Last day of 6th Grade

Today is the last day of 6th grade for Matt. It has been a different year for him. His first year in middle school. First time with new rules and way things are done. He has a hard time with change, but we managed to make things work out. He is excited for the plans we have for summer and can not wait for Boy Scout camp.

This is from the first day of sixth grade. His eczema was bothering him (always does in the warm months and when he is stressed) but he was very excited.

This is the picture I took this morning. We had a good laugh when I showed him the first day picture and we noticed that he was wearing the same shirt and hat. I couldn't get him to smile, he said he was, but I know he can do better. He sure did grow this year too. I bet this time next year he will be the same height as me (I am 5'6") if not taller. We have the same size foot (I wear a women's 11 1/2).

First day of 6th grade

This past Monday was Matt's first day of school for the new school year. It is his first year in middle school. All the papers that the teacher have given Matt for me to sign have some pretty specific "rules" for each class, and every class is different. None of the classes seem to use notebooks. They all want him to use loose leaf paper in a binder. He has a binder, but it is for all the papers that he will be doing in school or bringing home. Notebooks hold paper easier and nicer than a binder anyway.

This year Matt and I have to get up at 6am (I am not normally a morning person) so that he can get the bus at 7. The bus stop is at the end of our street, so not to far away. I joined him at the bus stop of the first day, but since then, I have let him go by himself. There are three other neighborhood kids at his stop this year too. Oh and the bus driver he has this year is nicer than last years. Hopefully there will not be any issues on the bus like there were last year.

Paper that Matt's teacher sent home with him today

Student's should not spend more than ninety minutes per night on homework. The time should be budgeted in the following manner:

Looking for assignment....................................................................15 minutes
Calling a friend for the assignment.....................................................11 minutes
Explaining why the teacher is mean and just does not like children......23 minutes
Going to the bathroom......................................................................8 minutes
Getting a snack.................................................................................10 minutes
Checking the TV Guide.....................................................................7 minutes
Telling parents that the teacher never explained the assignment............6 minutes
Waiting for Mom or Dad to do the assignment....................................10 minutes

Thought it was cute.

First day of school 2011

Yesterday was Matt's first day of fifth grade. He was suppose to go back to school Monday, but it was canceled because of Irene which hit us Sunday. (we lucked out during that storm and the only damage we have is our broken tomato plants and a lone blue bucket in our yard).

We head off to the bus stop 15 minutes before 8. The bus is suppose to pick up the kids at 8. Didn't happen. She was 20 minutes late. Ya I know, it was the first day of school, but honestly she was late every single day last year and even forgot to pick up the kids one day. Many phone calls to the bus company last year didn't help either.

He said that he had a great day, but was not happy with having homework on the first day. I will have to give the teacher a call because from what I have herd through the rumor mill, is that his teacher tends to let the kids do what they want and get away with things. Matt tends to be an instigator and loves to get other kids going. It is part of his disability that he can not control at times. He needs a nice firm teacher who will put a quick stop to his little quirks, so I am afraid this teacher won't do that.

New School Binder

It's that time of year again to start gathering all the school supplies for the school year. Of course there is nothing that we can find that Matt likes. Well, he found some car folders, but what he really wants is everything military themed or camo print. I have looked, but have had no luck at all.He needs a binder to put all the folders in and we have a ton of those white binders with the clear pockets on the front and back covers.

Soooo, Matt and I hit Michael's Craft Store to see if we could find some camo printed scrapbook paper. We found plenty of stickers that were geared towards specific branches in the military (Matt picked out the Army and Air Force) , but nothing military related for paper. Off to Joann's Fabrics to see what they might have. I was also on the look out for camp fabric to make him a pencil pouch (will do a post on that later). Well, they did not have much when it comes to scrapbooking stuff, but we did find some camo paper.

                        Sorry for the yellow light, but it was 1am after all


Last night (or this morning because it was 1am when I did this LOL), I could not sleep so I decided to make his binder. I cut two of the sheets to fit inside the front and back pockets. Then I used the Army stickers on the front cover paper and the Air force on the back cover paper. I am going to use the uniform stickers to make a tag for Matt's backpack instead of writing his name on it. (Will do a post on this too).

                             Matt showing the Army side of the binder

                         And showing off the Air Force side of the binder