25% Complete

We have survived 5 days of virtual school out of the planned 20. I'm hanging onto the probably deluded thought that they will start school and stay in the classroom in 3 weeks, ha.

This K to 6th grade comparison is giving me all the feels.

Trent was not really excited about his teacher when he first saw her, but she seems to be growing on him. This is her first year teaching Montessori, but she's been teaching for over 20 years and seems really nice. He was also bummed at first to not recognize more kids in his class, but there is at least 1 boy that he likes, and I told him he's really likable, so I don't worry about his ability to make friends. I DO worry about his ability to NOT crack jokes and NOT get in trouble but never his ability to make friends. {grin}

Such a silly girl

Drew does have a new teacher this year {because her teacher from last year is a virtual only teacher this year}, and she was upset at first, but she has already adapted and really likes her new teacher. Ms. Danushi seems to be really sweet and interested in the kids {from what I can hear on zoom}, and Drew thrives with kindness. She is already participating in her zoom calls, eager for her assignments, and happy happy happy. Her best friend from Kindergarten is in her class again this year which is a really great surprise.

Little Paigey Paige had a rough first zoom call - she hid in the corner and wouldn't participate until the last minute. But starting with Day 2, she is back to being her normal sunny self. Her new guide, who unfortunately won't be her permanent teacher, is so fun and engaging, it would be hard for a little kid to not enjoy it. She has a 15 minute zoom each morning with the other 3 year olds and then has a few activities we can do at home {one day was several activities about circles} and an 'assignment' for the next zoom {today's is to bring something blue to the meeting}. I think she's going to adjust pretty quickly once they are on-campus.

Overall, we are surviving. If we weren't having help every day, I think I would really be struggling. 30+ years of teaching {and the majority of that being elementary school} is definitely coming out when my mom is here.

PE with Babs!

The main thing the big kids have done is a diagnostic and it has been a nightmare. The system doesn't tell you when you're done, and I finally just stopped the kids after I figured out Trent had done 230 questions and Drew had done over FOUR HUNDRED. If you can't figure out what my kids need to learn with that number of questions, then your platform sucks, ha. But both of the guides agreed with me that the kids had done enough! 

Trent is starting to get some virtual lessons, and I'm hoping Drew does soon too. It feels like a really slow start, and it's a bit chaotic {check Google classroom Stream, check the Schoolwork tab, check the kids' email, check my email...repeat 7,403 times a day, log into this zoom, log into that zoom, download this assignment, log into ClassKick, then BrainPop, then Lexia, then IXL...sigh}, so I'm sure by the time we finally feel like we're in a good routine, we'll be back on-campus. But since I fully expect a classroom, if not the whole school at some point, to close, this will be good practice, I guess!

Really feeling this one right about now

One of the main things Montessori focuses on between the students is grace and courtesy. If nothing else, I can practice this as well!