Wednesday, September 07, 2011

New schools for KB and KG

The new academic year has begun! Summer holidays are over! Sigh! I did have a good time with the kids at home and not having to rush to school in the mornings but I think now we are all ready for school in a way.  I have renewed admiration for homeschooling parents now! How do they manage to instill discipline in their children and make sure they go through the curriculum and more while the kids are home all the time with them!

KB is starting first grade in a different school.  He did not get into first grade at the school he was in because they changed it to a lottery system in the middle of the year and he did not get it in the lottery.  Just couple of days back they called and told me that he did get a spot from being on the wait list in the lottery line but at that point I was not interested because KB was mentally prepared to join the new school.  His best friend is going to be in the same class, so he is very excited about it.  School starts tomorrow!  At least I have one friend (mom) who will come to the same school.  I know there are a couple of ultra competitive Indian moms in this class who ask a lot of questions and even ask exactly what grades your child got (in KG that too) in the report card.  I have to find ways to avoid those types because they really do irritate me and somewhat stress me out.  I lucked out for KB's Kindergarten because at least no one was explicitly so competitive with their kids/comparing etc.  I feel like I am the one going to school with every passing year!

KB was sick with his usual Bronchitis type coughing on Monday night.  I was so worried that we would end up in ER but thankfully we got through the night.  I made a donation to one of the organizations in India as a mark of my thanks for us getting through the night without having to rush to ER.  Every time KB starts coughing that deep cough, I just dread it.  The poor kid goes into these spasms of coughing until he throws up a lot of mucus and only then can he sleep for a few hours.  And in the process his stomach muscles hurt.  I gave him ginger with honey twice that morning and he kept drinking a lot of water.  God knows what helped or didn't help, at least thankfully the next morning he woke up feeling much better.  I was so relieved when he ate his breakfast without having to throw up because the previous night he could not eat a bite of his dinner.  I have ordered an Oximeter to keep track of his Oxygen levels during such episodes to know if it is serious enough to go to ER or not.

I changed schools for KG also because for the same money I was able to get her to go four full days and that way I could pick up KB and then go and pick KG back to back.  In the old school she could only go half a day for the same money.  KG has joined a Montessori school this time around.  I don't know if this is a good Montessori or not - I just don't know how to judge if I can't volunteer in the class or observe from outside.  I am just going by the recommendation of two of my friends who seemed to have liked it.  I feel bad for KG because she is really missing her friends (not close but at least she considered them friends).  She had lost a puzzle piece the second day of school and she started crying the moment she saw me because she was afraid the teachers might be mad at her.  The next day again she cried because one of the girls told her that she would not show her stamp to her.  Today she says two kids said they did not want to sit next to her - but she did not cry about it.  Also, she is very stressed out about having to clean her lunch mat with a sponge. I don't know why that is so stressful for her.  She knows how to do it but somehow she keeps talking about it.  I am praying she adjusts well and makes one or two friends because right now she seems to not be having fun.  But at least she does not cry and also she seems to enjoy doing puzzles and some of the pouring activities there.  Keeping fingers crossed.

Well, more updates on the new schools once they settle in! How has your new school year been so far? For the ones who have already started school.  Eager to know!


12 comments:

Aparna said...

Good luck to both the kutties in their new schools!! It may take a few days for KG but I am sure she will also start enjoying. I'm a big fan of the montessori system - it transformed Ads. However I know every child's experience is different, hope KG has an easy time of it. I personally feel girls thrive in montessori more than boys; again, that's a personal take from my own experience!!
Ouch -- KBs cough episode sounds scary. Hope they recur rarely if at all! Is it the climate or something else that triggers it?

Gayatri said...

- Gee! Hope KB's cough just goes away....I hate it when kids fall ill :(
- Wishing KB and KG the best of times at school...:)

Neera said...

Hey noonoo ..am glad KB has a good friend at school. It matters a lot for Vansh at this age, he is just so happy after coming back because he spent that last half hour on the bus with his best friend :) Just ignore the competitive moms, ya ...they really are ridiculous. You know Vansh goes for ELL classes at school because we speak primarily Hindi at home and his english is not as good as kids who have been here throughout. And there are moms who go like "Oh he goes to ELL" Actually nobody has said this to me (I like to think I come across as a no nonsense person ;) ) but some other of my friends have faced this. And I feel like telling those moms who comment ..yeah so u pay money to take ur child to Kumon to just have some teacher give ur child pages after pages of rote and here I have a specialist helping my child at no cost to me..I can't find anything to be more thrilled about at the moment. Anyways, wishing both KB and KG a great school year ahead. don't worry a child like KG would settle down and start enjoying in no time at all.

noon said...

Aparna - Thanks! I hope KG adjusts in school. I want her to be happy in school. She was happy in her old school. Yeah Montessori is great I think if they run it like a real Montessori. I don't know how I can judge if there is no way to spend time observing...
KG likes the quietness and also the activities - puzzles etc. But she doesn't look happy and I have never seen her like this.
KB - well - God knows - he has a tendency for Bronchitis. No two ways about it. My husband can sense weather change even before we open the shades in the room because he feels it in his nose. Alerrgic/stuffed up feeling. So it is somewhat genetic I think. I am trying everything to keep him w/out getting into escalated cough mode.

Gayatri - He is much better. But I will always have to be prepared and go on high alert mode when the cough starts. And control it before it gets to ER level. Thanks for your wishes.

noon said...

Neera! First off - you should tell those moronic moms who dare talk condescendingly that Vansh talks Hindi fluently and learning a new language is so much harder later. You should ask them - so does your child speak fluent Hindi! I have to be honest - I am so jealous of Vansh/you for that. And I wish I had not been such an idiot and let KB forget his really fluent Tamizh like that - in front of our eyes w/out even realizing it is vanishing. Slowly English crept in. I am so mad at myself I can't tell you. He used to talk mainly Tamizh and now it's gone. You don't know how lucky you are! Don't let him forget his Hindi.
Yeah - am not looking forward to interacting with the ultra competitive moms. I heard one of them asked the other mom to bring her son's progress report so she could compare it line by line! God!
I am praying KB and KG both have a happy year more than anything. Loving school types. Esp KG - I feel so bad because she has always been so carefree and happy in school.

Neera said...

oh yeah I am indeed proud of the Hindi he speaks and reads and writes too and in a way am lucky that he spent 2 years there forming the base for him.

You start speaking to KB in Tamizh (?) (diff between Tamil and Tamizh?) again na. I am sure he hasn't forgotten, its just that he prefers english. If u keep speaking, at least he'll be in touch and may be start speaking again. I too feel very sad when a child who has learnt something forgets/unlearns it.

Forgot to comment about KB's cough in my last comment. Yes water works wonders like nothing else - a little warm if he can take it. Every 15 minutes if he's at home - its a pain to be after them all the time but it really really works - have been in constant coughing situations with Vansh though not as often as you and KB :( really hope it gets much better soon.

cantaloupes.amma (CA) said...

Good luck to both KB and KG. I really hope the schools work out for you guys.

Its been over 3 weeks since school started here. Both girls have got adjusted ...

Is KB going to public school? Here in public schools, the kids are shuffled every year ... so a lot of friends they make during the year, will end up being in different classes. Thats what bothered my older one initially ... but now she is making new friends. Of course she gets to play with her old friends during recess and lunch breaks.

mnamma said...

I hope KB's cough is gone by now and KG has started to settle in the new environment. KG being KG, should be all right in a couple of weeks :) All the very best to the kids and to you.

Sunita said...

Hey noon,

Wishing both the kids a great school year.
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sraikh said...

The moms do not sound fun.

I used to have bad asthma as a kid(ended when I was 16 and havent had a attack since then) and can recall the pain of trying to cough and cough. Poor thing.

My 4 started school. Youngest is in kinder and is trying to get used to it. He has an excellent teacher, who has a pet rat Ratgirl and a fish called Blueberry :)

3rd child is in 2nd grade and is trying to cope with his serious teacher.

The girls are doing great and having fun. 2nd child has some girl drama about cliques but she decided to form her own club and is better about it.

I hope everyone settles down and you all find a routine.

noon said...

Neera - I didn't realize I had not responded to these comments yet.
Water - yes he drinks plenty of it these days.
Cough - it is not so much that he gets it often. But about every 3 months it comes mildly...but twice a year it comes with an intensity...like bronchitis type. It really scares me when he starts coughing and I know it is nebulizer time.
Tamizh is how we say it when we sound it out and when we write it in that script but it is the same - Tamizh and Tamil.

CA - school - I talked to the director and told her that KG is not familiar with Montessori activities - so he talked ot the teacher and told her to be more on top of it with Ranju - right the first day that the teacher spent time teaching her how to do things KG was fine. She was happy all last week at school. But she has had this viral fever on and off - that's what I am dealing with now. No school today. Waiting for doc office to open so I can take her at the first available appointment.

Mnamma - You are right - KG being KG :) She has adjusted to the new school and is happy to go to school. She seems happy there. I am not happy with the sort of dull and not smiling nature of the teachers but I can tell they are good people...small actions. They are good down to earth people but w/out the people skills.

noon said...

Sunita - Thanks. Will check it out sometime.

Sraikh - good to see you here, super mom! Every time we go on road trips now I think of you doing it alone with four kids!
Glad they are all settling down. KG is such a fun period in their lives. First time in big school.
KG has totally settled in in her new school seems like...she is not ranting like before...as long as she knows what to do there and has made a few friends she is happy. But she has this viral fever which I hope stops soon. Worrying me.