Yup! It's that time! A2 will officially start kindergarten on Tuesday. We went to meet her teacher yesterday afternoon and took most of her things in to her class so they'll be ready for her. She met and talked with her bus driver as well. I admit, it has been so long since I've had a kindergartner that I had forgotten what a regular PITA it is being a parent of one! Oh not her, she's fine and excited, but the amount of things they put on the parent is staggering! What, exactly, am I sending her to school for if every day she's going to come home and require more schooling from me?! Since when did kindergarten become an 8-10 hour-a-day intensive educational course? I do understand, kids today have a lot to learn in a short amount of time. Honestly, there's so much for them to learn that there really ought to be another required level of schooling: pre-K, which unfortunately, in this area, is only offered to "special needs" children. The rest of the normal kids are on their own to learn their letters, colors, numbers, shapes, and alphabet BEFORE they start kindergarten.
The teacher explained that the kids would be learning to read, rhyme (word groups), and write sentences. She explained that a mere 2 WEEKS would be spent learning colors. I don't even want to think about how they approach math. Should I be expecting her to come home one day with addition and subtraction worksheets?!?!?! Which I will then have to teach her how to complete? When I was in kindergarten (yes I can remember that far back. LOL) we spent quite a bit of time learning our letters. A2 has always had trouble with writing. Recognition: yes, writing: no. We were also informed the kids will have homework every day as well. Previously this didn't happen until around 2nd grade. I suppose the 'honeymoon' is over for kids at age 5! They start them right off these days!
To top it all off, they were supposed to test her before she started. I only just found that out yesterday as well. Another parent mentioned it in the room and I said something along the lines of, "oh, not all the kids are tested," which the teacher refuted, claiming that all the kids are tested. When I told her my daughter wasn't and that I never received a call for them to do so, she tried to argue with me. A short trip to the school office confirmed that I was in the right. I was never called. No one seemed to know why exactly. So now A2 will have to undergo a short test after the start of school. Just to check and make sure she's "ready" to start kindergarten. (insert another extreme eye roll here)
I'm really very glad I spent a good part of our time together last year studying pre-school subjects so she will hopefully be able to keep up with the advanced pace of the class. The teacher came across as nice, but seriously no-nonsense, which I'm hoping will be good for A2. She could use a good firm consistent hand. Being around other kids her age will help matters as well I think. Perhaps she'll finally realize the world doesn't actually revolve around her. With her gone in the mornings I'll also have the time to start Bubba on his pre-schooling. He really needs language development. It's been difficult for him, not being able to get a word in around A2!
Friday, August 31, 2012
Chickens!!
Well, it's official. I am completely legal and licensed to own chickens. (insert extreme eye-rolling visage here) According to the new ordinance, I am not allowed to keep males, profit from my birds, keep more than half a dozen, allow them to free-range, or butcher them on my property. I must maintain them in a coop no larger than 10' x 12' and must have an enclosed space within the coop that is no less than 1.5 sq ft per bird. I am VERY glad that I took the time to build such an enclosure this year for the turkeys (mind you, the ordinance specifically refers to chickens... no mention of other fowl at all in it!). I will admit that I do NOT like the restrictions, especially the space limitations and the no-male aspect. I believe they are overly harsh, especially in light of my having owned chickens for nearly 2 decades in this exact locale. My neighbors are perfectly accustomed to my birds. However, I have taken the opportunity to collect some awesome birds. Marans and Welsummer and Araucanas.
Camping: Part II
Last week-end we took our second camping trip of the year. This time it was supposed to be family only, and it was, though we did have an 'extra' to come along. A girl of 17, K is my mother's spouse's daughter, and had never been camping. She also happens to be a very good friend of both my elder girls. Of course I had no issue with having her along. She's family, after all, and it would be fun! My mother came out, bringing K along with her and visited with D. A2 opted to stay home with my mother, rather than camp. She insisted regardless of how often I asked and never swayed in her choice. So we met them on the route to the campground and traded kids, then trucked on along to the camp.
We set everything up, you would have thought K was experienced the way she pitched right in with whatever needed to be done. Our usual first-night dinner fare of roasted weiners over the fire was prepared and we bedded down for the night. About halfway through the night, the rains began. On the tent roof the sound was amplified and woke me, which was a good thing since I had just enough time to move our things to where they wouldn't get wet. Unfortunately it rained and/or sprinkled throughout Saturday, it saturated the tent walls and dripped through in some places, but for the most part our things were dry. There was some skepticism by the kids though as I went to start a fire on Saturday night, but doubt not! I have long since mastered the fine art of building a fire in the rain and we did enjoy marshmallows on that stormy night.
J took the opportunity to fine-tune a summer project for her advanced English class. A video she needed to create based on a specific scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, which she had read over the summer. She wrote out a script and K and A1 had to memorize lines, since they were the primary characters in the scene (Gem & Scout). I operated the camera and was very briefly in one moment. J directed and played a character that attacks the 'kids' and falls on a knife when the kids' father, Atticus (me), pulls him off. It was very dark by the time we commenced videoing and I wound up using an electric spotlight/lantern I happened to have as well as operating the camera. It turned out very well! The venue couldn't have been more perfect, pitch black everywhere but where I had the light, the summer insects singing their nightly chorus. There were a few tiny pinpoints of light from the other (distant) campers, which added to the story line. J edited the final video and it turned out fantastic! The actors perhaps could have used a little more prep time, but considering everything it really came out well.
On Sunday our group split. I took A1 & Bubba to the lake to swim and J & K went hiking. Then we met my mother again and switched K for A2 and they headed home. We, on the other hand, stayed for another night's camping. Thankfully, the sun came out on Sunday and dried most everything out, so packing up Monday morning was quite easy. A short nap Monday afternoon and I was ready for work that night.
This was our longest single camping trip to date, and it was a great time! I'm hoping for one more trip this season before we pack everything away for the winter.
We set everything up, you would have thought K was experienced the way she pitched right in with whatever needed to be done. Our usual first-night dinner fare of roasted weiners over the fire was prepared and we bedded down for the night. About halfway through the night, the rains began. On the tent roof the sound was amplified and woke me, which was a good thing since I had just enough time to move our things to where they wouldn't get wet. Unfortunately it rained and/or sprinkled throughout Saturday, it saturated the tent walls and dripped through in some places, but for the most part our things were dry. There was some skepticism by the kids though as I went to start a fire on Saturday night, but doubt not! I have long since mastered the fine art of building a fire in the rain and we did enjoy marshmallows on that stormy night.
J took the opportunity to fine-tune a summer project for her advanced English class. A video she needed to create based on a specific scene from To Kill a Mockingbird, which she had read over the summer. She wrote out a script and K and A1 had to memorize lines, since they were the primary characters in the scene (Gem & Scout). I operated the camera and was very briefly in one moment. J directed and played a character that attacks the 'kids' and falls on a knife when the kids' father, Atticus (me), pulls him off. It was very dark by the time we commenced videoing and I wound up using an electric spotlight/lantern I happened to have as well as operating the camera. It turned out very well! The venue couldn't have been more perfect, pitch black everywhere but where I had the light, the summer insects singing their nightly chorus. There were a few tiny pinpoints of light from the other (distant) campers, which added to the story line. J edited the final video and it turned out fantastic! The actors perhaps could have used a little more prep time, but considering everything it really came out well.
On Sunday our group split. I took A1 & Bubba to the lake to swim and J & K went hiking. Then we met my mother again and switched K for A2 and they headed home. We, on the other hand, stayed for another night's camping. Thankfully, the sun came out on Sunday and dried most everything out, so packing up Monday morning was quite easy. A short nap Monday afternoon and I was ready for work that night.
This was our longest single camping trip to date, and it was a great time! I'm hoping for one more trip this season before we pack everything away for the winter.
Friday, August 3, 2012
Camping
Each year I try to take the kids camping in the summer. Usually we manage one trip per year. I know that's not much, and I'm trying to increase it this year. Seems as though our summer week-ends fill up so quickly! Generally the whole summer is fully booked by mid-June. I took the kids for the first camping trip this past week-end. I allowed each of the older girls to invite one friend (J's first choice couldn't go, but her second did, A1's friend's mother said she couldn't go because she was afraid the girl would be eaten by bears... insert eye rolling facial expression here)). So we packed everyone and everything in the van, retrieved the extra girl and headed to our all-time favorite campground. We left on Friday and returned on Sunday.
The best part of camping is that there are no electronics permitted. And because we camp in a National forest, there is no cell service. Once we are there, the only real rule I have is that there is no leaving. So for the few days we are camping, the kids are just kids! No phones, no iPods, no computers. We take board games and cards, we visit with fellow campers, we build fires and talk around them, toasting marshmallows and telling stories. We use a tent, we play flashlight wars, I make all our meals from scratch on a camp stove (an adventure in itself!), everyone takes turns with chores, we hike the mountain trails, we swim in the nearby lake, and we flat-out just have good old-fashioned fun.
I've been doing this every year for almost 10 years, and I love it! The first year we went, the girls were quite small, 5 or 6 maybe. I got us a sleeping bag (the girls already had little ones) and a 6-man tent. We took food like Poptarts and hot dogs and marshmallows. I took a couple flashlights and everyone a change of clothes. I think that was about it. Since then we've upgraded our tent to a 15-man tent with 3 rooms, 2 air mattresses and good sleeping bags for all. a medium rug for the middle of the tent and a mat for the tent door helps cut down on dirt coming inside the tent. A canopy to put over the picnic table and a cloth tablecover, canvas chairs for around the fire. A propane campstove and a tote-box of cooking equiment, a good clothesline plus pins for drying wet towels and suits. A large cooler plus 2 smaller ones. Various buckets and wash basins. Also flame lanterns and flashlights and a first-aid kit and a myriad of other little things that make camping out easier.
There is one thing that I will not leave home without, that is pre-cut wood and lighter-logs, usually the 3-hour kind. Our first camping trip we went without any fire and ate cold food. I couldn't get a fire started with newspaper and sticks. Then I got some of those 50-cent firestarter things and STILL couldn't get the wood to ignite! When I finally switched to the 3-hour logs it literally eliminated the stress of fire-making. Simply put the log in the firepit, light it, then add larger wood across the top of it. These days we purposely save smaller wood for just that purpose. Though this last time I did see several trees had been carried to a communal place for people to cut and use, so I'll take my ax and saw with me instead of loading up with our own wood. We'll still take some of ours, but since we'll be there longer next time, I figure it would be a good idea to use some that's already there too.
The best part of camping is that there are no electronics permitted. And because we camp in a National forest, there is no cell service. Once we are there, the only real rule I have is that there is no leaving. So for the few days we are camping, the kids are just kids! No phones, no iPods, no computers. We take board games and cards, we visit with fellow campers, we build fires and talk around them, toasting marshmallows and telling stories. We use a tent, we play flashlight wars, I make all our meals from scratch on a camp stove (an adventure in itself!), everyone takes turns with chores, we hike the mountain trails, we swim in the nearby lake, and we flat-out just have good old-fashioned fun.
I've been doing this every year for almost 10 years, and I love it! The first year we went, the girls were quite small, 5 or 6 maybe. I got us a sleeping bag (the girls already had little ones) and a 6-man tent. We took food like Poptarts and hot dogs and marshmallows. I took a couple flashlights and everyone a change of clothes. I think that was about it. Since then we've upgraded our tent to a 15-man tent with 3 rooms, 2 air mattresses and good sleeping bags for all. a medium rug for the middle of the tent and a mat for the tent door helps cut down on dirt coming inside the tent. A canopy to put over the picnic table and a cloth tablecover, canvas chairs for around the fire. A propane campstove and a tote-box of cooking equiment, a good clothesline plus pins for drying wet towels and suits. A large cooler plus 2 smaller ones. Various buckets and wash basins. Also flame lanterns and flashlights and a first-aid kit and a myriad of other little things that make camping out easier.
There is one thing that I will not leave home without, that is pre-cut wood and lighter-logs, usually the 3-hour kind. Our first camping trip we went without any fire and ate cold food. I couldn't get a fire started with newspaper and sticks. Then I got some of those 50-cent firestarter things and STILL couldn't get the wood to ignite! When I finally switched to the 3-hour logs it literally eliminated the stress of fire-making. Simply put the log in the firepit, light it, then add larger wood across the top of it. These days we purposely save smaller wood for just that purpose. Though this last time I did see several trees had been carried to a communal place for people to cut and use, so I'll take my ax and saw with me instead of loading up with our own wood. We'll still take some of ours, but since we'll be there longer next time, I figure it would be a good idea to use some that's already there too.
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