Little Miss Naughty-Pants

Well said, Noddy, as always.

So... a little update to my Naughty Pants.

At the end of the school year the principal solicited feedback from parents that could be used when deciding where to place each child for the following year. I didn't pass up the chance. For Ducklet, I described a teacher that I had in 2nd grade, Mrs. Rincones. I will never forget her. She was strict but fair. She had a list of very clear rules prominently displayed, along with a list of consequences and she never deviated and always enforced. The result was a very peaceful class and children who knew where we stood. I asked him for a teacher like that if one existed. Well, she does exist and Ducklet got her. Ms. C is "young but old fashioned" as another parent described her. I met her and she seems like a very straight forward, strict but fair, kind teacher. Not overly emotive but clearly cares about her kids and her job. I couldn't be happier.

I expect Ducklet to still get in trouble. She HAS to test limits. That's her nature and I don't expect it to change. But I think she will do much better in a structured environment like this one. BTW, my sister, who hadn't seen her since she was a baby, recently enlightened me about my own daughter. I mentioned to her that she liked to test limits and my sister said, "yes, especially her own". She's right. How did I never see that? She pushes and tests herself, mostly physically, but also in other ways. I'm always amazed and grateful when others see things in my kids that I miss.

Isn't that cool? That's an especially nice insight, too.

This isn't really the same thing but reminds me of it -- we were at the pool with my friend and her two boys. The three kids were hanging out about 50 feet from us, when a beetle landed on the head of the younger one and he freaked out. The older boy came running over to get his mom to solve the problem, while sozlet calmly brushed the beetle off with her towel. Then she came to get one of her Crocs to "make a home" for the beetle because she was worried it was hurt. My friend turned to me, recapped the situation, and said "that is SO sozlet." :-)

The teacher sounds fabulous. Good for you for taking advantage of the opportunity and for articulating what Ducklet needs so clearly. Bet this will be a good year.

That IS so sozlet.

Yeah, this is feeling like a really good year for both of them. I am really pleased with the teachers they got. Duckie lucked out too. He got a microbiologist turned 3rd grade teacher who is energetic and fun and really enjoys turning kids' lights on. He hasn't yet brought a book to school. (Last year he would bring several because he seemed to have lots of time to read instead of being engaged in the classroom.)

Wow, that sounds GREAT!

(Wait, school has already started for you guys? We have a bit to go yet.)

We lucked out this year too; the second-grade teacher sozlet was reading with last year will be her teacher this year. They've already bonded and she seems like a really cool teacher; according to sozlet she's one of those firm but fair ones but also has a really good sense of humor.

That's awesome that she has a teacher she already knows, and that she has a sense of humor. I swear that's important. Mr. Duck and I were discussing the importance of leaving kids in the same school for as long as possible because of the advantages of being already known to teachers (and teachers being already known to them). I personally think it makes a huge difference.

Yeah, this is our first week of school. We start early.

How's school going?

Cool thing that happened yesterday... the principal asked sozlet who her teacher will be this year and then said, "Oh, you'll enjoy being in Mrs. Sozletteacher's class. You guys have the same sense of humor."

I was impressed. (This school isn't huge but it's not that small either, and he a) knows sozlet well enough to know her sense of humor and b) recognizes that a shared sense of humor is a good thing.)

That is awesome. There is so much value in "being known" I can't begin to explain, but that is a perfect example. We're small by Atlanta standards -- roughly 500 kids -- and the principle makes an effort to know every kid and every family. I've involved myself in the PTA a bit more this year and am coordinating after school activities (I had an ulterior motive) so that's helping me be more known and to get to know others better too. I swear it makes a huge difference. I am more used to feeling "out of the loop", so this is better.

School is going *really* well. Ducklet has been on green all last week and, so far, all this week. I keep waiting for it to deteriorate but so far so good -- knock on wood. Her teacher just seems to really have the place in order and Ducklet thrives in that environment. Duckie is also doing great. He is so responsible about his homework. The biggest problem we have right now is that he is out of books to read, so I need to take him to the library. His teacher is so nice. I emailed her last Friday to let her know he'd be home sick (back to school, back to sniffles) and she said the nicest things about him -- all true of course . She's a gem.

So is this your first week back or has school not started yet?

Nearly there, but not yet.

"Back to sniffles," yeah, I'm worried about that. She spent last week with a large group of kids at a camp -- 22 -- and got sick over the weekend. (Not a really bad one by her standards though.)

Fabulous that Duckie's teacher realizes he's a gem. And super-fab about the greens!! Great!

Yeah, I completely agree about the importance of being known. I've talked before about how my elementary school grouped grades together -- I spent first through third grade with one teacher, and fourth through sixth with another. I think it made things so much more efficient -- the teachers really knew us already at the beginning of two of our three years. And those two teachers have an outsized influence on me even today. The downside of course is if they weren't as wonderful as they were... but they WERE wonderful. I think it's a great system.

Lacking that, a smallish school (ours is about the same) and a really involved staff can do good stuff, too.