Yesterday, MacTroll and I met with X-man's "team" at Carrie Busey. The team is made up of various teachers and administrators who have various specialities and can do observations of children to see if they need any special interventions/accommodations.
When we last met, we talked about X-man's emotional issues. He gets stressed out very easily and could only have successful academic interactions with one other student in his class. He had difficulties making his letters. He had spatial awareness challenges sitting in a space on the carpet or standing in line going to specials (music, art, etc.). He was fidgeting and constantly pulling at his socks or putting things in his mouth.
So we put our heads together and came up with some things to try. His teachers followed them and then reported back on his growth.
The awesome news was that most of the feedback were celebrations. He's not chewing on as many things (although he still has no fingernails). His OT is helping his handwriting and he's making giant improvements. He has an emotional thermometer where he records how he's feeling throughout the day that has made a giant difference in letting him know when he's getting aggravated and needing some chill out time. He also meets with a social thinking group that utilizes the Zones of Regulation to help children become more aware of their emotions and to regulate them before they get to a breaking point.
His one challenge remains special awareness. He walks either at the front or the back of the line to be the most successful, but he seems to have trouble sitting up during carpet time. He has a special stool to sit in, so he can swivel around and keep moving without the danger of leaning back and tipping his chair.
What this means is that since we've seen improvements because of the accommodations, he has a 504 plan. If he hadn't been improving, we would have to take another six weeks to do a full case study and work toward an Individual Education Plan (IEP).
He takes his 504 with him to California when we move. And we'll have to sit down with the new principal and talk to them about how they operate and where they think the best place will be for X-man.
The administration and teachers at Carrie Busey have been extraordinary. They even told us to feel free to have his new school call if they want any additional information on the plan or on X-man in the school.
Showing posts with label Carrie Busey Elementary School. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carrie Busey Elementary School. Show all posts
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Monday, January 14, 2013
Reading Stamina
Carrie Busey has a book club that started in November. Children in grades K-2 record how many minutes they read or someone reads to them, and then they turn in a sheet every 120 minutes. As X-man has been moving up in his reading from a level 6 to a level 14, the number of words per book (as expected) have been going up. Every Tuesday and Thursday parent volunteers very nicely go into the classroom and help each student in his class pick out two books. They get sheets to record how many times they read their books, and then they have to bring them back. X-man has a goal of reading each of his books twice before he returns them. They're called Baggie Books (because they come home in a Ziploc bag.)
When he read a level 6, he'd read me both of his books in one night. Now that he's moved up, I notice that he gets tired around 2/3 of the way through the book. When the books were easier, he could hold them himself and he wouldn't get distracted. Now, it works better, if I hold the book and move my finger under the words. I try to get him to do it, or to use a ruler, but he declines. But awful protests ring out if I point out that he skipped a line and that's why the story doesn't make sense.
His baggie books take him roughly 5-12 minutes to read, depending on the story. Right now he's got one about a family helping to rescue a fisherman on the beach that he breezes through and one about a family who lives near a river that has flooded their house, that he is less interested in, so it takes a while.
I'm starting to do some research on reading stamina, because when I read to him, he has giant comprehension stamina. I read a story. We talk about it. He hands me another. It goes through waves, but sometimes it's an hour a day of me reading to him. Sometimes (like if it's a graphic novel) he sits next to me or at the end end of the bed and gets really into the pictures while I read (or do sound affects, if it's a Star Wars book), but other times, if it's a picture book, he just plays quietly on the floor with something. Then he answers questions about the book at the end or he starts a conversation about it.
Sometimes, I think it's trouble, all this reading I do versus making him do. But he understands and processes the story and the ideas. And I keep reminding myself that he needs to be at a level 16 by the end of 2nd grade to be "at grade level," so he's got time to get to 16 and to pass it, even, before May. In fact, I told him when he goes back to school on Tuesday, to try a level 15, since the rescue one was so easy for him.
In my bag of tricks, I get a lot of "you read/I read" books. We started doing this when he was in kindergarten and was tired of reading to himself. So I read the parts of Gerald the Elephant in Mo Willems' Piggie and Elephant books and he was Piggie. Nowadays, I can find Usbourne books at the library that do the same thing. Right now we're reading a book about school poems that works the same way. If we read together, for whatever reason, he can go much, much longer than if he's reading by himself. In a way, I think he just likes that it's a partner effort.
But I love that we're working hard at trying, right? I mean, he loves being read to, so hopefully, one day, he'll love reading to himself as much as he loves being read to. Until then, we're turning in a blue sheet every 2-3 days at school.
The Tolono Library is also having a winter reading program, where the kids record how many minutes they read for prizes. But the trick is that he has to read to himself. He's doing pretty okay. He's averaging about 10 minutes a day, which will get him to the 300 minutes mark by the end of the club, but if he really wants a football prize, he's going to have to kick it up a notch.
When he read a level 6, he'd read me both of his books in one night. Now that he's moved up, I notice that he gets tired around 2/3 of the way through the book. When the books were easier, he could hold them himself and he wouldn't get distracted. Now, it works better, if I hold the book and move my finger under the words. I try to get him to do it, or to use a ruler, but he declines. But awful protests ring out if I point out that he skipped a line and that's why the story doesn't make sense.
His baggie books take him roughly 5-12 minutes to read, depending on the story. Right now he's got one about a family helping to rescue a fisherman on the beach that he breezes through and one about a family who lives near a river that has flooded their house, that he is less interested in, so it takes a while.
I'm starting to do some research on reading stamina, because when I read to him, he has giant comprehension stamina. I read a story. We talk about it. He hands me another. It goes through waves, but sometimes it's an hour a day of me reading to him. Sometimes (like if it's a graphic novel) he sits next to me or at the end end of the bed and gets really into the pictures while I read (or do sound affects, if it's a Star Wars book), but other times, if it's a picture book, he just plays quietly on the floor with something. Then he answers questions about the book at the end or he starts a conversation about it.
Sometimes, I think it's trouble, all this reading I do versus making him do. But he understands and processes the story and the ideas. And I keep reminding myself that he needs to be at a level 16 by the end of 2nd grade to be "at grade level," so he's got time to get to 16 and to pass it, even, before May. In fact, I told him when he goes back to school on Tuesday, to try a level 15, since the rescue one was so easy for him.
In my bag of tricks, I get a lot of "you read/I read" books. We started doing this when he was in kindergarten and was tired of reading to himself. So I read the parts of Gerald the Elephant in Mo Willems' Piggie and Elephant books and he was Piggie. Nowadays, I can find Usbourne books at the library that do the same thing. Right now we're reading a book about school poems that works the same way. If we read together, for whatever reason, he can go much, much longer than if he's reading by himself. In a way, I think he just likes that it's a partner effort.
But I love that we're working hard at trying, right? I mean, he loves being read to, so hopefully, one day, he'll love reading to himself as much as he loves being read to. Until then, we're turning in a blue sheet every 2-3 days at school.
The Tolono Library is also having a winter reading program, where the kids record how many minutes they read for prizes. But the trick is that he has to read to himself. He's doing pretty okay. He's averaging about 10 minutes a day, which will get him to the 300 minutes mark by the end of the club, but if he really wants a football prize, he's going to have to kick it up a notch.
Friday, December 21, 2012
"Caroling is Overwhelming"
Last night, the first graders at Carrie Busey Elementary School had a holiday concert, where they sang carols. They asked us to be there by 5:30 p.m. So we were on time, but I had a feeling getting there 30 minutes before the concert began was going to be a problem. X-man was amped and ready to go the minute he went in the doors. But there was nothing for the kids do until the concert started at 6 p.m., and since we were in the gym, they felt like running. So a slew of kids started a game of tag. He stopped twice to hug both of his first grade teachers.
About 5:50 p.m. some kids started getting lined up on the riser. X-man figured no adult had told him to stop playing, so he kept running.
The next thing we knew, he was sitting on the ground between the two audience areas crying. This is not unusual for events like this. They're really not built to be successful for children with social anxiety issues. I guess one of his friends said something about how it was time for him to stop running and to sit down. X-man inferred that what he was doing was bad. So he cried. He doesn't want to be bad. He was having fun. How can having fun with his friends make him bad?
He crawled up in my lap, but it wasn't making him feel better. I noticed Awesome's Mom had moved from her folding chair seat to the wall on the far side of the gym. Awesome wasn't sure if he wanted to sing or not. So, I headed over there with X-man. The music teacher starting singing songs with some musical friends, and X-man got upset that they'd have to wait even longer to go up there. He started crying again. "Why are they singing at our concert? Why do we have to wait more? I'm so tired."
X-man told me he was suddenly scared to go up there. He was afraid of all the cameras. What if he got nervous and started to cry again and all the cameras took pictures of him crying? Then he noticed that the smartboard with the lyrics didn't have the lyrics on them like it was supposed to, and he cried about that. The principal went to see if he could fix that for him (because like most people, if there's something that can be done, he's the kind of guy that will totally "make it so.")
He missed two songs. "I practiced so hard, Mommy. I want to sing those songs." He started to cry again. I told him that we could go home or he could show me what he practiced and sing in my lap or he could give standing up there a try for at least one song. He wasn't sure. He tried to take me with him. But then changed his mind. That's when one of his teachers, Mrs. Cabutti, came over and backed me up. He hugged me and I walked him to the edge of the audience. Then he ran up there and waved me back to the wall.
Like a trooper, he sang the whole concert staring at the lyric board reading along. If it got off track, he'd try to look up to the words on the screen projected on the wall for the audience to sing along. He put up his hand a time or two to block out some of the people with their cameras out to help him not be so afraid. You could tell he was nervous, but he was rallying.
And then something unexpected happened. A first grader's little brother climbed up on the risers next to X-man. X-man thought this was pretty adorable. He likes the unexpected. He kept his eye on him and tried to help him out. He figured he just wanted to sing, too. He even picked him up once, wondering if he could return him to his mother or if it was okay for him to stay. :-)
Besides crying, the other way I know X-man is working on emotions in his brain is that he chews on everything. His sleeves were in his mouth most of the night. He seeks sensory feedback when he's anxious, it's also when he has most of his sensory sensitivities (shoes or socks are uncomfortable, itchy underwear, etc.)
But at the end of singing, "All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth," He turned and smiled right at me (MacTroll took the photos). It was awesome. I applauded very loudly at the end of each song. I was so proud of him for overcoming his fears and getting up there, and Mrs. Cabutti was, too.
Thursday, November 8, 2012
Feels Good to Geek Out
Tonight was Science Night at Carrie Busey, and we had a ball. X-man was excited about showing everyone his project, but then he got there, told his two teachers about it and ran off to see what everyone else did. There were 65 projects made by 80 students from Kindergarten through Fifth Grade.
There were a lot of volcano projects there, but as far as I could tell, ours was the only one about what happen to a volcano pre-eruption. In other words, how the magma got into the volcano. KTDID came along with us and she interacted with some of the kids. She also took photos of some of her favorite projects. There were a lot of people there. Mr. Scott, the principal, estimated that we had over 100 students, which for a 400-student school, is pretty amazing. One of my favorite Carrie Busey and MMO parents put it together, and I think she did fabulous.
In addition to student projects, REACT was there and they put on a performance showing kids different kinds of chemical reactions. They even made ice cream and handed little samples out to all the kids.
X-man was tired when we got home, so he and I played Legos for 10 minutes and then I read for 30 minutes. His brain was too tired to function, and he passed out pretty quickly.
In addition to student projects, REACT was there and they put on a performance showing kids different kinds of chemical reactions. They even made ice cream and handed little samples out to all the kids.
X-man was tired when we got home, so he and I played Legos for 10 minutes and then I read for 30 minutes. His brain was too tired to function, and he passed out pretty quickly.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Slimer!
Each year X-man's school has one fundraiser. The students ask for contributions to the PTA. In exchange the students attend and complete a 3k run/walk. If they reach a particular goal, the principal and assistant principal promise to do something -- crazy.
In prior years, Principal Scott has eaten crickets, shaved his head, been duct taped to a wall and had pies thrown in his face, and this year he (and assistant principal Ms. Magrini) agreed to be slimed with a concoction of vanilla pudding mixed with heavy food coloring.
In addition, the top two fundraisers from each grade were welcome to come up and put small whipped cream pies into the faces of other teachers.
X-man was very excited because one of his teachers volunteered to be a pie recipient. And since X-man got to throw a pie in Mr. Scott's face last year, and a pie into the face of a camp counselor at family camp when he was 4, he has become quite the fan of whipped cream pie throwing.
The whole school came together for the assembly last Friday. I wasn't there, so MacTroll took photos for me. He also said the kids raised over $9,000 (their goal was $8,500) so they were definitely sliming the principal. The donation sheet said the PTA was using the money for an accessible basketball hoop to be used during recess. There are all kinds of them in the gym, but the two outdoors near the playground don't look adjustable, so this makes sense to me, since all kinds of children attend Carrie Busey.
X-man got to pie Ms. Retallick and slim Mr. Scott. Plus, it was pizza day at school. So, you know, it's pretty much his favorite school day ever.
For the most part, this year is going very well. He's gotten terrific notes every day he's attended school, except for the half day. (I'm not sure how he got five tally marks/resets in the three hours he was there, but we chalked it up to having a bad day.) His teachers have had very nice things to say about him. And he is very comfortable in the daily regimen (despite how grouchy he is coming down to breakfast).
I'm really relieved that he's doing so well and likes it so much.
In other news, I took a field trip upstairs this weekend. I sat in our big chair in the living room for an hour with my foot up on the armrest and watched Big Jack play Wii with X-man. I also looked through the pile of catalogs that had accumulated on my desk and tossed them into the recycling. I know that is almost productive, right?
Don't kill me. But I've started Christmas Shopping. :-)
In prior years, Principal Scott has eaten crickets, shaved his head, been duct taped to a wall and had pies thrown in his face, and this year he (and assistant principal Ms. Magrini) agreed to be slimed with a concoction of vanilla pudding mixed with heavy food coloring.
In addition, the top two fundraisers from each grade were welcome to come up and put small whipped cream pies into the faces of other teachers.
X-man was very excited because one of his teachers volunteered to be a pie recipient. And since X-man got to throw a pie in Mr. Scott's face last year, and a pie into the face of a camp counselor at family camp when he was 4, he has become quite the fan of whipped cream pie throwing.
The whole school came together for the assembly last Friday. I wasn't there, so MacTroll took photos for me. He also said the kids raised over $9,000 (their goal was $8,500) so they were definitely sliming the principal. The donation sheet said the PTA was using the money for an accessible basketball hoop to be used during recess. There are all kinds of them in the gym, but the two outdoors near the playground don't look adjustable, so this makes sense to me, since all kinds of children attend Carrie Busey.
X-man got to pie Ms. Retallick and slim Mr. Scott. Plus, it was pizza day at school. So, you know, it's pretty much his favorite school day ever.
For the most part, this year is going very well. He's gotten terrific notes every day he's attended school, except for the half day. (I'm not sure how he got five tally marks/resets in the three hours he was there, but we chalked it up to having a bad day.) His teachers have had very nice things to say about him. And he is very comfortable in the daily regimen (despite how grouchy he is coming down to breakfast).
I'm really relieved that he's doing so well and likes it so much.
In other news, I took a field trip upstairs this weekend. I sat in our big chair in the living room for an hour with my foot up on the armrest and watched Big Jack play Wii with X-man. I also looked through the pile of catalogs that had accumulated on my desk and tossed them into the recycling. I know that is almost productive, right?
Don't kill me. But I've started Christmas Shopping. :-)
Friday, November 18, 2011
A Mind Divided
MacTroll and I got a family membership to the Carrie Busey PTA so that we'd know what was going on. He was hoping that he'd somehow be able to keep that day open in his schedule in order to attend meetings, but he's 1/3 right now. They don't have a meeting in December and January is when we're headed out to San José for the week. So, um, it's not going so good.
However, getting the minutes of the meetings and the electronic information on school happenings is priceless.
But, MacTroll and I keep raising our eyebrows at the inconsistent messages beings sent home in regards to FOOD at X-man's school.
Carrie Busey is a CATCH school and it participates in the NFL Play to 60 program. These programs stress healthy eating and active lifestyles. The school gets money for following their guidelines. Win. Fine. Love it. There's an approved snack list for what can be brought in for the kids to eat with "go" and "slow" foods, and once a month they celebrate everyone in the room's birthday with some "whoa" foods. Cool. Fine. I can follow those rules and appreciate them. X-man says there's something called a Lucky Tray Day where school workers look at kids lunches and identify what is healthy and what is not. He indicates that frequently he is told what to eat first, too. And he repeatedly comes home and says that water is the healthiest drink, but really doesn't want that in his lunch. But on occasion, maybe he'd like to buy milk, except that when I ask him every morning, he says, "No, the apple juice is easier." :-)
But here's the deal... on Halloween, we had a party. It coincided with the October birthday party. So there were snack bags (mostly with toys in them like spider rings and stampers) but there was also some candy. Apparently during our party, an announcement was made (that neither MacTroll or I heard) that Halloween candy was not welcome back in the building.
So, the next day, as a special treat, MacTroll put two Starbursts into X-man's lunch. That day, X-man jumped off the bus, ran inside and shook his finger at MacTroll about how the candy wasn't allowed in school for a long time, like in January it would be okay to bring it.
What? Huh? What's the difference between eating your two Starbursts in January versus November? It was a decent question.
Especially since it came home that day with X-man's perfect attendance certificate from school for the month of October -- and a certificate for a free kid's meal at Fazoli's, which is a lot more unhealthy for you than two Starbursts. Each kids meal with a breadstick is around 400 calories. It's not terrible, but it's all meat and cheese and bread.
For this month, the newsletter said that to reward the children who have perfect attendance in November they would come home with certificates for meals to Fazoli's and Texas Roadhouse (I'm imagining every parent with a peanut allergy cringing at this). There is no nutritional information, currently, for the Texas Roadhouse. But since they're the usual fair of hot dog, mac and cheese, two mini cheeseburgers, fried chicken tenders and bits of steak... I guess at least here the kids can choose fresh vegetables an applesauce as the their sides, right? I guess, my problem is also the extension of this. Because although the kids menus are limited, the adults who eat with them are surrounded by extraordinarily large portions and a long list of unhealthy choices. For me, it's too much.
Here's the other issue... I was told during the kindergarten walk through that pretty much the only fundraisers the school did were around the Fall Family Fitness run and Scholastic book fairs. There was a dinner out at the Texas Roadhouse. X-man asked why we weren't going, and I had to explain it's because they didn't have anything his lame vegetarian mother could eat. And I love my kid, but I'm not going to sit there and sip on a Diet coke while the school makes 47 cents from his kids meal. I can spot them two quarters. Plus, I'm not really thrilled with what X-man would undoubtably pick (chicken tenders with fries and -- begrudgingly the applesauce).
In the newsletter this month the Fifth Grade is trying to raise money to take a field trip to the Science and Industry Museum by selling -- COOKIE DOUGH AND BUTTER BREAD PASTRY.
But on the next page is a big article stressing what foods are allowed at school at snacks and how children cannot bring Whoa foods on the days of their birthdays, they must wait until the appropriate party day... It's all in CAPITAL LETTERS and bolded and all that for stress and emphasis.
So I guess what I'm saying is that all of this not walking the talk -- and then shouting about the rules -- makes me want to send Starbursts to school with him every day in some kind of passive aggressive revolt.
Instead, I think I'm just going to start recycling the coupons. So, um, if you eat at Fazoli's frequently enough NOT on 99 cent kid meal night (which is Tuesday). Let me know, I will totally pass these on to you. X-man (unless he comes down with my wicked pink eye) is also likely to get a Texas Roadhouse certificate this month. I'm happy to give that away, too.
But maybe, maybe, our school should start soliciting places like Flat Top or Subway instead? How about Schnuck's or the Common Ground Coop for a free apple or something not eating out. Some place where most everyone can eat and have equal opportunity to make very specific choices about what goes into their mouths.
I know this makes me (the person with plenty of Starbursts to hand out) the food Nazi, but I do not always make the healthiest of choices for myself or my child. But I'm also not in an authority position over other people's children. It's confusing me as an adult.
So when X-man was whining to me about not going to the restaurant fundraiser by saying, "It's okay to eat at the Roadhouse, Mommy, because school gave this to me, so it must be healthy!" I had to smack down that logic fast.
Food is not easy. I don't care who you are. But it's frustrating to be watching what seems like an internal struggle of a tennis match being played out at the elementary school level.
Monday, November 14, 2011
Volunteering at School
Who knew that volunteering at the library at my child's elementary school once a week would come with such entertainment.
It's never boring, and I love it.
Today, in the middle of the second Scaredy Squirrel book that Ms. Cahill was reading the children, Mr. Scott, the principal, got on the horn and announced that we needed to move into the hall for a tornado warning.
We hung out for around 15-20 minutes until the warning expired, went in, finished the book and then the children got to check out the books.
But here's what I learned today.
1) In the event of a tornado, the kids are sitting in the halls.
2) Scaredy squirrel is apparently a television show now. I had no idea.
3) Most of the kids got through the warning okay, but one was in tears the rest of the afternoon because she wanted her parents.
4) I totally go through the paperback easy books when I'm there and find the ones I think the kids will want to read and put them in the front of the baskets so they're easier for people to find. It never fails that 5 people in his class end up picking up those books, which is a big number because only half the class remembered to bring back their library books from last week.
5) The books are in from the online ordering done for the Scholastic Book sale and should come home with the students this week.
So, see, going to elementary school is a learning experience even when you're 35.
:-)
It's never boring, and I love it.
Today, in the middle of the second Scaredy Squirrel book that Ms. Cahill was reading the children, Mr. Scott, the principal, got on the horn and announced that we needed to move into the hall for a tornado warning.
We hung out for around 15-20 minutes until the warning expired, went in, finished the book and then the children got to check out the books.
But here's what I learned today.
1) In the event of a tornado, the kids are sitting in the halls.
2) Scaredy squirrel is apparently a television show now. I had no idea.
3) Most of the kids got through the warning okay, but one was in tears the rest of the afternoon because she wanted her parents.
4) I totally go through the paperback easy books when I'm there and find the ones I think the kids will want to read and put them in the front of the baskets so they're easier for people to find. It never fails that 5 people in his class end up picking up those books, which is a big number because only half the class remembered to bring back their library books from last week.
5) The books are in from the online ordering done for the Scholastic Book sale and should come home with the students this week.
So, see, going to elementary school is a learning experience even when you're 35.
:-)
Friday, September 16, 2011
It was a Bobcat Kind of Day
MacTroll and I made it to Carrie Busey today for their Pep Rally. They were celebrating raising over $8,500 for the Parent Teacher Association, so the whole school went out to sit on the playground and watch the teachers duct tape their principal to the wall before 11 kids got to throw whipped cream pies at him. Then after that, the music teacher and the P.E. teacher were in a trivia contest, except if they got the answer wrong older students and teachers poured food products like baked beans and pancake batter over their heads.
It was a cold day, and there are no showers in the elementary school. So the two women had to get sprayed down with the hose afterwards. There were also some student athletes from the University of Illinois who talked about eating healthy.
X-man got to be one of the pie throwers, which he was really excited about.
It was a cold day, and there are no showers in the elementary school. So the two women had to get sprayed down with the hose afterwards. There were also some student athletes from the University of Illinois who talked about eating healthy.
X-man got to be one of the pie throwers, which he was really excited about.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Kindergarten Clean Up
Last Friday, I took X-man to his future kindergarten school at Carrie Busey Elementary. They held free breakfast there for all children under age 18 from mid-June to mid-July. Quigs had mentioned that another parent had taken her son there to see what it was like to eat in the cafeteria at school. And I have to admit, it was a really great idea. They served breakfast and lunch, but we were busy at lunch... so 8 a.m. breakfast it was. And you should have seen X-man's blue eyes get as wide as saucers when he realized he was going to get freaking Trix and animal crackers and orange juice for breakfast. I had to help him carry the two packages, the milk and the juice container to the table because there weren't any trays.
But we sat down with the summer school students who were namely there in the continuing special education program, and I showed X-man how to open his milk carton, peel open his cereal and how to open his juice just enough so it wouldn't spill. He managed to open the animal crackers all by himself. I am suddenly realizing how challenged he is with food packaging. He's fine with pull-apart string cheese, but I'll have to practice the milk cartons with him over the next few weeks.
After breakfast, we walked down to the kindergarten wing and peeked in the classrooms. They were busy waxing the floors and getting the building ready for the fall. We walked down to the opposite hall, exited by the parking lot and then walked around to the playground.
The equipment is a combination of 1998 new and 1960 new. That is there are a number of metal climbers in the area with monkey bars and such. We found out that last week some jackass had decided to set fire to one of the plastic crawl through tubes on the playground. It had a large hole in it, so the school had boarded up that section and put caution tape around it. There was also a metal climbing section of the park that really needs to be replaced. It's rusty and most of the stepping areas are broken... and if they aren't broken now, they will be when some person is trying to climb them.
But mostly, what X-man and I noticed was how dirty the park was. There were no trash cans out there, so there was litter everywhere. Next Friday, while Luke is in for his surgery, he and I are planning on heading back to the park with some garden gloves and trash bags to do a pick up after breakfast. If anyone wants to meet us there around 9:30 a.m., you're certainly welcome to join us. I put a call into the school about whether or not the tunnel and climber would be replaced before the start of the school year. I told them I'd be happy to make a donation toward the purchase if they got an estimate. The school secretary took down my contact information and was to pass it on to the PTA.
I know the new school will have all kinds of bells and whistles, most of which I will find unnecessary, but nice. I already know that the Prairie Fields playground is nice, although lately, I've been picking up a lot of garbage over there, too. I think it's not as bad because the Savoy Parks Department puts out garbage cans and collects them.
But I do have to say that I like that X-man's first instinct was that we should come back and pick up the park to make it nice for everyone when they got to school. And I like that usually he's disruptive and needy when I'm on the phone, but since he wanted the tunnel and climber replaced, he didn't bother me once during the 10 minutes I was on the phone.
I like that he wants to build that sense of community and that he understands that he plays a role in making his school a nice place to be.
But we sat down with the summer school students who were namely there in the continuing special education program, and I showed X-man how to open his milk carton, peel open his cereal and how to open his juice just enough so it wouldn't spill. He managed to open the animal crackers all by himself. I am suddenly realizing how challenged he is with food packaging. He's fine with pull-apart string cheese, but I'll have to practice the milk cartons with him over the next few weeks.
After breakfast, we walked down to the kindergarten wing and peeked in the classrooms. They were busy waxing the floors and getting the building ready for the fall. We walked down to the opposite hall, exited by the parking lot and then walked around to the playground.
The equipment is a combination of 1998 new and 1960 new. That is there are a number of metal climbers in the area with monkey bars and such. We found out that last week some jackass had decided to set fire to one of the plastic crawl through tubes on the playground. It had a large hole in it, so the school had boarded up that section and put caution tape around it. There was also a metal climbing section of the park that really needs to be replaced. It's rusty and most of the stepping areas are broken... and if they aren't broken now, they will be when some person is trying to climb them.
But mostly, what X-man and I noticed was how dirty the park was. There were no trash cans out there, so there was litter everywhere. Next Friday, while Luke is in for his surgery, he and I are planning on heading back to the park with some garden gloves and trash bags to do a pick up after breakfast. If anyone wants to meet us there around 9:30 a.m., you're certainly welcome to join us. I put a call into the school about whether or not the tunnel and climber would be replaced before the start of the school year. I told them I'd be happy to make a donation toward the purchase if they got an estimate. The school secretary took down my contact information and was to pass it on to the PTA.
I know the new school will have all kinds of bells and whistles, most of which I will find unnecessary, but nice. I already know that the Prairie Fields playground is nice, although lately, I've been picking up a lot of garbage over there, too. I think it's not as bad because the Savoy Parks Department puts out garbage cans and collects them.
But I do have to say that I like that X-man's first instinct was that we should come back and pick up the park to make it nice for everyone when they got to school. And I like that usually he's disruptive and needy when I'm on the phone, but since he wanted the tunnel and climber replaced, he didn't bother me once during the 10 minutes I was on the phone.
I like that he wants to build that sense of community and that he understands that he plays a role in making his school a nice place to be.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Carrie Busey Elementary School
This morning I toured Carrie Busey Elementary School on Kirby Road near the Mattis Intersection and Old Farm Shoppes. I was running a little late, so I missed introductions but caught up quickly that Ms. Kelly (otherwise known as Zanita Willis) was a gracious and inspiring principal. She was excited to meet with parents and take us around the building.
Carrie Busey is the school that will be moving to Savoy once the new building is built just a few blocks from our house. I believe the estimated building time is to get the school in Savoy built by fall 2011, but as with most building projects... we'll have to see. The school day runs from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and, like my trip to South Side last year, the building was locked to prevent random people from entering. I like this from a safety aspect and at the same time it depresses me. The school of choice focus is on creative writing and literacy, and the partnerships and emphasis on reading are evident in every classroom, in the halls where University of Illinois students are working one on one with students, on the reading recovery room, reading enrichment room and then just a separate reading skills room. The principal also mentioned that only 4 of their kindergarten students this year failed to reach the satisfactory reading level on standardized tests. And since the program has been preforming well for the last four years, she doesn't see a new principal coming in and changing the fundamental parts of how the school has been meeting students needs.
And this was my favorite thing about Ms. Kelly. Every word out of her mouth was student focused, with the support of teachers and then she brought up requirements. She seemed to focus on the idea that if you taught the student well the requirements would come. Rather than using the requirements as a bar that the kids needed to jump over.
I also loved that there were other integrated programs within the building, including one with children with hearing disabilities. The special education lessons were done in small groups in one room, but there were teachers at each table and the ratio to kids was between one teacher to three students to one teacher to six students.
The classrooms at Carrie Busey are currently gigantic. Huge. They make South Side seem very crowded, but they don't lose the intimacy like the ones at Barkstall did. The kindergarten teachers at Carrie Busey have been teaching for over 15 years. And they still, like South Side, emphasize the use of centers (housekeeping, blocks, etc.) for socialization and lifeskill improvement. According to the K teacher, Mrs. Carswell, this isn't a given at every elementary school in the district, but it is an aspect that the K teachers find important at Busey, particularly if they're dealing with a new bunch of kids who may have never been in a school environment or a social environment where working, playing and interacting with others was a norm.
In a nice change of pace, Carrie Busey is using grants to work against the childhood obesity problem. Birthdays are celebrated once a month with special treats. But the focus of all school celebrations, fundraisers, etc., are purposefully activity based fun rather than using food (particularly those of the indulgence kind) to celebrate. So there will be no candy bar sales... The school also provides a weekly introduction to different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Each week a new kind is brought in for the kids to feel, touch and try. A lot of it may be foods children have never seen or tasted before. The biggest challenge is getting them to try something new.
In the music room, children were strumming ukeleles. They didn't look overly excited. The strumming didn't sound particularly cheerful. :-) But I have a feeling they would have been way more excited pretending they were rockstars with guitars. There is a permanent art room in Carrie Busey. The class moves to the art room versus the art teacher visiting rooms on carts. The gym doubles as the cafeteria, and the gym teacher is one of the leaders in the school's focus against the American culture's food fixation. Given the last year of my nutritional commitment, I'm kind of happy to have a school that agrees with the same philosophy of food that I'm trying to instill at home.
Overall, I was satisfied with the idea of Carrie Busey being our neighborhood school down the road. I liked what I saw. Right now, as a Savoy resident, X-man has an 80 percent chance of going to elementary school there, if we choose the public school route.
Carrie Busey is the school that will be moving to Savoy once the new building is built just a few blocks from our house. I believe the estimated building time is to get the school in Savoy built by fall 2011, but as with most building projects... we'll have to see. The school day runs from 8 a.m. to 2:15 p.m., and, like my trip to South Side last year, the building was locked to prevent random people from entering. I like this from a safety aspect and at the same time it depresses me. The school of choice focus is on creative writing and literacy, and the partnerships and emphasis on reading are evident in every classroom, in the halls where University of Illinois students are working one on one with students, on the reading recovery room, reading enrichment room and then just a separate reading skills room. The principal also mentioned that only 4 of their kindergarten students this year failed to reach the satisfactory reading level on standardized tests. And since the program has been preforming well for the last four years, she doesn't see a new principal coming in and changing the fundamental parts of how the school has been meeting students needs.
And this was my favorite thing about Ms. Kelly. Every word out of her mouth was student focused, with the support of teachers and then she brought up requirements. She seemed to focus on the idea that if you taught the student well the requirements would come. Rather than using the requirements as a bar that the kids needed to jump over.
I also loved that there were other integrated programs within the building, including one with children with hearing disabilities. The special education lessons were done in small groups in one room, but there were teachers at each table and the ratio to kids was between one teacher to three students to one teacher to six students.
The classrooms at Carrie Busey are currently gigantic. Huge. They make South Side seem very crowded, but they don't lose the intimacy like the ones at Barkstall did. The kindergarten teachers at Carrie Busey have been teaching for over 15 years. And they still, like South Side, emphasize the use of centers (housekeeping, blocks, etc.) for socialization and lifeskill improvement. According to the K teacher, Mrs. Carswell, this isn't a given at every elementary school in the district, but it is an aspect that the K teachers find important at Busey, particularly if they're dealing with a new bunch of kids who may have never been in a school environment or a social environment where working, playing and interacting with others was a norm.
In a nice change of pace, Carrie Busey is using grants to work against the childhood obesity problem. Birthdays are celebrated once a month with special treats. But the focus of all school celebrations, fundraisers, etc., are purposefully activity based fun rather than using food (particularly those of the indulgence kind) to celebrate. So there will be no candy bar sales... The school also provides a weekly introduction to different kinds of fruits and vegetables. Each week a new kind is brought in for the kids to feel, touch and try. A lot of it may be foods children have never seen or tasted before. The biggest challenge is getting them to try something new.
In the music room, children were strumming ukeleles. They didn't look overly excited. The strumming didn't sound particularly cheerful. :-) But I have a feeling they would have been way more excited pretending they were rockstars with guitars. There is a permanent art room in Carrie Busey. The class moves to the art room versus the art teacher visiting rooms on carts. The gym doubles as the cafeteria, and the gym teacher is one of the leaders in the school's focus against the American culture's food fixation. Given the last year of my nutritional commitment, I'm kind of happy to have a school that agrees with the same philosophy of food that I'm trying to instill at home.
Overall, I was satisfied with the idea of Carrie Busey being our neighborhood school down the road. I liked what I saw. Right now, as a Savoy resident, X-man has an 80 percent chance of going to elementary school there, if we choose the public school route.
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