Hooray!

"The new pick up schedule has been approved by transportation and will be put into effect on Tuesday, September 27. The students will get on their bus at 3:30 p.m., with a departure from (school) around 3:35."

Kindergartners

So, it's official. H and E are "kindergartners." Last week they had their first full week of school, Monday through Friday half-days in the afternoon. It appears to have been an easy transition for them. They are generally happy to go, and generally happy when they get home. Eden has the same one-on-one aide that she had in preschool, and that has certainly helped make everything simpler in terms of not having to train a new person on all of her equipment and cochlear implant, plus a familiar face and pair of hands in the classroom.

The only glitch has been with busing, and I haven't fully decided how big of a glitch it is. Originally, when I got the bus schedule, it said that the girls would be dropped off at home 25 minutes after school got out. That seemed like a long time, since we literally live 5 minutes from the school, so I called transportation to find out why. I turns out that there are 2 other students riding home after school and they will be dropping them off first, and H and E off last. Plus, there is an issue of the big buses coming in at the same time and there maybe being a wait to get the girls' bus out of there. So, after a reasonable explanation as to why the bus would be home so late, I was satisfied.

Then, on the first day, the girls got home 12 minutes before I was expecting them, and I was told that it was easier than they thought and they would probably be able to get them home at that time every day (12 minutes after school release). This seemed great at first...until the next day when Eden started crying after being dropped off and told me that she didn't have time to "climb on the stegosaurus" because she had to get on the bus. The same thing happened the next day, with both girls crying because they didn't have time to play.

After looking into it further I have discovered that they are putting the girls on the bus to come home 12 minutes before dismissal time. Currently, this translates into them missing most of recess because their teacher is bringing the kids out shortly before the end of the day...and just before H and E have to get on the bus. Once it becomes too cold (or too whatever else) for recess, they will be missing the last bit of class every day, whether it be a story or a game or last minute instructions or whatever...

I figured out that missing 12 minutes of kindergarten a day translates into missing 1 hour of kindergarten a week, which translates into missing approximately 12 days of school a year right off the bat, in addition to whatever time them will have to miss for illnesses and/or appointments. It just doesn't seem right to me, and I am puzzled as to why anyone thinks it is a good idea. I guarantee that no one would find it acceptable for me to bring them to school 12 minutes late every day.

My kids should be in school the same amount of time as all of the kindergartners. They should be doing the same activities as the other kids. I don't want them to be singled out. I really only want for them to have access to the same opportunities as all the other kids, and to be treated with the same kindness and consideration.

Because they are kids. Just like the other kids.

Eating Worms

What's worse? Eating worms, or the idea of going back to work tomorrow? Hmmmm. Tough question.