How's It Going?!

Well it is e-learning. I'm incredibly thankful to our teachers who are trying to hold things together to get our kids in school at least half days. They are a God-send for working parents and even the stay at home parents but most especially for our kids. Our kids need to be back in the schools doing what they do. They are not getting at home what they surely can get at school.

It's apparent already that some curriculum had to be cut because they just don't have the time. Our 5th graders aren't getting any homework which I'm not complaining about but I worry that next year will be a rude awakening for them because I know how much homework they get in 6th grade.

I worry that I'm losing Hailey. It's been increasingly difficult to get her to follow a schedule in the morning of getting up, getting dressed and sitting down to do her work. Then when she has a break, she wants to play and is annoyed at me when I call her down for lunch because she has to eat and go to school in the afternoon. Not to mention that these teachers don't have ample time to test for math and reading. I mean Hailey came home with a book at the level she was in last November/December! I had a few back and forth email exchanges with her teacher who was so great and told me that that level is the start of first grade. Well, that's great but she was reading at that back in the first half of kindergarten! She agreed to re-test her and her teacher will finish up this week but thinks she should be at the last level of first grade or into the beginning of the second grade level (where I thought she should be). 

As for Austen, he's in 8th grade so he's pretty much on his own (although we got him a new desk for his bedroom). But, I wonder how he's going to do in Algebra 1 without being in class all the time or how they will get everything in for Spanish 1 so that when he goes to high school next year he can fall easily into Spanish 2. 

These kids, like all kids across the world this year, are going to struggle at some point because of something they didn't get enough of during this crazy year. In fact, we may all struggle especially as the weather grows colder again. 

I still can't walk away from Hailey for very long in the mornings while she's doing her lessons because she needs my help to figure out what she has to turn in or simply how to navigate a link in an app or how to log in to another app. But thankfully, I don't have to do this all day. I get a 2.5 hour break where I can workout, shower, do laundry or write a blog before I need to walk the dog and pick them up from school. A. Much. Needed. Break. We all need those to keep us sane during these times and for this I'm thankful to our teachers and our community for doing the right thing during this time so our kids can be in school. 

Eyes closed and listening intently to her music lesson

Back in Full Swing - Phew!

Pandemic? Well, Illinois sports has certainly learned how to play around the pandemic by scrimmaging within teams/clubs and getting in lots of baseball. 

 This past weekend, we headed to 4 games/scrimmages in a row then on to a big bonfire with friends. We might have been home on Saturday for an hour all day. 

Austen in action

 We were beat and glad to sleep in on Sunday which gave us some reprieve but it was still a busy day (and 17th anniversary for us) with some soccer training for Hailey and Austen, and then Peyton had a Girl Scout outing planting flowers at her school. 

Tom and I snuck away for a dinner for a few hours only to have Austen track us on his phone when we pulled up at a well-known place for dessert. I only knew this because right then a text popped up on my phone with his order! We had to laugh and bring him home his dessert of choice. 

Weekdays are just as busy with Peyton's swim training in full swing and Austen's baseball games starting again along with soccer practices and swim lessons for Hailey. It makes me glad I did all that cleaning when we were in shelter in place. Hopefully, there won't be another time like that again!

A quick early morning stop after our first 8am game

Back to School - Grades 8, 5 and 1!

I can't believe it's been almost 6 months since my kids stepped foot back in their schools. Boy, they sure missed that interaction and socialization with their teachers and peers. Hailey said it best when I picked her up on her first day of school, "It was way too short!" We're one of the lucky districts as our kids are allowed to go to school half days (we're PM which means we go to school the second half of the day). It might be a lot more taxing if we were all remote as our high schoolers in the area are already.

I'm thankful for the break especially with Hailey as there has been no reprieve for her remote portion of learning. We have to sit with these 1st graders while they do their 2.5 hours of remote learning andthen turn around and feed our kids and get them off to school. Then we can finally clean up, walk the dog, conquer the laundry, the million forms to be filled out, appointments to be made or things that need to be signed up for. I often don't even check my email until late at night unless I'm looking for something specific. I don't have time. I'm not at a desk anymore all day. And what was supposed to be my first year with no one at home has turned into afternoon kindergarten x 3. Luckily, Austen doesn't need much of my help and Peyton only requires some because Hailey needs most of it.

 

Peyton had a math activity to complete last week and what should have taken her 20 minutes or so turned into one hour as she picked an online lesson that they hadn't learned yet but she was too far in to go back which resulted in a lot of tears for her and frustration for me as I had to sit with her as she answered every question. If she got it right, her score went up. If she got it wrong, her score went down and prolonged the end of the lesson. But aside from a couple of snafus here and there, the kids are starting to develop some new routines this school year.

 

Austen chose a new room for his remote learning (his bedroom). He said his Dad was too loud on conference calls downstairs where he had sequestered himself in an adjacent room to him.

 

Peyton and Hailey go in the same door at school this year so it's been nice having them together. It's their last year in school together forever so I really enjoy when they tell me that they see each other at school and wave or say hi to each other. It's a marked difference from when Austen was in 5th grade and he'd see Peyton and look the other way (until we got wind of it and he never did that again).

 

Anyway, the kids are excited to be back. Their biggest back to school purchases were various masks to match their outfits! Seriously, I think I spent more on masks than their back to school clothes!

 

Peyton and Hailey have started rec soccer and Peyton starts swim training this week. Hailey continues with her swim lessons too and is doing really well (she may pass out sooner than Austen and Peyton who were midway through the second grade when they were done with swim lessons). She only has two levels left and it probably won’t be that long before she passes out of her current level.

 

Austen just started a fall ball baseball league. He's never played in the fall before because he hasn't had the time but this year baseball is one of the only sports the kids in our state can play with minimum to no restrictions. Since cross country was canceled for the middle schoolers, he decided to continue with baseball. And, of course he's been doing a lot of training with his new soccer team, which he is really excited about. He's learning a lot and his game is growing. I can see his development and what he’s learned in just two short months.

 

So life is just as busy as it was before the pandemic - maybe more so for me now with remote learning. I'm just hoping that they stay in school and that we don't have to continue this far into 2021. But for now all we can do is take it one day at a time.

Reading her early chapter books

Austen's new remote learning spot

Hailey's walk to school with her friends

Peyton's self portrait this year

Peyton loves the Dork Diaries series

Last Days of Summer

The kids head back to school tomorrow (at least in the pm)! They are more than ready and so am I. It’s all a bit confusing for all of us as to what this new routine might entail but I’m sure we’ll fall into a schedule soon enough. 

So with school on the horizon, this past week/weekend we soaked up the last days of summer using the shark w

Lunch in Holland, MI

ater slide in our backyard as well as heading to Michigan to go to the beach, play some mini golf, dine al fresco and enjoy drinks and a winery with friends. 

And, in other news from the weekend:

Austen got to play volleyball with some new neighbors (and a cute, athletic 8th grade girl who ironically is friends with the daughter of one of my good friends who grew up with me). 

Our next door neighbor’s (in Michigan) daughter bought a house down the street from us in CH. Sort of small world! (She knew where we lived and loved the area.)

Hailey thought we were all her butler and left her bag of stuff she carries back and forth from one house to another on her bed in Michigan. It was all ready to go but we only learned it never made it to the car when we got home and discovered her blanket that she sleeps with every night was missing. Luckily, Peyton came to the rescue, and what could have been a major meltdown was alleviated due to her big sister’s generosity (allowing her to sleep with a favorite stuffed animal). Shocking, I know, but I’m happy to see these flashes of maturity rise out of her. 

So here’s to my 1st, 5th and 8th graders. I hope you had a great summer despite the pandemic and have an even better year!

Our COVID-19 Purchase

Enjoying Lunch on Lake Macatawa

Boatwerks for Lunch

Impromptu Walk at the Beach

Mini Golf - those are our balls traveling toward the mill.