The McCallum Journal

It seems summer vacation is getting shorter and shorter for kids these days. I remember school starting in September when I was a kid, never before Labor Day. Our kids were back to school this year on Aug. 20, on a Wednesday of all days.

Karen is in first grade in Mrs. Chase's class. Both Cody and Taylor had Mrs. Chase and we all love her! Mrs. Chase's number one rule in her class is NO F-U-N! She is known as the meanest teacher in the world! Scary! Somehow the meanest teacher in the world has the kids loving school. When the boys were in her class I remember the kids saying "Mrs. Chase we’re having F-U-N". Karen is working on staying out of trouble every day. Right now she is learning the polite way to yawn as opposed to the incredibly dramatic disruptive way that she has been yawning in class. Karen is so smart. We know that she will make a fabulous 1st grader.

Taylor is in third grade. He is in Mrs. Zane's class which is the same teacher Cody had in 3rd grade. Taylor can look forward to learning about outer space this year which is pretty cool. Mrs. Zane puts a lot of focus on math which is great because Taylor is awesome at math. He tore it up on the math portion of his state star exam. He was way above target and in some areas he had 100%. We were proud and amazed at him. Now he just needs to practice reading every day. He does not like reading much. He just finished Double Fudge on audio and is now starting on his first Captain Underpants book. What ever works!

Cody is in sixth grade. I can't believe my baby is in his last year of elementary school. I think I might have a break down next summer when he is about to go into Jr. High. Maybe I can talk his 6th grade teacher into holding him back. If it would keep him little for longer I would! Cody is in Mrs. Ferrendelli's class which he is thrilled about. She is the teacher that he wanted. He found out on the first day of school that she will focus a lot on math because that is her favorite subject and because Arnold wants all 8th graders in CA in algebra. This did not make Cody happy at all because he does not feel that math is his strong point. He much prefers science, which is good considering his school is an agricultural and environmental science thematic school. All the kids get a lot of science.

We feel very fortunate that our kids go to a nice, small school that is also a California Distinguished School. The kids have lots of nice friends, many of which go to Primary with them. All the teachers know the kids by name whether they have been in their class or not. It has a private school feel without the private school tuition (thank goodness!).

Sasha and I are in heaven these days. We spend lots of quality time playing, snuggling, reading (she loves books), chatting, eating app-o's (tomatoes from grandma and grandpa's garden) and just having an all around good time. Some times Sasha will look around and say "boys?” wondering where they are. I love our time together… and I can't believe how much easier it is to clean and keep clean with Cody, Taylor and Karen in school. Thank goodness for school. I could NEVER home school!