Brag Alert! The boys in school

Fair warning, please be prepared for some bragging! Read on if you want details on the school year thus far...

Franklin is a "school of choice" so it's public but with a focus on the Core Knowledge curriculum which stresses the ol' Three-Rs. It has grades K-8 so the little people interact with the older classes. We love the small middle school (an amazing 178 compared to the 514 to 662 enrollment of 3 other Corvallis middle schools!!) The curriculum is tough, middle school is especially challenging, but they sure learn a lot.

Alex’s 6th grade Science is amazing, we were talking the other day & he added this to the conversation “well you know, water IS the universal solvent” …. For that matter his Language & Social Studies classes are outstanding too, Derek and I are mostly familiar with the vocab words he brings home but not all of them!!! I swear one of his workbooks feels like it’s college level (I searched the covers & title pages but couldn’t find a grade level on it). It’s the best Math year for him ever, the teacher is approximately twelve years old (well, he must be older than that but he is quite young & the kids sure like him). Alex is earning As and Bs in very demanding classes and we are soooooo proud of him!!

Casey has weekly homework in 1st grade but he whips thru it usually by Monday evening so we need to augment it a bit. We’re working with his teacher to nudge him some in math & reading, but we need to be more proactive about that & advocate for our little mister. It warms my heart to hear him reading, it’s like a light bulb turned on and he sees the words that are all around him on cereal boxes, video games, signs, etc etc etc… Another cool thing they do is ‘public speaking’ beginning in Kindergarten, first it’s “show and tell” then becomes oral reports which gives them quite an advantage over students that don’t get that, for these guys it’s fairly ordinary & not scary.

Both boys are fortunate to be surrounded by a good group of buddies, good kids all around, and it is so fun watching them grow. Things just feel really good! Anyway, that’s the scoop on how the kids are doing in school. It’s been an amazing first part of the year with more Adventure yet to come!

Tuesday 09/02 - Tomorrow is the First day of school !

Franklin Elementary had an Open House today. Casey got to check in & get acquainted with his kindergarten teacher & classroom, find his seat & the all-important cubby! He’d met the teacher last Fall but this time the room was crawling with his classmates so that was fun. He was a bit shy but I’m sure will warm right up. He’s such a smart cookie, I think he’s gonna love this school thing!

Alex was, shall we say, ambivalent about going today. He has missed his friends this summer, but is perhaps dreading the homework & saddened that the summer went by so fast (me too!). It was fun though because when he walked by his classroom, Alex was positively Mobbed by his buddies, his “guys” :) That put a smile on his kisser…

We brought along the sweet young lady that’s been hanging out with them late this summer & she enjoyed the trip. She’ll be picking Casey up from school at least until her classes begin at OSU at the end of September. We hung out for awhile at the playground & let the guys run around a bit. Now they’re off to pick up a few important items (crayons & colored pencils). There’s just something extra special about starting the school year with a new box of crayons……………

Our bed is covered in school supplies from last year. Many of them are still useful (glue sticks, scissors, pencil-sharpeners) but we’ll do the final sort & see what last-minute items we need to purchase tonight! Derek woke their little selves up early so we’re working on this school schedule. Early bedtimes, then rise & shine!