First Weeks of 2nd Grade and Kindergarten

The start to the new school year in August was incredibly different than normal. I guess that was to be expected since there was very little that was “normal” about 2020. Brooklyn ended her 1st grade year (2019-2020) at home from mid-March to May doing e-learning, which was mostly printable worksheets and an occasional live meeting with her teacher and a few classmates. No grades were taken during their time at home, and even though the work was mandatory, I don’t think there was much that the schools could do to ensure that kids were actually doing their work at home.

I had high hopes at the beginning of the pandemic in March that things would be back to normal by the end of the summer, and we’d be able to start the new school year actually AT school. (Looking back, it seems silly to have even thought that!). But, as the months passed, it became increasingly clear that this new school year was going to be a rollercoaster just like the end of the last one was. Although the cases of COVID-19 didn’t seem to get too bad over the summer, the virus didn’t just disappear, and most experts were predicting that there would be a surge over the upcoming fall/winter.

It was hard for me not to stress about what would happen with school since I’m a worrier by nature and this was going to be Savannah’s first year of school. Talk about a doozy for a first year! We ended up having two options for school (with a third option being traditional homeschooling, I guess). Our school system offered a “school-based option” and a “virtual option”, where students would either go to school in person (as much as possible depending on the pandemic) or learn at home virtually every day. At the end of the first or second 9 weeks, we could change to the other option if we felt like it would be best. I briefly tossed around the idea of homeschooling (choosing our own curriculum and teaching it), but it seemed so overwhelming that it never became a serious option in my mind. I made a pros and cons spreadsheet laying out the different options and the good and bad that came with each. Travis and I both felt pretty strongly that it would be good for the girls to go to school in person if possible just for the chance to be around other kids and get some social interaction. We knew it wouldn’t be the same (with masks being mandatory, social distancing required, no parents allowed in the building, no field trips, eating lunch in their classrooms, etc.), but the idea of the girls sitting at home and staring at a computer screen for hours every day doing school virtually did not seem appealing to me at all. At the same time, it was hard to know how much of a risk it would be sending them to school…would COVID spread easily at school? Would we all get sick as a result of them bringing it home and then unknowingly pass the virus to our parents or other family? There were a lot of factors to weigh, and it honestly seemed like we were trying to choose the “least bad” option.

We ended up deciding that the girls would start the year in the school-based option, meaning they would go to school in person. We both felt comfortable with the decision and agreed that we thought it would be best for the girls. However, toward the end of July, the district made the decision that all students in both options would start the school year virtually at home because of the rise in COVID cases. This would be reevaluated approximately 4 weeks into the school year, and if cases allowed, hopefully students in the school-based option would be allowed to return to the classroom at that point. This was also when we found out that the first day of school would be August 12th, the day after Melissa’s wedding. It was a pretty crazy time trying to get ready for the wedding and the new school year, but we managed to make it through. Honestly, it probably worked out better that the first day of school was virtual so that the girls didn’t have to wake up quite so early since we were all up late the night before. The girls didn’t get in bed until 10 PM after we got home from the wedding, and then I was up until midnight making sure we could log into all the different apps/websites we would need for the first day.

The morning of the wedding, there was a “Maverick Mile parade” at Mill Creek that took the place of the typical open house. Basically, the idea was that parents would drive their kids through the car line so they could meet their new teacher(s) in a socially-distanced way. The teachers were all spread out and holding signs with their picture and name so that the kids could pick them out and wave hello. Obviously not the same as getting to go into the classroom and give them a hug, but I thought it was a creative way for the kids to at least meet their teachers face to face. They asked parents to make signs for the kids with their name and their teacher’s name on it, so I got those done the night before the wedding and then the girls decorated them the next morning.

They were excited about the parade and meeting their teachers in person!

Abigail made her own sign too…haha

“Hold it up for me to see!”

I had to head to Burritt on the Mountain to start getting ready for the wedding not too long after I took that picture, so I wasn’t able to go to the parade. I tried not to let myself get too sad about it. I REALLY hate missing things that involve my kids…I want to be there for all of their events and activities. But, it couldn’t be helped this time! I knew Travis would do fine taking them on his own, but I wasn’t so sure he could drive, supervise the kids, and taking pictures for me all at the same time ;) So, I recruited Michael to ride in the car with them since he was already coming into town for the wedding anyway. It worked out nicely!

The parade was from 11 AM to 12 PM, and they tried to get there as close to 11 as possible so they would be able to get home, eat lunch, and head to Burritt quickly. They drove to Brooklyn’s side first where the 1^st and 2^nd grade teachers were standing. Boom boxes were set up, and all the teachers had cardboard cutouts of themselves.

Brooklyn saw Ms. Carter and the other 1^st grade teachers first, and then she got to meet Mrs. Borys. Travis said she seemed really nice, and that Brooklyn acted shy but excited. Mrs. Borys (rhymes with “stories”) is the one with the green tutu and black leggings :)

Then, they drove around to the other side of the school to where the pre-k and kindergarten teachers were standing. Brooklyn was looking for Ms. Curry because she knew what she looked like, and she spotted her first…

Travis said Savannah started getting excited as they got closer to her :)

They talked to Mrs. Curry for a minute, and then they headed home!

Travis said it was neat because every time they got stopped while waiting for the cars ahead of them to move, the teachers standing there would speak to Savannah or Brooklyn by name since they saw their signs. So they got to speak to lots of teachers, not just their own. It sounded like a lot of fun and a good way for the girls to meet their teachers face to face! Travis said Abigail was also chatting it up the whole time with the teachers like she thought the parade was for her. No surprise there! ;)

So, the rest of the day was spent at Burritt on the Mountain for Alex and Melissa’s wedding, and as I said earlier, it was a late night getting the girls into bed. There was no time to sleep in though because Savannah had Kindergarten LIVE (her first WebEx class meeting) bright and early at 8:15 AM the next morning…

I wrote this about the Savannah’s first day: “SO TIRED from not getting much sleep the past several nights. Savannah had a great first Kindergarten LIVE with Ms. Curry. At one point before the meeting started, she was hiding under her bed because she was nervous, but it ended up being so fun. I think we are going to love Ms. Curry. She loves to sing and just seems so fun. She had a box labeled “What’s in My Box?” and Savannah was excited to find out what was in there. They sang some songs and Savannah was brave enough to speak up when it was her turn to say her something.” So glad she had a great first meeting!

I wasn’t sure how Savannah’s meeting would go with Abigail running around and causing chaos. I wanted to be able to give Savannah my full attention and help her mute and unmute on the computer, so Travis agreed to let Abigail sit in his office during Savannah’s meeting. Funny thing is that I’m pretty sure Travis was in his own meeting at the time. Luckily, Abigail stayed pretty quiet looking at books the whole time. Basically, this was 2020 virtual school in a nutshell…everyone in their various meetings on the computer sitting in different parts of the house!

Brooklyn’s meeting went pretty well too! Here’s what I wrote about it: “Brooklyn has a new teacher to the school who moved to Alabama from Arizona. She has taught before, but never at Mill Creek. She seems really sweet and Brooklyn is excited about the year. She knows Madison in her class from kindergarten (and she actually lives down the street from us).”

First day overall: “We figured out the girls’ first day assignments and got them turned in on SeeSaw, one of the apps we’re using this year. It’s been a bit overwhelming with 2 kids in school this year and trying to figure all this virtual stuff out, but I’m sure it will get easier. Right now Savannah’s class is meeting at 8:15 AM and Brooklyn’s class is meeting at 10:30 AM every morning. Then, the rest of their day is prerecorded videos and assignments. We managed to take their 1^st day pictures by 5 PM that evening. Momma was tired (understatement of the year)!!”

Hard to believe Brooklyn is old enough to be in 2nd grade!! I feel like she was just in kindergarten yesterday…

Mom ordered some monogrammed shirts for the girls, and Brooklyn insisted she did NOT want her shirt to have ruffles. She is also too grown for hair bows….sniff.

At least my Pookie will still wear a ruffle shirt and hair bow if I ask her to!

I thought these pictures of Savannah turned out so cute :)

First day of school – August 12th

Had to do a silly picture at the end!

This is how we felt after we finished the first day of virtual school…a little cuckoo! Haha!

2nd day of school: Abigail liked being right there with her sisters while they were doing schoolwork :)

This is what I wrote after we finished the first 3 days of school: “We survived our first half week of virtual school! There weren’t too many assignments, so that was good. I feel like I understand the apps we are using better than on day #1, so I don’t feel quite so overwhelmed. It’s the daily schedule of live meetings that is going to be tough. Abigail loves to sit in on the girls’ meetings. I asked Abigail tonight, “Are you in kindergarten?” and she said “YES!” I asked who her teacher was, and she replied, “Mrs. Cuh-wee!” Haha!

Seriously though, I wouldn’t have survived virtual school without my Cozi calendar app (pictured above). It was INSANE how many meetings we had some days. The girls both had daily class meetings, plus Savannah had a one-on-one meeting with Mrs. Curry twice a week. Then, the girls had several random WebEx meetings for beginning of the year testing purposes, and then there were occasional live meetings for music, PE, Spanish, etc. In between juggling all the meetings, we had to get the actual assignments done. It was a lot to manage!

Brooklyn participating in her daily live meeting

Part of the difficulty with virtual learning is that both girls really required a lot of help to do their assignments on the computer. Brooklyn was a little more self-sufficient than Savannah, but not by a whole lot at the beginning. Savannah needed help stopping and starting videos, clicking to the next slide, and doing all her assignments. Basically all I did for most of the morning and into the afternoon was bounce back and forth between their computers helping with one thing after another.

Having two laptops (mine and Travis’s) and two sets of headphones really came in handy since they were sitting at the same table most of the time!!

Mrs. Curry did one-on-one meetings with each child in her class twice a week during those first few weeks of school. It gave Savannah a chance to get to know Mrs. Curry and for Mrs. Curry to assess Savannah’s starting base of knowledge/skills.

8/21/20 – I usually had Brooklyn work on her daily journal during Savannah’s live meeting at 8:15 each morning. This is what I wrote at the end of that day:

“We’ve survived the first 5-day week of virtual school. It’s been A LOT but I think it’s starting to get easier. We’ve had at least 2-3 Webex meetings every day, plus Seesaw assignments to turn in. Using 2 laptops has helped this week so that the girls can both be working on something at the same time. Savannah had stuffed animal show-and-tell this morning in her class meeting, and she brought Charlie (her dog) to show everyone. (Abigail also brought her puppy Spot and told the class about him when Ms. Curry called on her too…haha!). Savannah has gotten so brave and doesn’t mind speaking up or answering questions in her meetings. She has enjoyed the one-on-one meetings with Mrs. Curry too. Brooklyn has more work to do each day than Savannah and has gotten frustrated sometimes with the typing part, but we are hanging in there. (She doesn’t know how to type correctly, and so she’s not very fast just pecking away at the keys. A source of major frustration for a while!). She enjoys her meetings, and I like to hear her participating. For the most part, she doesn’t love the school work and just tries to get through it as fast as possible.”

Kindergartners at Mill Creek celebrate Color Days toward the beginning of the school year (I remembered this from when Brooklyn was in kindergarten), so there was a different color for each school day for 2 weeks (8/24 – 9/4). Mrs. Curry invited her class to wear a certain color to their live meetings each day, so we tried to coordinate as best as we could!

Mommy even wore red for Red Day! :)

…and Brooklyn wore a green shirt for Green Day and even attended Savannah’s live meeting with her…haha. That WAS one neat thing about virtual school…the girls could listen to story time in each other’s meetings if they wanted to. I also enjoyed getting a peek at each teacher’s style and how they teach/interact with kids, which isn’t really possible during a normal school year. Another advantage was not having to wake up so early every morning and being able to do school in our PJs if we wanted to. So there were definitely some neat things about virtual school, but overall I would say the stress of it (on both me and the kids) outweighed the benefits.

More Color Day pictures. Good thing we have so many hair bows! ;)

I actually think it helped Savannah to get to know her teacher and classmates a little bit over the computer first before she went to school in person a few weeks later. I think it helped her be more comfortable since she had an idea of who would be there on that first day.

We found out in early September that the girls would get to start school in person on September 8th, the day after Labor Day. It was going to be a phased re-opening, meaning that they would go in person on Tuesday and Thursday and do virtual learning at home on Wednesday and Friday that week. Then, the week after Labor Day, they would start going to school in person all 5 days. I was so excited, and the girls were really looking forward to going in person too. The start to the school year was definitely one we’ll never forget…and hopefully never have to repeat ;)