Back to School

It's been a couple of weeks now since my grandkids have gone back to school and, quite frankly, I miss them - although I do sort of feel like I am on vacation now that they are not.  

My granddaughter, in an all-day Pre-Kindergarten, has learned how to pronounce her teacher's name.  She told me before school started that she was just going to call her teacher Mrs. Carrot because her real name was just too hard for little kids to say. Actually her big brother had her pretty much up to speed on that by the morning of the first day. My daughter overheard him patiently teaching her to pronounce the name in question. He, of course, has a handle on everything "school" because he is, after all, in the third grade.  He came home after the end of the first full week with poster paper, markers, and a plan. He explained that he is going to run for student government and, in fact, already has not one, but two campaign managers.  Did I mention that he is eight-years-old?  And so it begins....

On another school front -- although they go to different schools, both my granddaughter and grandson ride the same bus. I find comfort in this and in the fact that there are no really big kids on the bus while they are on it. Seriously -- they are four and eight.  They shouldn't have to ride with high schoolers.  There is time for that later on when their heads are higher than the seat backs of the school bus.  Do you agree? Anyway --  then when they get off the bus, their Mom and the Lovely Luna, my favorite dog, are waiting for them at the bus stop and together the four of them walk the two blocks to their home.  Nice... and comforting as well. It sort of pleasantly Norman Rockwellian to picture that scene.

Times have changed though -- changed a lot in the eight years since I retired from teaching.  Technological advances are amazing. My granddaughter patiently explained to me that she can communicate with her teacher from home through an avatar that she, the four-year-old, "created".  It is a bit mind boggling. (I am not even sure what she means and remember -- she is four -- definitely a "technobaby". She uses her Mom's iPad or fancy android phone I guess.)  Her teacher, whom I will always think of as Mrs. Carrot, even sent a mass message to all the tense Mommas pacing at home the first day of school to tell them that all the kids were doing just fine, had survived the morning in excellent shape, and that they were at lunch. The next day she sent home photographs -- mementos of the first day of school. I do so love Mrs. Carrot.

With all this in mind, I find it majorly comforting that her brother is still using poster board and markers as well as all the other fancy "stuff". For sure technological advances can be good things whether or not I am able to understand them.  My Grandson, in illustration of this point, is taking part in the STEM program at his school.  He is doing all sorts of cool stuff -- he tells me that Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math are his "thing". ( I hope I got the right words to go with the letters.) His major regret is that he only gets to go to this STEM class once a week.  He has already done "coding" for several video games which means he can make the characters move in specific directions --- I think.  The more I hear these kids talk about school, the more I have confidence in the future.  I am willing to let them have their go at it...the future, that is.

It is important to note though that there are some things that never change. My Granddaughter tells me with her big brown eyes snapping, that one little boy in her class keeps pulling her hair and that she finds it most annoying. To say that she is "most annoyed" though is an understatement. I know her well.  I am thinking that this unsuspecting little boy better watch out - I have seen her go after her brother when at the end of her patience, and that little shrimp can really pack a wallop when she has reached her breaking point. Yep -- that little boy better be very careful. Wish I could be a fly on the wall when he pokes the bear one too many times.  She is a feisty little thing. Beware all hair pullers.  If you know any -- please let them know.

And so Autumn begins...one last thought -- the kids are back in school so, of course, the weather turns hot and humid -- just in time for the kids and teachers to suffer.  It may be different now, but when I was a teacher, the only rooms that had air-conditioning were the computer labs and the offices of the administrators who had to work all summer in stuffy little offices. Maybe the schools ought to consider the benefits of Air-Conditioning as a technological advancement. Is there grant money available for that? Wouldn't that be lovely?