August 17-18 -- Last minute back to school prep, back to school party
Not really knowing what the new school year would bring, we waited to prepare and our back to school party was simple.
Monday morning, Piper swapped her chromebook for a new touchscreen one at a table set up in Hillsdale's MPR doorway, and Marissa did supply pick up from Mrs. Luna at Fuerte traffic circle. We also stopped at Staples to pick up the desk pads I ordered and they easily talked me into a few more school supply items.
The girls were very excited to get their back to school supplies and get set up for the new year. I was going to wait for Wednesday night after day one but they REALLY wanted to get organized ahead of time so we celebrated Tuesday night. They got reading pillows, pencil boxes, white boards, white board markers, folders, and a few other random items. No backbacks or lunchboxes this year. They are
already set with earbuds from quarantine school.
There was much excitement over getting supplies organized and receiving class schedules for Addisyn & Piper via email at the same time.
Everyone is anxious and nervous, and antsy about getting the "bell" schedule and class/teacher schedules. It's been confusing trying to figure out what's going to happen with little information.
I told Addisyn and Piper that the first day will be like "orientation" day and everyone is going to have kinks and tech issues to work out, so don't worry if you don't know what to expect or if you have a tech issue. (Addisyn's school email is not working so we are already brainstorming what to do about that.)
Karen worked at Fuerte in 100* heat for supply pick up and meet the teacher, hot and physically exhausting, wearing a mask the whole time, but fun. I took a new headshot for my first PTA board position this year--I am now Fuerte PTA's secretary and use 2 computers so I can Zoom on one and type notes on the other.
Wednesday August 19 -- 1st DAY OF SCHOOL DL AT HOME
-They "went" to school barefoot!
-We had time for a pancake breakfast to kick off the day happy.
-We took the traditional 1st day of school pictures in front yard, sans shoes or backpacks
-They were successfully organized and logged in on time
-I'm at home with a quiet house (just like when they were actually at school) so I can blog again for the
first time in a month.
-Kids were instructed to work out their problems on their own before coming to me for tech help. The kitchen is closed during class time.
-Addisyn & Piper are one schedule for middle school, rotating classes every 45 min, 8:55am to 3:00pm, with 45min lunch at 11:50.
-Marissa's schedule for 2nd grade with Mrs. Luna is Zoom supervision 9am to 12:10, then lunch, and independent work after lunch.
-It's sad that they can't use their vocal cords much.
-I should be respectful about when *I* eat since they can see and hear me...I usually eat early and not on a schedule.
-Today I am going to volunteer for PTA & supply drive-through at Fuerte for an hour so they will be on their own and self-sufficient for an hour or so at home alone.
Perks of DL:
-Addisyn was bored during her zooms and drank a lot of water... good thing there's no line for the bathroom here :-D
-You can fart in class and no one will know.
-Addisyn can count her dance & acro classes as PE
Grammy & Grampy took the kids out for Baskin Robbins ice cream after school to celebrate the 1st day.
With all this screen time, we made sure Addisyn's glasses prescription is still good (yes it was and we get a free pair of glasses covered every year by insurance). Funny she picked the same frames as Grammy.
Our first DL field trip! For Papa Dave's birthday, we took school with us to Fiesta Island. We zoomed in the car on the drive there, then in the motorhome/trailer, and took a looooong recess and PE ;-)
