Back in session

School is back in session for ALL of our kids. Finally. And with any new year, there are open houses and orientations and meet the teachers... and changes. One of the changes this year is the new common core state standards that Wake County is incorporating. I got to hear about some of these changes at the HES Open House earlier this week. Evan and Noah both had practice so Chuck took them and me and Natalie headed to the school. She actually likes going to these things because it gives her a chance to show me more of what she's been working on. The boys could really care less:)

I sat through a session in Natalie's 1st grade class and Noah's 5th grade class. The teachers went through daily schedules, procedures, volunteer opportunities, grading system, homework policies, etc. 

Emphasis is being placed heavily on Reading and Math and the expectations for students has been raised. Natalie is really excited about the Daily 5. This literacy structure teaches independence and gives students the skills needed to create a love for reading and writing.  Each day the teacher conducts mini lessons that focus on building comprehension, accuracy, fluency, and vocabulary skills. The students are given a choice of activities to complete: work on writing, read to self, listen to reading, word work, or read with someone. 

As a Reading "Side-note" - For months now, Natalie has loved reading through the Magic Treehouse Series and Noah is reading through a baseball series by Dan Gutman. Natalie reads a chapter each night in one of these books before bed. Noah's recent book is "Roberto and Me," which he had me request at the public library so he could use it for a book report. I also have to note that Evan had summer reading projects that he had to complete before his first day of school. He read "The Hobbit" and "The Boy in the Striped Pajamas."

According to the teachers, the math objectives this year have more rigor. 1st grade will focus on number and operations in base ten, operations and algebraic thinking, measurement and data, and geometry. 5th grade will move beyond basic facts with multi-level, multi-step problem solving, numbers and operations, data analysis and probability, algebra, measurement, and geometry.

Through my time in the classrooms, I got to see some of the kids work:

1st day of school math journal entry

Most recent math journal entry

Handwriting Book

Practicing those E's

We had to send in a baby pic, a toddler pic, and a current pic. She finished the sentences for each.

She came home telling me she got Starbucks at school... this kind of Starbucks! 

There are typically more pictures from Natalie's class, a few less from Noah's, and essentially none from Evan's... that's what happens as your kids get older. Moms with camera's aren't so cool:)

Noah's class just started these terrariums

And they've been tracking the hurricanes

So far, so good at the elementary school...

Evan started his first day of Highschool on Monday. It was all I could do to get this single picture...

Our Freshman:)

We went to a parent orientation a while back so we felt pretty comfortable with what would be expected of him. He's pretty laid back and flexible so the new changes didn't have him anxious. He chose to ride the bus, which means he has to be at the bus stop at 6:30 am!!! School begins at 7:25. Would you believe that his bus didn't get him to school on the first day until almost 8:15? He said the driver didn't have a clue where she was going on the route. He missed home room and part of his first period class because of it. I was so annoyed. He thought it was funny. 

This first semester he's taking Spanish 1, Honors Biology, Honors English, and Web Page Design. He says Spanish will be the death of him:) The teacher is using a web page to post videos and practice work. He's been pretty good about watching and trying to practice his Espanol on us! I have no doubt he'll do great this year!