Another School Year

Oh, friends!  So much has happened while I have been away!  First of all, THIS happened this morning.

(Ignore the years being wrong. I saved the file on my computer last year and didn’t pay attention this morning!)

Wasn’t this picture just taken yesterday?

And now, Gracie is in kindergarten?!?! IT’S ALL HAPPENING TOO FAST!

We dropped Gracie off this morning and she was a champ. It was like she was a professional kindergartener. She walked right in, hung up her backpack, gave Chris and I kisses, and then sat right down in her chair. There were kids crying all around her and she was like, “LET’S DO THIS!”

Bean’s classroom is just down the hall and he rocked it as well. His classmates were lined up outside the classroom door, waiting until the bell rang to enter. As soon as he walked up, so many kids started calling his name. He was beaming and so relieve to have some old friends in class with him. But then he turned to me and said, “You can go now.” SAY WHAT?!?!

I birthed you, boy. I’ll stay as long as I like! But then Chris made me leave, so in one last protest, I yelled out, “MOMMY LOVES YOU, MICHAEL BROWN!” And Bean died of embarrassment and I was satisfied.

At the end of last year, Bean tested into the gifted program. Chris and I were super proud of him, but we decided not to tell him. For one thing, how would that conversation go?

“Hey, dude. You’re smarter than some other kids.” Uh, no.

“Hey, dude. Your brain works different than other kids.” Uh, no.

Nothing we could think of really sounded like a message we wanted to raise our kids believing. And also, we don’t want to put any labels on Bean that will make him think he can try any less than his best. So, we decided to not make a big deal out of it at our house. I’m not even really sure he knows what “gifted” means.

We had some hesitations about putting him in the gifted program at all. At his school, gifted students are put into gifted classrooms and taught separately. As a parent and a teacher myself, I am generally against any program that separates kids into different circles. I believe kids learn a lot from each other – academically and socially – and so I like the idea of my kids learning from all different types of kids, not just the gifted ones.

Chris and I thought and prayed about this all summer long. Should we put Bean in a gifted class or should we keep him mainstreamed? We learned when he got his teacher assignment last week that the school has chosen to integrate the gifted program this year into regular classrooms. Bean will still receive gifted services a few times a week, but the majority of his class time will be spent in a general ed classroom, which is just what we hoped for. Answered prayers, again!

So, we are off and running for another exciting school year.  It was a great first day for everyone, but we are all exhausted and heading to bed early!  Learning is hard work…