A few weeks ago, Mason's school hosted an Open House. I wasn't exactly sure what this was going to be, but it made sense that it would be an opportunity for parents to go to their child's classroom, take a tour and meet with the teacher. Well, that turned out to be pretty much it.I was very excited about Open House because I was hoping it would give me some ideas of better questions to ask Mason each day when he gets home from school. He hadn't exactly been very forth-coming about his day with the exception of nap time and riding the bus. So I was curious.
When we got to school, I told Mason I wanted him to give me a tour. He led us right to his classroom and showed me his seat.
He showed me the class library . . . where he hangs his back pack . . . where he keeps his kindermat . . . the reading area . . . and then I noticed his name as "Tidy Up Manager" (bottom left red birdie) on the classroom helper display.
I asked him about it. He said that every Monday, Ms. Alexander draws craft sticks with the kids' names on them to determine who is going to have what particular job that week. I asked him what the Tidy Up Manager does. He said he has to collect all of the name badges (each student is required to wear a photo ID name badge while at school) and put them back in the tub since they aren't supposed to go home with the students. I asked him what else he has to do. He said he has to make sure all of the chairs are pushed under the tables and the crayons in the baskets. Ms. Alexander heard our conversation, and she said Mason was the best Tidy Up Manager thus far! Well, he should be. He gets a lot of practice at him. Every night, as a matter of fact! So I told him how proud I was of him for doing such an important job.
I asked him about it. He said that every Monday, Ms. Alexander draws craft sticks with the kids' names on them to determine who is going to have what particular job that week. I asked him what the Tidy Up Manager does. He said he has to collect all of the name badges (each student is required to wear a photo ID name badge while at school) and put them back in the tub since they aren't supposed to go home with the students. I asked him what else he has to do. He said he has to make sure all of the chairs are pushed under the tables and the crayons in the baskets. Ms. Alexander heard our conversation, and she said Mason was the best Tidy Up Manager thus far! Well, he should be. He gets a lot of practice at him. Every night, as a matter of fact! So I told him how proud I was of him for doing such an important job.Mason also showed me his class schedule. As I read each time slot to him, he told me what they do and/or where they go for that particular activity.
And then he posed for a picture with his beloved Ms. Alexander (I told you she's cute!) and his "All About Me" poster (his first real project) that he did ALL BY HIMSELF.
Although I really don't have anything to compare it to since Mason is our first child in school, and MSA is our first experience with school, I can honestly say that we love it! Mason really is having fun, and the administration and teachers really go out of their way to be "out of the box" as far as learning, education and activities are concerned. I have already seen tremendous improvement in Mason's writing and language skills. Ms. Alexander told me that his strongest subject is math, which I already knew would be the case before he ever even went to school.
Last Thursday they took their first field trip. They went to Zam's Swamp Tour in Thibodeaux (pronounced tib-uh-doe). I so badly wanted to go as a parent chaperone, but I didn't have a sitter for Hannah Kate so that didn't work out. Mason was so excited when he got home! He told me all about riding in the boat and seeing three alligators, one of which was on a log. He said they also got to see turtles, snakes and baby alligators "in a bucket." He said they got to pet the snake. Uummm, yeah, I feel the same way. I asked him what kind of snake it was, and he said, "king snake." Well, I didn't press the issue . . . and surely not! . . . but I guess what kind of snake it was isn't important.
This week is Homecoming Spirit week. They are also raising money this month for the Susan G. Koman foundation. Monday was Superhero Day so Mason went dressed in his Spiderman costume! Oh, yes, he did! And he loved it! Yesterday was Blast from the Past Day. Let's just say I sent him to school in his uniform. Today is Pink Day, and everyone is supposed to wear pink. Well, let's just say that Mason's wardrobe doesn't consist of any pink so I fashioned a pink breast cancer awareness ribbon and pinned it to his shirt this morning. Tomorrow is Twin Day. Yep, he'll be in his uniform again. And Friday is teacher work day . . . so we get a day off!
In lieu of a Halloween party, Mason and his class will be taking a field trip to a local nursing home to visit with the residents and will finish the day with a picnic at the park. I'm excited to see what November and December calendars will hold because October has been busy!
I do have another ***FUNNY*** school story . . . involving the World's Finest Chocolate and the school bus . . . but that will have to wait until another post. It's almost time to get Mason off the bus!
Oh yeah . . . last night Mason told me he wanted to pick flowers to take to Ms. Alexander. The way I see it, there are two issues with this. First of all, there is no such thing as "picking flowers" around here. I told my husband that I have no intention of landscaping until next spring at the earliest because I'm worn out. Speaking of which . . . we have two sets of shutters left to hang (as soon as we get hold of a 24' ladder) so once those are in place, I'll post some pics of the FINISHED house (sans landscaping!). And second of all, I wanted to put my hands on my hips and scream, "What about me? MEEEEEEEE!!! Your mother who brought you into this world and has fed you, wiped your poop, held you, played with you, endulged your every whim even when I didn't feel like it and taken care of you for the past five years and three months . . . ?!? You've never wanted to get flowers for MEEEEEEEE . . . " But, of course, I didn't do that. I actually think it's rather sweet and thoughtful of him . . . perhaps he's turning into quite the gentleman. So I promised him we'd go to Wal-Mart this weekend so he can pick out a bouquet of flowers to take to Ms. Alexander on Monday. Then he said he'd put them in his back pack. After I told him that probably wouldn't work very well, he seemed a tad bit less excited about the issue. In the meantime . . . maybe he can give a hint to his daddy . . . !!! After all, I love me some fresh flowers!