Her experience in the first week had been horrible. She had been given an assigned seat separated from the group on the second day of school. My heart was breaking in a thousand little pieces.

I just couldn't let it go, so I called the principal. The principal couldn't believe what she heard when I had told her the whole story. She was very understanding and assured me that the situation would be fixed.

That afternoon, I got to the school early to pick Megan up because I wanted to introduce myself the principal. Unfortunately, she wasn't available. So, I waited in the foyer for Meg to be released from class. You should have seen her. She was so happy, so full of life. When her teacher saw me, she spoke to me. She told me that she was very sorry and that Meg had been moved to a table with the other students.

So, for now, the situation is "fixed", but I will be working to help out during lunch this week to make sure that things are going well. I don't want to be "that mom", but I also want Megan to have the same experiences and opportunities that the other children have.

I hope her week is better and that she realizes that she's still a good kid even tho her teacher made a mistake.