Summer's End

Well it has finally hit me...we're going back to school on Tuesday! I visited my friend's 1st grade classroom the other day. She is teaching in a very quaint school. The building is small. It is 100 years old and there are only 8 classrooms from grade 1 to grade 4. There is a very homey feel to the school and everyone seemed quite welcoming and pleasant. We helped her do a few things and visited for a while. She showed me a bit of the curriculum she has to cover and I was amazed. It is so much more than what I was expected to teach when I was in that position over 10 years ago. It makes me wonder what all this pressure does to our kids. So much is mandated by the federal and state government but funding isn't there to support the mandates. I just don't get it. I guess that is why I joined Stand for Children in the hopes to change how programs are funded and to improve things for kids now.

On Wednesday the kids and I went to my school. I hadn't been since the end of July. I have to say I've felt guilty not going in this month, but I think it was good to have that break. It was great to see my colleagues and get into my classroom. There is a lot of work to be done this year as we are going for recertification by the NAEYC. It is a rigorous process and will certainly focus us on what we are doing well and what we need to add to our program to ensure the best results for children.

Last night we had an interesting sight in our back woods! I'll back up a bit by saying over the past month we have enjoyed seeing a family of turkeys stroll through our back yard and up the wooded hill behind our home. We have quite a bit of 'greenbelt' land surrounding our property. It is unbuildable land that provides the home to many kinds of birds and small animals. Now apparently it is also home to the turkey family. So back to last night...R was outside on the deck and the kids and I were inside, it was about 7pm, suddenly I hear R say "Turkeys in the trees, turkeys in the trees" So out we all go to see this unusual sight. Sure enough there was a large mother turkey with her baby turkeys three roosting high up in an oak tree. What a sight! I took some pictures. You will have to click on them and zoom in to get a good look. I'm hoping to crop and enlarge them at the printers so that I can share the pictures with my students in late October/early November.