Back to School ... Again

So finally, FINALLY, the kids were given the go-ahead to head back to the classroom on Thursday.  Noah was nervous all over again since it had been almost 2 weeks at home since the county commission and school board launched a stand-off over the budget ... which is still not completely settled, by the way.  Thankfully, a carpooled ride to school with Mrs. Cindy and Claire and Ben helped calm his AND Claire's nerves.

To hear Cindy tell it, they jumped out of the car and were on their way into the school, all smiles and at ease once again.  :)  Goodness knows, there were all manner of silliness and giggles when I picked them up after school.  I can tell it's gonna be fun for Noah to share this school year with a good friend from close to home.  Claire is in Kindergarten this year, so Noah has really risen to the occasion of showing her where to go and waving to her in the cafeteria (though there was some debate between the two about who saw whom and who wasn't looking when they waved across the crowded room.)  :}  I can't help grinning over the two of them and this sweet, sweet age that is early elementary life.

In other school news, I continue to be incredibly thankful for Noah's teacher.  Before schools closed, she emailed me to say she was completing some paperwork to have Noah tested for Speech services and that she'd already had the speech teacher come observe him to confirm the referral.  I am so impressed at her attention to this and at her having already gotten the ball rolling within a week of school starting.  Noah's speech is something I have been concerned about since he was 3.  We even had him tested at 4 yrs of age to rule out his needing intervention then.  Last year, still concerned at his mispronunciations, I asked his teacher and she seemed unconcerned about it.  But, still, it has weighed on my mind.  I wasn't going to ask his teacher about it until the first conference in September/October.  So you can imagine how she won me over by recognizing it and moving on it right away. Score another big point for Mrs. Arnold!

Anna, ever the Type-A personality, keeps asking me when she can go to kindergarten and when I will "home-day school" her.  I've been planning to start some actual 3-day-a-week lessons with her in September, so yesterday I pulled out the curriculum I bought in the spring and started preparing some of the materials.  Anna was so tickled at the prospect of starting soon she showered me with hugs and comments like "Mommy, I wuv you!" before the hopped off to color and draw me a picture to thank me. Today I stopped by a parent-teacher supply store and she went into the same trance of awe and excitement that I did.  I think it will be fun to test my homeschooling wings out with her this year.  I have a feeling she will be done with Kindergarten before she's even old enough for it by county standards.  :}