Homes Cool

We started homeschooling in November. It was a perfect storm of badness for both kids and we decided that, rather than fight it out on both fronts, we'd pull them and homeschool.  We had been dedicated public schoolers before, even though I kind of joked about homeschooling every year, when I got tired of getting up at 6:30 or packing lunches or going out in the cold every morning. I was PTA president, vice president, committee chairs for numerous activities, room parent, etc.  I BELIEVED in public school, until I didn't.

Because the kids are home full time, I also quit my job, so I could be here all the time.  That left very little money left over for curriculums (despite my parents' very generous offer to purchase anything we needed for school, because even when I'm pretty sure I'm screwing up entirely, they are all in) so I'm making due with free stuff from the internet.  It's been fine and I don't feel like I'm really missing anything, but I needed a system to organize everything.

I use Evernote and DropBox for all of our downloaded materials. I use drop box to store anything I've downloaded, plus our lesson plan and things I've created (I'm a HUGE nerd and I love making PowerPoint presentations for the the kids).  I use Evernote to store all of the bookmarks to all of the millions of webpages that I might want to use one day.  This is the only thing I've found Evernote useful for, since I was never able make it work for actual note taking. So digitally, we were covered.  I've organized all my files and I can whatever I need, easily.  The paper were a different story.

Because so much is online, I end up printing a lot of stuff, like writing sheets, math practice worksheets, Social Studies maps, etc. I read blogs all over the place about how people organize their stuff and none of them really worked for me. I thought about workboxes , but they take up so much space.  I looked at modifying them with hanging folders, but space was again an issue.  I also don't like the idea that I need to do something with them every single day.

I eventually settled on 2 inch ring binders.  Partly, because we had them on hand and partly because they are big enough to hold everything easily.

I started with a plain binder (they can decorate them however they want to personalize them).



Then I put in tabbed dividers with pockets, left over from the public school supply list.  They are just a few dollars at Walmart, though.  There are seven tabs in this folder, one for each day of the week, plus a couple of extras.



I sat down when we first started and planned until Christmas break, because my brain was totally overloaded and I couldn't think past that.  Over Christmas break, I planned out the rest of the year.  We'll be done before Memorial Day! I use Excel because, as much as I like Powerpoints, I like spreadsheets even more.  There are plenty of planner sites and downloads out there but Excel works for me.  Every Sunday, I sit down with my computer and I go through that week's lesson plan.  I add the math (I have a space for it, but I stopped putting it in early because we kept having to edit the lesson plan when a lesson took more days than I thought it would) for the week, I go to my links, that I save in the spreadsheet and print out anything they will meed for that week.  I create my Powerpoints, etc.  Then I take all those printouts and I put them in the folders in the binder.  So Monday, they sit down at the table at 8 (because I start school at 8, because we need to get it done), they get out their planners and they copy down Monday's work.  Then, they are free to do as the please. If they are really feeling math, they can get a jump on it, if they are kind of dreading it, they can do writing or reading first.  I'm here, if they need help or have questions, but they can work on their own, for the most part.

A couple of weeks ago, my mom had knee surgery and needed help getting around for a couple of days.  WF went and stayed with her on Thursday and I sent his school stuff with him.  I got a call Thursday night, wanting him to stay another day.  She said "you'll have to bring his school stuff out for tomorrow"  I said "Nope, that's all there in his binder"  It has been important this week as well, because I've been sick and I haven't felt much like teaching, but we have got to get stuff done.  I opened up a couple of things on my computer this morning (copy work, writing prompt, and an editing worksheet) and left for the doctor's office.  They worked, on their own, for the hour that I was gone and now, I can go lay down.  They have everything that they need, for the whole week, right at their finger tips.

I put a "turn in" folder in the back, for them to put their completed work that I haven't collected in every day.  I also don't collect papers every day.  My kids need to learn to hold on to things for more than 5 minutes, so I collect papers a couple of times a week, but I do look at them at the end of each day to make sure they are done.



In the front, I put cheap three ring pouches, that, again, are left overs from school, but are super cheap at walmart.  I check every day to make sure that it has three sharpen pencils, an eraser, a pencil sharpener, a highlighter, and a pen.  I do that while I'm checking assignments each afternoon.

I also put in their planners, and a three ring notebook in the binders.

In the front pouch, I put the printout of the week's work so they have a reference for what they are supposed to be doing each day.  I'm pretty strict with our schedule, but we don't do every subject every day.  We do Math, Writing, and Spelling everyday and we alternate reading (M,W,F) and Science and Social Studies (T, TH).



I sewed them bags to store their binders in, with webbed straps that fit over the back of their desk chair (Backpacks or string bags or anything big enough to fit the binder in would be fine. I just had some cool leftover fabric, so I zipped some bags together).  That way, when I say "Come work at the table" or "I'm sick of this house, lets go work at the library", they only need to grab their bag and they have everything they need at hand.

Too school for cool

Last year, I spent a lot of time yelling at the kids about all their "stuff" and how they could never find anything and neither could I. Lunch boxes weren't getting washed, forms were getting lost and no one could ever find their jacket as we ran out of the house each morning. In short, it was OBNOXIOUS and I decided I wasn't doing that anymore. I browsed around Pinterest looking for something that would work for us. I found several "command centers" that would work, sort of. Eventually, I cobbled something together which is going to be great. All it took was getting rid of a bunch of stuff and completely re-arranging the garage/family to accommodate it. I hit up Walmart for hooks to hang the coats and back packs on.

They have a ton, ranging from about $5 to over $50! Pick the one you like. Then I picked up some cheap dry erase boards to mount above the hooks. This will let us write down things for each kid, like PE Days (since they change from week to week because of the rotation schedule) so they know when to wear tennis shoes. We can also put things like snack days and field trips so everybody know what is going on.

Then, in my biggest stroke of genius, I bought paper trays to manage all the paper that comes home. Staples sells the kind that are specifically designed to mount to the wall but at $10 a piece, they were out of my budget, since I needed 4. I bought some of the regular desk top kind and convinced RF to make them work. :)

Each kid has one for papers that come home and one for papers to go back. The plan is when they get home, lunch boxes go on the counter by the sink, homework goes on the table. Everything else gets taken to the organization center. Coats and back packs are hung up, and any papers that came home from school that day go in their "from school" tray. Once snacks and homework are done, I can go through their "from school" boxes and sign forms and throw the rest away (Side note, I sure wish we could go paperless but with a low SES school, too many parents don't have access to email so it isn't feasible). Anything that needs to go back gets put in the "to school" box. Each morning, the kids can look in their "to school" box and pick up anything that needs to go back.

You'll note in the picture that no backpacks are hung up there yet. We have them, they are just packed full of school supplies and even though the hooks are in the studs, I'm afraid they are too heavy to hang without pulling them out (they are almost too heavy to lift), so we are waiting until after school starts to get them out there. This should keep things more organized, so stuff isn't getting lost and it puts them in charge of their stuff. I know that it will take some time to get in the habit but once they get it, it should make my life easier, and their's too!

School update

You all know the WF has issues at school. We started talking about getting him real help in the spring but had to wait for school to start again this fall to have the actual meetings and paper signings. Starting in September, he finally started taking a battery of tests every week for math and writing. He also met with the OT several times and was evaluated by the speech path.

We had our IEP meeting yesterday afternoon and what came of it is that he has hyper flexible joints, which is causing some of his motor control issues. He also has low tone and needs core strengthening work. They suggested some kind of focused training program like Tae Kwon do, swimming lessons or gymnastics. I'm on the fence about forcing him to do something he obviously has no interest in, especially something that is going to cost me a fortune. The OT suggested that he needs a desk that allows him to stand and work, since he simply won't sit and ends up laying across the desk or kneeling in his chair and none of that is helping his hand writing.

The speech path said despite observing him in several situations and even trying to induce some stress to trigger his stutter, she was unable to observe any stuttering that impedes communication.

He ended up being labeled as having a specific learning disability, so he will now be getting 60 minutes of individual writing instruction each week. He is also going to start using voice recognition software and dictating all of his writing. Part of his writing instruction will involve learning to edit those dictated documents, since VR doesn't always have any idea what you are saying. We have crossed fingers that since he is using his own laptop (we bought it for him last year when he was supposed to be typing everything but it has spent most of it's time taking up space on his desk), it will actually learn his speech patterns and will get better as he uses it. He will also be allowed to use spell check on those documents, which was something his 504 plan prohibited.

The only thing I was disappointed about was that he isn't getting any accommodations in math. He scored within the normal range on all of his math tests, despite not knowing most of his math facts. He can find the answer but can't spit them out in speedy manner, so he isn't able to pass the timed tests they give. I was hoping for the ability to use a calculator on math work or at a minimum, a times table. Barring that, I was hoping for either additional time on timed tests or and end to those completely. In a couple of years, calculators will be available as a matter of course, so he just needs to hang in there until then.

So although it has taken FOREVER to get to this point (initial evaluations were discussed 2 years ago) I'm pretty happy with the outcome and I'm thrilled with his team. His case worker is super and the whole team is working hard to get him started on the right path.

Right now, he is struggling with the dictation because his VR program is flubbed up. It only picks up about every second or third word, which means A LOT of editing, which he has never really had to do. It feels like once he gets the hang of it, this will be a far better option for him.

That's the teacher in her

WF is having some issues this evening with getting his homework done. Part of it is because he didn't bring all of it home, part is because he didn't finish all of it last night because of choir (note, never again will he stay with the group after school for a 6 pm performance) and part is because he is copping major attitude about doing anything.

While he was sliding around on his chair, MF was sitting at the table watching a movie on her DVD player (with headphones and the screen turned away from him, to prevent distractions). She told him to stop sliding around and sit still a couple of times and he completely ignored her (better than the screaming I was getting as basic responses earlier). She paused her movie, got out of her chair and stomped across the floor and yelled "you need your ball" Then she came into the living room, got his yoga ball out and looked at me and said "he is driving me crazy, maybe he'll sit still on this" and rolled it into the kitchen for him. Surprisingly, he still isn't sitting still, but now is laying draped the ball with the book on the chair and still not reading but also not annoying her.

Found: one time travel device

I was at school dropping of snack for the 4th grade today. They were doing their science lesson while I was there and I hung out for a few minutes to observe. The teacher does a KWL when they start a topic, which means what do we already Know, what we Want to learn and what we will Learn. So they were talking about space and someone said that space in infinite. Up goes WF's hand. The teacher called on him (and honestly, I know what kind of irrelevant answers he tends to give so I held my breath a little bit) and he says "some scientists believe that space is always expanding but eventually, it will get so big that it will come back in" His teacher says "Oh yeah, I think that is called negative matter. They can't see it but they can look for signs of it"

They move on down line and eventually another kid says that space has black holes. The teacher talks about how when he was a kid the question was are there black holes, now it is what happens to things that get sucked into black holes.

Boom, up goes my kid's hand again. I think "gah, what can he contribute to that discussion?", because you know that something about black holes triggered his thought. The teacher calls on him and he says "It's my opinion that things that get sucked into black holes go to a different time and place. A black hole is just a tunnel to somewhere else"

As I push my eyes back in my head, the teacher commented that lots of books have that theme and asked if anyone could think of one off the top of their head.

All I could think was "that's my little nerd!" LOL

O.(T.) No, they didn't

At our meeting last week, the school suggested that Occupational Therapy was basically the cure to all of our ills. Of course, that is a service the district does not provide so I needed to take care of it. The school psychologist suggested I contact my insurance company to find out if services were covered, since paying out of pocket for that is cost prohibitive (or as she put it "insanely and dauntingly expensive"). My insurance is stupid and only open until 4:45 so I wasn't able to call last week.

I called today and was transferred around a couple of times. Eventually, I got to someone who told me that, while O.T. is covered, I need a referral from my doctor (no problem, I totally expected that) but that once that referral was made, we would have to visit the O.T., who would then contact the insurance to find out if services were ACTUALLY covered. I know, I totally felt my head explode as she was explaining it to me. So basically, I have to go and hope that the visit is covered or pony up the cost. Of course, I have no idea what that cost might actually amount to.

I called WF's doctor to get the referral process started and the nurse seemed to have no idea what I was talking about. She said the school usually handles O.T. services and she didn't know what they could do. I explained that the services were cut so we were trying to make up that difference ourselves. She said they don't actually offer O.T. services and can't refer us to Carle, who does offer O.T. She at least agreed with me that there was really no need for an office visit, since there was nothing to diagnose. She ended up giving me their fax number and telling me to talk to the school and have them fax over his assessment and their recommendation for treatment and we'll "see if we can figure something out"

So basically, I'm back at square one as far as getting him O.T. services goes. The school can't help, the insurance won't help and the doctor doesn't know how to help.

On a bright note, I did get to check out the new spelling system they are suggesting for him and I could totally make it myself, at home, for under $10! They said I could use the books they have to get him a jump on it, so I don't need to spend $250 per lesson or buy an iPad (since the app they suggested is only available for iPad AND costs $23!), so that was good news. The special ed teacher also recommended a dictation program for him to do his homework with. It isn't perfect, but it is a place to start, so that the words get on the page and he can at least work on editing.

BIT meeting

Earlier this week, I blogged about WF's math, and school in general, issues. We met on Thursday about supports for next year and, although I wasn't thrilled with the idea of the meeting, I came out of it in a better frame of mind. We talked about his focus issues, his spelling issues, his "floppiness", his habit of writing numbers backwards, etc. Today, it occurred to me that I should have asked them about his stutter as well, but I didn't think about it at the time. They agree that most of those issues are real issues and we talked about several things to help him overcome them. Unfortunately, OT has been cut in the district so he hasn't been seeing an OT all year so their first recommendation was to contact my insurance and see if they cover OT services at Carle. Of course, by the time the meeting was over, insurance was closed and then I worked late on Friday and didn't get the call made then either. It is on my calendar for Monday. If they cover it, the school wants me to at least get him evaluated and either do the exercises at home or take him regularly for therapy. For spelling, they want to start him on Barton Spelling. which is a different type of spelling program. Unfortunately, it clocks in at $250 a lesson for 10 lessons, taking you all the way to high school. It isn't going to be something we are going to purchase for him, but I'm assuming that the school has the system, since they said they are going to start him on it. The school psychologist said there is an iPod app that is similar and she is going to email me the details of that so he can start on it over the summer. They said OT would help with the inability to sit up (he is constantly laying over and flopping on other people's desks and being annoying) as would sitting on a therapy ball, since the first time he tries to flop over, he'll fall off the ball! LOL They are also going to get him a math tudor for school. Instead of doing math in class with everyone else, he will sit with this person and learn things at his own pace. They want him to practice math facts at home but he can figure out the math, just not quickly. I think the ability to do it is more important than the ability to do it quickly.

They suggested that he needed to work on hand eye coordination, which isn't surprising. The surprising thing was that they suggested playing Wii Fit for 30 minutes a day to help him get better. They said that 15 minutes of Wii Fit yoga and 15 minutes of balance games each day would help with balance and the floppiness. They also suggested that he play Wii Sports to improve his hand eye coordination. Sending him to the garage and telling him to play tennis or baseball on the Wii fits our schedule a lot better than taking him to the court or the field and hitting balls with him!

Over the summer, everyone is working on school work, everyday. We are starting with Kindergarten sight words and working our way forward for both kids. Both kids will practice K and 1st grade sight words, until they know them like nobody's business. We will also be working on spelling, either just going over the previous spelling words or through the iPod app. We are going to practice handwriting and reading for both kids. Our goal is to get WF caught up and MF starting first grade at least a little ahead. I've already started compiling lesson plans for both of them and working out a timeline to keep us on track. We'll see how our summer of homeschooling goes.

You do the math

WF is having some issues at school (again, I know, shocker). Up to this year, he has always done well at math and struggled with reading. This year, he has caught up, and stayed, exactly at grade level in reading and has slipped away in math. I completely understand this slide. I was always terrible at math, but I remember 3rd grade being particularly difficult because of multiplication. I learned the times table enough to pass the test (why do we do timed math tests, anyway? Isn't being able to find the answer enough, why does it have to be done in a certain number of seconds?) and then promptly forgot most of them. His teacher is nice but, as I'm sure I've mentioned, doesn't have much control of her classroom. I doubt there is a significant amount of learning going on in there because of that. Her big thing is that everyone must go to college. She even has a note on the wall about the college graduation date of this class. I think it is fine to push students to excel, but I don't think that she is approaching it in the right way. She told WF that if he didn't learn math and go to college, he would never have any kind of job worth having. While that might be partially true, that whole sentiment is a bit too insane for my tastes. I agree that the better educated you are, the better options you have. However, I happen to know personally that you can, in fact, have a job worth having while still not knowing a whole lot of math. RF and I neither one use anything beyond the basics everyday.

In fact, when I started college, I was a secondary ed major. I wanted to teach high school history. Of course, that requires a 4 year degree, with a lot of classes that don't mean much of anything. I took some classes towards that goal and then, after getting a job that paid for classes related to my job, I started taking business classes. Eventually, I left that job and decided to go back to school for the degree of my choice. I ended up picking preschool, partly because I had a preschooler and I enjoyed that age but mostly because it was a degree where I could work with only a 2 year degree. A 2 year degree meant that I only had to take statistics for math instead of Algebra. As I did more research into my options, I found that I didn't have to get an early childhood degree. I could pursue a CDA (which I completed all the class work for, but never actually finished the process), which would make me director qualified, would teach me practical teaching practices and best of all meant I never had to take another math class again. I honestly planned my career and life around a single subject and a few classes in that subject. RF never finished any type of degree. We will never be rich but we are comfortable. We both have stable employment and aren't constantly looking over our shoulder in fear of our job being cut(no job is 100% safe but both of ours are in decent shape, even if budgets are tightening). And really, that is more than a whole lot of people can say in this economy, college educated or not.

I choose not to do any math in my head. When I go to the grocery store, I have a calculator on my phone and I use it to figure out which item is the better deal. I can estimate and figure out that if I have $10, I can't get all three of the things I want at the grocery store. I know that $4.19 is more than $3.95 and that I'm going to Thorton's to get gas, instead of the place by my house. I know how to count change, although I do it so rarely that I do have to stop and actually do the counting. I can do basic geometry and figure out how much paint I need for the bathroom or how much grass seed I need for the yard (about twice what the bag says it will cover LOL). I don't really need any additional math and that is all stuff that they have learned by 3rd grade.

I facebooked about this, just out of curiosity about how much math other people use in their daily lives. I expected some of my friends to say they used a lot, but in thinking about their jobs, I expected most to be in the same boat I'm in. They know the basics but haven't done anything beyond that since high school or college. I knew I had some science-y people who would tell me that they solve complex equations in their heads before breakfast. The job I was surprised about was the video game developer. In the abstract, I guess I knew that computers=math but I'd never really made the connection until he pointed out that his whole job is basically writing word problems. I was surprised at what I perceived to be somewhat venomous responses. Several people acted like I was trying to give him an excuse to never do math again. I'm not, I simply wanted a balanced perspective to give him about math and school and college.

Do I want him to do well in school? Absolutely! Would I rather he be middle of the road and actually enjoy school? You bet! I waver constantly between wanting to push him until we both drop to be an A/B student and accepting the fact that, although he is crazy smart and creative, he simply doesn't do well at school. For his last few report cards, he has had a solid 75% across the board. That is the middle of the middle and you can't really get more average than that. There seems to be some stigma against being a middle of the road student that I don't get. They wouldn't call it average if everyone where getting As!

I was a good student, effortlessly. I never, ever studied and rarely did homework, except when turning it in was part of a grade. Unless something was actually being graded, I never did home work at home. I would do it during study hall, sometimes or, more likely, in another class. My dad, RF, my brother, none of them were great students. They were solid C students, most of the time, (unless something really interested them) so why should I be surprised that is where WF is? Of course, when they were in school, average was something different. A teacher friend of mine pointed out that, now, those middle of the road students are the most likely to get interventions because they are on the bubble, so to speak, for testing purposes. Passing is passing and failing is failing, it doesn't matter by how much. There is simply no point (as far as standardized testing goes) in wasting resources on kids who are sure to pass or sure to fail. Instead, they devote a ton of resources to those middle kids since they have the best chance of being saved from failure and bring the whole school percentage up. Because so much time and attention is being paid to those middle kids, it seems like everything is a bigger problem than it is. I've pretty well decided he is the student he is going to be. We'll keep working on getting better and progressing but I'm not holding my breath for him to suddenly become an A student.

We have another intervention team meeting on Thursday. Last year, we met about his handwriting (still horrible BTW) and he ended up with a 504 plan that allows him to use a laptop in class, during writing time. We got it for him in December and he has used it ever since. His writing isn't any better. he still isn't getting his ideas onto the page. He is still writing a sentence or two when he should be writing a paragraph. His spelling is still terrible. The theory was that if he didn't have to focus on the mechanics of writing that he would be better able to spell the words probably and the ideas could flow more easily. Not so much. The only benefit I've seen to the 504 plan is that he got to dictate his extended response on his ISATs this year. I'm sure that made a world of difference in his final score but this seemed to be much ado about nothing.

His teacher things he is has some issues with spacial reasoning. I know that spacial is how things relate to each other and how things fit together but I don't know what that has to do with school. He hates puzzles (me too) but he doesn't do them. She claims, vaguely, that spacial issues can be related to poor spelling, poor handwriting and poor math skills. No one seems to be able to tell me how, exactly, they are related or what exactly can be done about it. So I'm going to meeting on Thursday and I'm hoping to nail down some answers then but I'm just not getting too excited about it. On the one hand, having a "label" (besides "bad kid") might help him in the short term, I don't relish the idea of having him labeled forever. Of course, I don't think any label will get him the help that he actually needs so I'm just not terribly enthusiastic about the whole process.

School update

You all remember this blog? Occasionally, I update it but mostly I forget to do that so blogs are posted and then months go by with no resolution.

Back in November, I talked about how WF was struggling in school and we were thinking of pulling him. I called the district about having him out for the semester. I was told that unless I could prove that he was going on sabbatical, then there was no guarantee that he would get back into the school for 4th grade. This seriously tilted things because long term homeschooling or having two kids at two schools was not something I was interested in.

So we decided to keep him in school with careful monitoring. We have started scheduling playdates with kids from school to help him make friends. The theory being, if he can talk to them one on one, then in a group, he'll have an easier time talking to them. We've had a couple so far. One was pretty successful, the other I wouldn't say as much about. As for the bullying, I don't know if it is getting better but they are mostly having indoor recess and the bully is in another class so they haven't been interacting much. We'll keep a close eye on it, as it gets warmer and they start going outside again.

On a positive note, I'm pleased to report that his school work has gotten MUCH better. I add up the total number of points the kids could have gotten for the quarter and then what they did get to come up with a quarterly percentage. It makes more sense, in my head, that way and gives me an easy point of comparison for overall achievement. His first quarter percentage was 74%. His second quarter percentage was 87%!!!! His only two 1 (they use number instead of letters. 3 is grade level, 2 is working towards grade level and 1 is significantly below grade level) grades were in handwriting and does neat and careful work.

Right about the time everything else was happening, he got a 504 plan that allows him to use a laptop at school for writing because his handwriting is so terrible. We've done a couple of different handwriting programs, he has worked with the OT at school, etc, etc, etc and it just never got any better. Although the computer doesn't help with the spelling and such, at least the letters are formed properly and there are spaces between the words so I can figure out what he is trying to write. The VERY best part of his 504 plan? He gets to dictate his extended responses on the ISATs instead of writing them!!! If you have ever talked to him, you know the kid has a huge vocabulary and can talk your ears off. As long as he doesn't have to write it himself, he will rock ISATs. It also means that he won't be being graded in handwriting anymore, because he isn't writing. So good stuff!

While I didn't talk about her in November, we just new report cards so I'm going to brag about MF too for a minute. She was slightly below grade level in her reading during 1st quarter. Nothing horrible, just a little lower than they wanted her. By the end of second quarter, she had improved so significantly that even if she doesn't improve one single point for the rest of the year, she will still be at grade level! Plus, he handwriting is already better than his is.

I think there are several factors that contribute to that. Most importantly, she has the DESIRE to learn, where he never really did. Second, she had a consistent preschool experience, while he went where ever I happened to be working at the time. Third, they have different teachers. His teacher, who was super nice, didn't seem as focused on academics as her teacher is. During the whole first semester, his teacher didn't send home any homework, except for name writing work sheets. Her teacher sends home 2 letter sheets and a sight word sheet every week. Now that they have all the letters, she is sending home word sheets. She is learning to properly form the letters from the get go, instead of learning bad habits that he never unlearned.

School

I've blogged in the past Meeting with the teacher, Smiley face charts, Reading problem about issues we have had at school. First grade was a nightmare but last year was the best ever! This year, we didn't get the teacher we requested but I was ok with the teacher that we got. She is kind of quite and very gentle, which would be great, if she had control of her classroom. She really doesn't. Her discipline style is to say "ok, guys, now settle down, shh, quite now" quietly and repeatedly throughout the day.

WF is about where he should be academically, but is just barely holding on to grade level. He has also had an issue with a bully at school, who has gathered several other kids to gang up on him. They have been cornering him out of sight of the teacher and taking turns pinching him repeatedly, until he falls down on the ground crying. I talked to the assistant principle about it and he said he would "observe the situation", which he did for a few days. I also went to school for a week or so at recess to keep an eye on it. Nothing happened while I was there but the AP called the kids in and talked to them about it so they knew they were being watched and likely didn't pull anything. He also complains about not having any friends. He says that no one wants to play with him and he spends recess alone.

Besides all this, he has started getting in trouble at school. A few weeks ago, there was an incident in class where a kid was talking to him and he spit while talking. WF turned to the kid and said "don't spit on me" and apparently spit while he was saying it. The kid then spit on him on purpose and they both ended up in the principal's office. They spent the whole afternoon there, not getting any of their work done. Then a week later, there was a problem on the playground. He was apparently playing basketball and lost control of the ball and it bounced into another kid. The kid thought he did it on purpose so he threw the ball back and hit him in the chest. WF stumbled backwards into another kid, who thought he did it on purpose and shoved him forward into the first kid. Eventually, they all ended up on the ground rolling around, possibly throwing punches and elbows (no one was clear on the story at that point). Because the details were "murky" WF earned an in school suspension for his part in it. He served that on Friday of last week.

Then on Monday, he was playing with the girls who have been picking on him. We have pointed out to him a million times that they are not the right people to play with, no matter how popular they are. They aren't nice people, aside from being bullies and he should just avoid them. They were playing tag and when he joined in, they changed it from regular tag to having to hold the person on the ground for 15 seconds. Can you see how this is a HORRIBLE idea in the making? Well, once he held the girl down for 15 seconds, they decided to keep him it that the rule was actually 17 seconds. After he did that, they again changed the rule to 20 seconds. While he was holding her for 20 seconds, he was holding her by her neck and accidentally choking her. The girls were yelling at him to let her up but he didn't realize he was hurting him. Once he let her up, she ran off crying and the other girls ran to the principal to say that he was hurting them.

So because he has a pattern of bad behavior, he got in trouble. No one bothered to take into account that he isn't a bad kid and wasn't doing it maliciously. No one bothered to pay attention to the fact that he was playing by the rules the girls set out for him and had no idea he was hurting someone. Nope, he was automatically the bad guy and got suspended on Tuesday for it. Not only was he suspended, Tuesday was the night of the Third Grade musical. The only performance opportunity he will have in that school since he was in first grade and the last one until he is in 5th grade, because the music department in that school sucks.

So now he is a bad kid, with a reputation. I feel like the school is failing (and has been failing) him academically, socially and emotionally. I feel like he has a label now and anytime anything happens, he will automatically get in trouble. My real concern is that if someone is bullying him (which we know has happened as recently as a few weeks ago), he has to simply take it. If he fights back in anyway, he will be accused of fighting and will get another suspension. I asked the school to assign him and aide to accompany him throughout the day. He is struggling with direction in the classroom (he has always had issues with being overwhelmed with too many choices and his teacher doesn't seem willing to say to him "you need to do this, then this" so she lets him flounder until he gets in trouble for not making good choices) and obviously has issues at recess. I told the AP that he needs someone to sit on top of him and derail those bad choices that are leading to bad behavior, before they get started. I was told aides are only available for kids with IEPs that the law dictates must have aides. I was told that during recess he could "check in" with the recess supervisor, who would then help him get involved in whatever organized activity was taking place that day (usually either soccer or basketball) so that he "stays out of trouble"! Seriously, not the answer to the problem but all the school is going to give him.

I'm seriously considering pulling him out for the rest of the year and homeschooling him. I feel like he is immature both socially and academically. I feel like he needs time to get ahead on school work and mature a little bit. Ideally, I would like to pt him back in at the beginning of 4th grade and let him finish out school there before going to middle school. We are having the same impulse control conversations with him I have with my preschoolers. No, it isn't ok to hug your friend until you fall on the ground or grab someone's arm during a game of tag and swing them into the tree. He just doesn't get it, despite having heard those same kinds of things since he was 2. RF is pretty against the idea of pulling him but I really feel like he needs the extra time and attention. I need to call the district and get the details on a temporary leave but I really think that starting second semester, we will be doing school at home.

Music to my ears

Back in November, I caused a stir by sending an unauthorized email to our PTA email list regarding the lack of performances for half the school. I was asked to resign moderatorship of the list, which I refused. Since then, my reception with the PTA has been "cool" at best (including several facebook unfriendings, which FB totally ratted them out about by offering them as suggestions for people I might know LOL) . Of course, having fans has never been my motivation in life and I have not let the subject drop( raise your hand if you really thought I would. I'm the person that wouldn't eat at Chevy's for 3 years because i broke my toe there and no one asked if I was ok).

Because of my persistence in the matter, the music teacher was invited to the November PTA meeting, where, after seeing it wasn't my own personal crazy and other parents didn't like it either, she agreed to schedule some in class performances for the grades not doing musicals. Lame and a total cop-out, when she easily could have put an additional grade on stage before the musical, had them sing a couple of songs and be done, however, after she made it clear that she isn't REQUIRED to do ANY type of performance, I figured it was the best we were going to get and decided to leave well enough alone.

Since November, I have emailed her at least 3 different times, asking when she plans to get the performances scheduled. At the meeting, we were told they would be in January, February and March, so they would be over by the spring musical in April. Well, as of today, not only have none been done, none are even scheduled. I emailed her again tonight, asking for a concrete date and not the blow off she has given me the other times I've emailed about it. Her previous email, sent Feb 1st, said she knew the "what" (inviting parents to join the class in their classroom and seeing music education first hand) but not the when. She assured me parents would have plenty of notice about it.

Tonight's email pointed out that we are near the end of 3rd quarter, that I'm emailing about this AGAIN and I'm afraid these things she promised, in the face of angry parents, won't actually happen because the end of the year gets crazy. I also cced the principal on this email, hoping to encourage her to get some concrete information to parents.

I really think she believes if she ignores this long enough, I'll drop it. Not only is she totally off-base with that idea, she is sadly mistaken if she thinks that once my kid in in a grade that performs, I'll back off about it. What she fails to realize, I'm certain, is that I have another kid coming in and they will be on opposite years. Until my kids or that teacher is gone from that school, I won't be letting this subject drop. She doesn't understand the mess she has unleashed on herself by tangling with me. I will NEVER let her off the hook.

However, I'm at the point that fighting the battle by myself isn't that effective. So, if I haven't heard from her by the end of the week, I intend to pull out my handy-dandy school directory and type in all the email addresses of all of the K, 2nd, and 4th grade parents (198 students out of 407 total) and encourage them to start contacting her and the principal. It is time this is taken care of. When I sent the original email to the PTA list, I was accused of "trying to start a riot" against this teacher and encouraging a "torch and pitchfork mentality" among the parents. Honestly, if that is what people want to believe about me, then I'm willing to make it a self-fulfilling prophesy. I will not use the email list to contact the parents because that is viewed as an abuse of my moderator powers. However, everyone in the school has the directory (I know, I made and passed out all the copies myself) and has the same ability that I do to contact other parents to take a stand.

On slightly more positive note, I'm willing to bet no one approaches me about being on the board this year. LOL

Despite this issue, I still love the school. I still think the administration and staff are among the best in the district. I think, in general, the teachers are hard working and really care about the kids. I think that the parents are involved and everyone is interested in making the school the best that it can be. This is a minor detail in the grand scheme of school choices but it is my current soapbox.

Let the depression keep on rolling

In the theme of my past posts, this one is another depressing one.

Today after school we went to FCC to play. After we had been there for awhile, The Charming Phantom came over to the table to tell me that The Wild Freak was crying. I went to see him and see what was happening. He laid his head on my lap and cried for a while. While I'm asking what is wrong, CP was standing over my shoulder saying "things didn't go well at school today. With some force, I finally extracted from him that one of the other kids had been mean to him about PK and then that PK had been mean to him to. That instead of playing with him she ran away. Then he wailed "Everything used to be perfect and now it isn't"! Oh to be a second grader in love! CP comments, "I think he should break up with her and find another girlfriend" then shrugged at me and walked away ROFL No ulterior motives there. No sirree! :) Eventually he calmed down and told me that his new friend who is in the 3rd grade is the problem. His friends in his class don't want to play with the older kid so he has to decide who he wants to play with at a given time. I explained that sometimes your friends aren't friends with each other and you just have to decide which game you like playing better that day, that time. He told me that it sure wold be easier if all his friends could be friends. Isn't that the story of life!

Unfortunately, the way things are going, I'm betting I'll get to use my shiny new "drama" tag a lot more often.

Body movin'

I get the National PTA newsletter through our local council PTA email list. In it, they had an article talking about different styles of learning and how to help them learn better. I took the little quiz they gave, fully expecting TB to fall into the "word smart" category because the kid NEVER stops talking. He doesn't write well because he is such a good story teller that writing limits his abilities. He can't write as fast as he can think and he ends up playing the "tell a complete story in 3 lines or less game" and leaves out a lot of detail that he would include if he were telling the story instead of writing it.

So anyway, the quiz came up with mostly "a"s, which placed him in the Body Smart Learner. Ok, he is also pretty active, I'll read the description and see what they say The following is text from the article.

Your child is a body-smart (bodily/kinesthetic) learner -- she probably has a natural sense of balance, making her a good athlete or dancer. These types of kids learn best when it involves their body in some way -- either through hands-on experience (think using objects to count with or blocks for building) or by doing something as they listen, even if it's just chewing gum or kneading a stress ball. Your child is probably also the touchy type; when she has something to tell you, she'll demonstrate it using hand gestures and pantomime, which is why she's likely to be a good actor, too.

Possible Careers: Athlete, dancer, actor, doctor, military, construction, artist, landscape designer

Homework Helpers: •Let Her Move• Give your child an exercise ball to sit on as she does her homework -- the sheer act of balancing on it will help her focus better, says Bennett. Or let her do it standing up. Want your body-smart kid to remember better? Tell her to move her finger under the words when she's reading books, notes, or spelling words, says educational psychologist Michele Borba, Ed.D. Have her write out spelling words or sums in big letters with chalk on the sidewalk, or on a big piece of paper inside, and hop on them. Or have her spell them out with her body. •Work It Out• Whether she's kicking a soccer ball or jumping rope, let your kid go out in the backyard and get her energy out before she settles back down to study.

The bold part is the part that really rang true for me. We are CONSTANTLY on him to SIT DOWN. When he does his homework, when he is eating, etc. Last year it was such a problem that his teacher had him evaluated by the school OT and he ended up with a little seat cushion to help convince him to sit. Since he never actually sat, the cushion wasn't so overly helpful. This year, his teacher said she hasn't noticed as much of a problem with it. I still see it at home all the time so I'm guessing that he is doing it, he just isn't as obnoxious about it this year. I hate to suggest doing things at school that would separate him from the other kids, like the stress ball thing while listening. Or something different to sit on but I really wonder if that wouldn't help him.

Regardless of accommodations being made, he really is doing better this year. Until recently, he was doing his homework without protest every night. He has started Handwriting without tears and since I know that he knows how to actually form most of the letters now, I'm making him take his time and write so I can read what he is writing and that makes him irritated. He doesn't like erasing and re-doing but that is just too bad. He can do it and he is going to do it.

I'm Freak...

And I have an attitude problem (I'm also a little petty, which factors in here as well). Most of you know this. However, I have an attitude about something in particular this time so you all get to read about it.

The walk is Friday. Although I didn't chair a committee, I have put in quite a bit of time working on it. I plan to put in quite a bit more time before it is all over because, as part of the hospitality committee, part of my job is to help set up, be there for the event and help tear down. Last year, I was at the school from 7am until 12:30. I don't anticipate it being any different this year. That is not an insignificant amount of time and energy on my part.

I found out today, that despite all that time, I won't be getting a t-shirt this year. I won't even have the opportunity to buy one because they simply weren't ordered. I understand that t-shirts are a huge expense and take away from the bottom line of the event. I realize that it is cost prohibitive to hand one out to anyone who shows up the day of the event. However, this feels like a huge slap in the face to anyone who actually did any work for this event. Honestly, we had several meetings this summer, they knew before today that people wouldn't be getting shirts. They knew the day they ordered them and we should have been given the opportunity to buy one if we wanted one. I would have gladly purchased one because I don't care if they are GIVEN out, I just want a shirt because I think they look cool this year (I have on from last year and it is pretty lame. The only place I will wear it is to work out). Was this done deliberately to cause ill-will and bad feelings towards the PTA (cause, seriously, thinking about not actually joining this year over this whole thing)? I doubt it. Was it poor planning and general jerkiness? ABSOLUTELY!!

Am I still going to the walk? I thought about not but TB wants me there and I wouldn't bail at the last minute because I know the chair of the hospitality committee is counting on me being there. Will I work very hard while I'm there? Not as hard as I would if I had shirt.

Nomination of a deserving teacher

Last year my son had a teacher who seemed to be done teaching. Everyday was a struggle to get to go to school because he was so bored and frustrated with much of the stuff that happened in the classroom. By the end of the year, he was proclaiming daily that he hated school. This was first grade! It made me really sad and frustrated to hear him saying that.

This year is a VASTLY different story! His teacher loves her job and loves her students. She is engaged and so are the kids. She is incredibly enthusiastic and her students feel that and respond to it. He comes home everyday how much he loves school. We are getting notes home telling us about his progress in class and how well he is doing! His behavior is improving and he is progressing academically. Besides inspiring her students, she is actively involved in the PTA, although she has no children of her own, to help all of the school’s children succeed.

Our school has a large ESL population as well as a high percentage of kids who live below the poverty line. All of the teachers spend money out of their own pockets to help the kids have the things they need to succeed. So far this year, I know for sure his teacher has spent her own money to purchase special pencil grips for some of the kids to teach them how to hold a pencil and learn to write correctly.

If there is a teacher who deserves this award, it is his teacher this year. She took a little boy who hated school in May and within 2 weeks of starting school in August, made him love learning again. I’m sure before the end of the year she will have spent additional money to keep her kids learning ad growing throughout the year.

or @adaymadebetter

Whole lot of things

So, basically I suck at blogging. Even Quigs is doing better than me at keeping up with hers and that is saying a lot! :) Since we got back from vacation, nothing much blog-worthy has happened. There have been lots of little things but nothing worthy of a post on it's own so now you get a bullet point list of all the things that have happened in the last month.

-TB started baseball this fall. He has never played before and missed the only two practices of the season because we were on vacation. He jumped right in to playing in a real game and we have been doing 2 games a weeks since then.

-Baseball bores me to tears. I cheer for our team, but I would rather be almost anywhere else. TB feels the same way. He likes to hit but hates being in the field. He is the kid in the outfield, kicking the dirt, chewing on his glove, chasing butterflies, dancing like Michael Jackson, etc. At least twice during every inning the coaches are yelling at him to pay attention

- We are at 3 losses, 2 wins, and 1 tie. I'm surprised that we have done that well because most of these kids are young and not exceptionally good at baseball. Instead of telling them where to make the play, the coach is simply teaching them to get it to the pitcher to stop the play because most of them aren't able to process the situation fast enough to do any good.

-We started school last week. We got the teacher we requested which is fantastic. She is active in the PTA, she taught drama club last year and we both knew her and like her a lot. I think she is the kind of teacher that TB needs and I'm hopeful that she will have a very positive impact on him this school year. Let's cross our fingers for reading by the end of the year!

-I'm babysitting a little boy after school. His mom works with my mom and she was concerned about the after school program. We worked out a deal and I pick him up 4 days a week after school, while I'm there picking TB up. It works out well because he has the teacher TB had for K so she knows me and knows the routine. It is a good deal for all involved. He gets to come and play with the kids and do the other fun things we do after school each day. I get a little a little extra money and she gets someone that she knows watching her kid every day. Good all around.

-We've been spending time with some kids from TB's class. He is thrilled to see more big kids.

-Soccer started last week, but due to conflict with baseball, this is the first practice we've been able to make.

-I can not tell you how much I LOVE soccer. The coach is good, if a little tough. There is at least one other kid who has never played and one girl who isn't interested in played (she spent a lot of time standing around at practice tonight). The coach believes that a sport isn't played by kids alone and requests parents assistant at practices. He asked me tonight if I could help out at future practices since I have soccer experience.

-TB was FAR more engaged in every step of practice than he has been at any point during baseball.

-Poor TB was a red little sweatball when practice was done. Apparently despite the running and playing he does, he is pretty out of shape. We are going to have to work on that.

-Speaking of getting in shape, I think, while it is decent weather, TB and I are going to think about the C25K program. Probably not 3 days a week between soccer games and practices and baseball games but as often as we can. With playing soccer, he is going to need to get in running shape and he wants to play basketball in the winter, which is going to require running. As an added bonus, he is hoping to get faster than the other boys at school because he kind of gets left behind sometimes.

-We are, hopefully, going to take karate this winter as well. Assuming it doesn't conflict with basketball, he and I will sign up for TKD through UPD. He took it through CPD a few years ago and I hated the instructor and I pulled him after 2 classes. I tried to get into the CPD karate class, but could never get the person to call me back about he and I taking it together (it was divided by age, which defeated the purpose of taking it together).

-My weight loss is slowing way down. I've been in the 180s for over a month and I'm SICK of it!! I gained over 5 pounds while on vacation and lost it all but I'm still stuck here. Hence all of the activity increases in our house.

-MT is starting school next week. She is really excited about it and I'm hoping she is keeps that up. She is going to be sad when she finds out that H won't be in her class this year but I'm hoping she will make new friends as well.

-I have a wedding to go to in October. I'm by turns excited about it and irritated by it. I like wedding receptions and dancing. I just hope I have someone to actually dance with. I'm not thrilled with the idea of going to the wedding but it is expected.

-This is the wedding that I had expected to be asked to participate in and then was not only not asked, I feel like I have been actively excluded, despite multiple offers of help. I didn't want to be in the wedding. Being in a wedding party is a PITA and costs more money than I'm willing to spend. Plus, it is usually a lot of work and terribly enjoyable. So yeah, I wanted to say no but I wanted the OPPORTUNITY to say no, instead of not even being asked. This friend and I, although tight throughout school, are in vastly different points in our life. She is just now getting married, working full time, etc where I'm staying at home, have kids in school, etc. Not a whole lot in common anymore but really, being friends since we were 8 should hold some meaning. Done ranting, I'll go to the wedding, I'll have fun and I'll move on. Eventually.

-We were supposed to move upstairs this fall but that isn't happening. My mom decided that RF and I weren't putting forth enough effort to facilitate the move. She said that it didn't benefit them so if we weren't going to do things how she wanted them, then we weren't doing it. Fine. We'll stay in the basement.

-We are supposed to be getting new windows this week. That means tearing apart the bedrooms for a couple of days. That gives me an opportunity to rearrange the rooms which have been pretty set in stone the last 6 years. I'm excited for a new look! :)

Schools out...for summer

Wed was the last day of school. They went for a whopping hour and 15 minutes. It was a waste of time but he got his report card so that was all good. After spending the whole year behind grade level in reading, he suddenly doubled his reading level and jumped right up to grade level. Let's hope he hangs on to that over the summer and starts close to grade level in the fall.

Since school is now out, we are going to be busy. Pools and parks and travels are calling our names. If I manage blog, it is going to be the same old same old. Stay tuned for blogs saying "We went to the pool" "We went to the library" "We went to the park" "We went to the children's museum" and hopefully "I lost weight"

Nothing big or exciting going on here

Too random for Twitter

Too many little things going on and none of them deserve there own blog post or status updates but lots of things going on so I'm going to post them all here.

First of all, I have the BEST friends. They are super generous and just generally awesome. Big thanks to them for passing along their clothes as they don't fit them anymore.

I finally bought a new bra today. This is something I hate doing because I hate spending money on something that is basically a societal approved torture device. However, I found some at Karen's Closet that were discontinued stock from Confidentially Yours so they are brand new but they were only $7.99. If I could have found more in my size, I probably would have bought a couple.

Weight loss is going well. I lost 4 pounds last week and I'm down a total of 13 over all. I'm 2 pounds from my 15 pound goal and 8 pounds from my 10%.

I've joined another workout challenge at the gym and part of this one is actually losing weight. In order to get the full points, I have to lose 8 pounds in the next 4 weeks. I can SO do this! I wish my starting weight would have been what I weighed last week, so I'd be half way there but that is the way the cookie crumbles.

We went to Six Flags last weekend. It was MT's first trip and TB's since he was big enough to remember it. MT LOVED it. She went on every roller coaster she was big enough to go on and was really ticked that she couldn't go on the bigger ones. TB wasn't interested in most of the rides, although he did love the water rides.

Of course, the prices were outrageous but it was to be expected.

We ended up having a great day. The weather was a little cool and it was threatening rain all day so a lot of people stayed home. About 3, the storm broke, closing the water park and a bunch of the rides. We waited it out while we ate lunch and by the time we were done, it had absolutely poured but was basically done. Tons of people left the park then so we were basically able to walk on to rides after that. The longest ride we stood in all day was 15 minutes to ride the Batman (my dad and TB spent 30 minutes in line for Scooby Doo but we weren't in that line)

MT got to meet Batman and Robin! She was just thrilled senseless. My dad saw Batman at the theater and ran up the hill and grabbed her and took off back down the hill. I took off after them so I could get pictures of the big event. I'm sure we looked like idiots racing down the hill like we were being chased but it was well worth it to get the pictures. I didn't get pictures of Robin because I was in line for food when she saw him with my dad.

I ate like a horse all weekend but got right back on the wagon once I got home. I gained one pound while I was gone but I've lost that and a bit more since then. Hopefully, I'll manage at least a one pound loss this week. That would make me quite happy :)

I'm thinking about taking TB to see Night at the Museum tonight. It looks really funny and he has been begging to go see it.

School is almost over for the year. I'm ready for 1st grade to be behind us. Besides the fact that I'm ready to be done with his teacher, I'm REALLY ready to be done with getting up at 6 am!

He seems to be reading much better recently. At least stuff that interests him. He can read his Pokemon cards and know what each attack does because it is interesting. He doesn't seem to be able to read the early reader books they send home because they are boring. Quigs asked if I thought he was not being challenged and is some kind of evil genius. I told her I agree with the evil part LOL

He has started meeting with the speech pathologist at school because he stutters a little bit. I've been asking his doctor since he was 2 about it and have been told repeatedly that he would simply outgrow it. At 2, 3, 4, and 5, that was fine but he is 7.5 and still hasn't outgrown it. I emailed the SP and asked her about it. She observed him and said she agreed he needed intervention.

The SP met with him and then met with me and told me that she just wasn't sure what to do with him at this point (shock, neither am I but totally different reasons). She said he is aware of his problem but knows how to stop himself and get it under control. She was going to do some timed test for stuttering this week and we have a meeting setup for Monday morning to discuss the results.

She said that he has an advanced vocabulary and used advanced sentence structure and that basically, she thinks his stuttering is because he is too smart for his own good. She feels that the facial muscles aren't developed enough to handle his advanced speech patterns and doesn't want to put him in the IEP system if that is the case.

I tried the asparagus raw and it was kind of gross. I'm going to attempt roasting some on the grill this afternoon when I make dinner but I'm not holding my breath that it will improve that much LOL RF said it was fine but both kids agreed with me.

TB came home from school today complaining of a stomach ache. I told him I thought he needed to eat more fiber and that is why his stomach hurt. I told him he had to start eating veggies and he asked me to pick him up some celery at the store. So I did and he sat down and ate a big stalk of it. Madness!

Time to vote

Back in October I wrote about my support for 1% sales tax increase. Unfortunately, it didn't pass in the fall, probably because of a lack of education about what it involved in the outlying districts (this is county wide so not just our school district).

It has been put on the ballot again this election. Again, I encourage everyone to vote YES for more school funding. This increase is a good way to support our schools because it allows us to take advantage of the huge student population, in a way that property tax just doesn't. In Unit 4, this money means a new school in Savoy, a new building for BTW and a new addition for Garden Hills (which fulfill the consent decree requirements of more strands north of University). In addition, it means a reduction in property taxes and building improvements for most of the other elementary schools in the district.

I don't know the specifics of what other districts are doing, but I do know that many of them are pledging property tax reduction as well.

Just to reiterate, please vote YES for a 1% sales tax increase to support school funding on April 7th!

Shameless self promotion

Ok, really not "self" promotion but I did write it myself and it is shameless. :) If it interests you, please email me mom2cne @ gmail.com (no spaces) and I can get you all set up :)

Do you have a small business or know someone that does? Would you like to congratulate your child on an achievement? Do you have a community organization that needs promotion? Would you like your advertising to reach the entire Westview community?

We are selling ads to be placed in the yearbook, to cover the costs of having them created.

Pricing is as follows:
$20 – 1/8 sheet
$35 – ¼ sheet
$50 – ½ sheet
$75 – full sheet
$100 – full sheet inside front or back cover

All artwork must be camera ready, no editing or corrections will be made. Ads are placed on a first come, first served basis. Payment is due when the order is placed.

Please fill out the below order form and return it to your child’s teacher by Friday, March 13th.
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Name:_________________________________________________


Business or organization name: ___________________________________________


Ad size: __________________________


Ad words (if additional space is required, please use back of form): ________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________


Phone number: _____________________________________