Thomas’ New School!

Thomas got accepted into Quail Run Primary School today!!  We are so excited!!  There is a huge list of reasons why this is so perfect for our family.

1. We rent.  And renting is proving to be kind of unstable as our family continues to grow.  Thomas has anxiety, and it’s hard for me to think about if we have to move, he has to move schools too now.  Not with Quail Run.  As long as we’re in Utah County pretty much, he’ll still be able to go there.
2. The class sizes range from 6 to 18 students.
3. I guess they have a “no desk” policy.  On their website it says that they will sometimes have the kids sit on yoga balls as they learn, sometimes they take the class outside, sometimes, if the kids need to write, they have standing tables.  They want to make sure that the kids have plenty of opportunity to wiggle.
4. They have a bus.  With Grovecrest, we’re 1 street away from the bus boundary.  It makes it so hard to get all the kids up and dressed and loaded into the car to go to school.  Especially since we only have one car, so we have to drive Matt to work as well.
5. They have after school “enrichment” classes that are optional.  If Thomas wants he can do Chorus, Chess, a Foreign Language, Dance, Art, Reading or get some tutoring.  They will offer an after school snack, and the busses will still bring him home.
6. He has to wear uniforms, so he’ll always look super handsome! :)
7. Because Thomas is a student there now, Connor, Riley and Baby will be able to go there as well, they will be in a priority enrollment group so we won’t have to do the lottery again.
8. Grovecrest is an amazing school.  We really liked it, but Thomas doesn’t catch on to things as quickly as most kids.  There were a lot of kids in his classroom.  I got a call one day from his teacher telling me that Thomas got kicked in the face but she didn’t actually see what happened because she said “There’s 30 other kids in the class, I can’t watch them all.” (Which is understandable), and he kept coming home with marker all over him because a different kid liked to color on him.  The fact that there are too many kids to keep any real control bothers me a little, but the thing that bothered me the most is I didn’t feel like Thomas really got any attention from his teacher.  She was a great teacher, and for most kids, would do fine.  But Thomas needs a little more extra attention and patience.  He gets distracted easily, so most days he was coming home from school with his work not done at all.  It made me frustrated because I didn’t feel like she was able to keep him on task. All he needs is little reminders to do the work.  It’s not that he’s a bad kid, or disruptive at all, he just floats off into his own little world.  There was a month where he had quite a few absences since we had sick kids at home, winter time with Matt working very early mornings.  I worked with him at home on things I knew they were doing at school during the days and that month that he missed a lot of school, he got the best marks on his report card!!!  I considered home schooling even, but I don’t feel like I’m organized enough.  I wanted more than anything to do private school, but there’s no way we could afford it.
9. I like that in a grade or two, Thomas will be able to do musical instruments after school for an enrichment class. I want them to each learn a musical instrument.  And if he wants to do sports as well on a different day, or even a different term, he can get involved with sports as well.  Pretty much, this school will be able to support him in any area he chooses to explore.  I have a feeling that art will be the first enrichment class he chooses to take though. :)
10. Thomas would come home from school with worksheet after worksheet after worksheet after worksheet…. Most of them unfinished, so I would sit down with him and finish it with him. He would get about half way done and end up crying because it’s so monotonous.  I guess for me I was thinking “Heck! I can do this! What is his teacher’s job then?” (Again, his teacher was great and Grovecrest was great, I just expect a little more.)  True they are learning to write, but there are better ways to do it then bury a kindergartener with paperwork!  What happened to writing in pudding or shaving cream on their desks?  What happened to chalk boards or white boards that they can play with and practice writing their letters that way?  There are fun activities you can do and ways to teach that doesn’t include stacks and stacks of papers!!! (Which clearly doesn’t work for Thomas)  I can see that some paperwork is necessary, especially when learning to write. For instance when they’re learning to form words and sentences.  But when the papers he’s bringing home has him coloring in ants and bears and cookies, I feel like something is lacking.

So there’s our good news.  I’m super excited to post pictures of him all spiffed up in his new school uniforms.  They’re pretty strict about them it sounds like.  Their colors are Blue, Green and White and they have certain approved plaid patterns.  They go as far as to say what kind of fabrics are approved.  If his pants have belt loops, it’s required that he wears a black belt. LOL His backpack can’t have characters on it, it has to be just a plain looking backpack with nothing fancy.  Their school lunches are extremely healthy.  They also serve breakfast and after school snacks.  I’m so excited for my little dude and for Connor next year!! :)  Hope this works out well.