Our Three-Week Check-in

OMG, they have to walk upstairs???

So many little things and changes pop up at the beginning of the school year. While they may not seem like that big of a deal to kids (especially if they’ve been in their school for a while), for parents it’s a sign of time passing too fast.

Mary

This school year started off on such a high note. My son slipped right back into the rhythm of 4th grade, which I expected. It was the girls’ first step into Kindergarten that I wasn’t sure about. I braced myself for a repeat of my son’s first few days of kindergarten with quiet pickups from the bus stop, exhaustion, and end‑of‑day crankiness. Instead, the complete opposite happened. I truly couldn’t have asked for a better transition.

Thanks to swim team, tee ball, and all the afternoons at our pool, the girls already knew so many kids at school and on the bus. Being in separate classes has actually been a gift: they love their teachers, they’re making friends independently, they’re handling with the curriculum, and they come home excited to share their days at the dinner table.

They’ve also formed a strong neighborhood girl squad and are constantly plotting activities together. It helps that I know the parents (and genuinely enjoy them) so their rapidly-filling social calendar doesn’t feel like a chore. The girls will be on the same softball team this fall and, in a fun twist, they’re joining the Girl Scouts this year. Honestly, they’re living their best life.

As for my 4^th grade son, school is unfolding just as I thought it would. He likes his teachers, has a solid circle of friends, and is settling in well with familiar faces around him. That’s not to say he doesn’t test a boundary or bend a class rule here and there, but it’s all within the realm of normal.

What stands out this year is how much more focused and respectful he is, really trying to put in his best effort compared to last year. He’s completing homework and chores with far fewer reminders, which has earned him the freedom to bike over to a friend’s house when they’re around. I genuinely credit a lot of this growth to taekwondo. It may not be his “cricket” yet, but he’s taking the discipline he learns there and applies it to the other parts of his life, and it shows.

As for me, I’ve somehow ended up as a classroom parent for the second year in a row. It wasn’t part of the plan, but I couldn’t let one of my girls’ teachers go without support (Isn’t that how it always happens?). I’m also a Girl Scout parent volunteer which was definitely not on my bingo card for the year. My calendar now feels like a giant game of Tetris, just trying to make everything fit. I’m not entirely sure how I got here, but I’m genuinely happy to be present and involved this school year so far.

Patti

Our jump from 2nd to 3rd grade is no exception to the “time passing too fast” reality. There are so many small additions and adjustments, but it’s nothing earth-shattering:

They don’t have an assigned desk to keep their stuff, so they have to keep their backpacks with them. This means their backpacks are heavier and it takes more effort to keep them organized.

They have different teachers and rooms for each subject block, so they are walking back and forth.
They need to track homework.
They need to actually remember their homework folder.
They have two more formal subject areas: Science and Social Studies.
They need to put their first AND last name on everything.
They are eating more so I’m packing more substantial lunches.
The teachers are sending us monthly calendars with test and quiz dates, so we can get the girls into the habit of studying and test prep.

Aeris did have an emotional moment on the second day of school from the increased pressure of being a third grader in a fourth-grade math class. The imposter syndrome hit and she was afraid to ask for directions. As someone who cried A LOT in class, I had a lot of empathy for her and gently tried to explain that teachers aren’t there to yell, but to help. The standard “I’m sure other kids had the same question as you” and “you can always ask the person next to you” seemed to relieve a bit of the pressure. She’s always been the type to feel that she needs to get everything right the first time.

Otherwise, we’ve had a pretty solid three weeks and the girls seem to have made the adjustment for the increased rigor and responsibility. Some of our summer habits have endured so we’re still fitting in library runs and reading for fun

On the home front, they’re also balancing a new afternoon routine with longer practice schedules, homework blocks, and significantly reduced screentime. There is always some homework resistance, and the weeks do feel much busier and heavier (for lack of a better word). The expectations for both of their travel teams have tweaked their perspective, so there is more of a push for focus and improvement. They are also running up and down the field for 5-7 hours a week.

The biggest change up is actually going to happen this week. Our county school board has a mandatory 10-day seat check. This is when attendance is tracked every day for the first 10 days of school to monitor actual student numbers and teacher need. Here is where class ratios come into play. If a school has too many students per grade (or not enough students per grade), the school board will either add or redistribute teachers where there is need. In the past, our school has either lost teachers after the first ten days, or teachers have been asked to combine classes like a split 4^th/5^th grade class.

This time around, our school will be getting an additional 3^rd grade teacher, so my girls’ class rosters will be divvied up this week. They won’t have a curriculum shake up since all the teachers use the same materials and lesson plans, but it would affect daily schedules and specials rotations. The new teacher has previously taught at our school, so it’s nothing to be alarmed about; just something to watch for in the transition.

As the last of our friends share their First Day of School pics this week, we hope you’ve had a good Back-to-School transition and that our BTS posts have been helpful for you this month. We’re off for the week before Labor Day and we head out on this year’s GIRLS TRIP this weekend.

Tell you all about it in a couple weeks!