Back 2 School!

Today is John's first day of school. This summer, because of our transferring, he had a long off. N he was so excited to go to his new school. We got him a new backpack, a new pair of sneakers, a new lunchbox...



Chris took him to school this morning, but this afternoon he will come home on a school bus. That's another his new experience.lol

- Posted from my iPad;))

Furlough Fridays

So, we just found out, state of Hawaii D.O.E. will start furlough Fridays after the fall break, which means NO SCHOOL on these Fridays. It says 17 furlough Fridays, so most of Fridays... Looking at the school calendar, if the week has a holiday or other school off day, then no furlough Friday in that week, but other Fridays are most likely this furlough Fridays. Basically... Kids in Hawaii have school only 4days a week. Which they have a half day on Wednesday, so technically 3 and a half days a week.

HOW RIDICULOUS IS THAT!?!?!?

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Library Lion

I read this book for kids last night. This is a good book. We bought this book through the catalog from John's school, so it was not a hard cover, since it is a very good one, I might get a hard cover...

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John's First Test

Yay!!! He got 10 out of 10!!! I am so proud of you, son! It may be just a lil test, but he studied very hard for it.

But... Now it's time to study for the next test! (Sorry, John!)

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Spelling Notebook

So I already showed the flash card I made(in the post "Seriously???") for my 1st grader son, John. That was for new vocabularies, which he has to be able to READ.

There's another thing for this 1st grader... Spelling... Of course it's much harder than just reading. For now he has to learn spelling of 10 vocabularies each week. And there's test on every Thursday.

There's a couple of piece of papers always attached on the composition notebook which he brings home from school, I guess it supposed to be homework... I mean, it's probably what the students are REQUIRED to do at home, AT LEAST. Well it's probably enough for some smart kids to memorize those spelling. But is that enough for our son? Hmmm... Ugh... No.

Again, I feel bad for him that he has to do a lot, but I made this notebook a while ago, n he's been using this for spelling practice.

I use the notebook which he would like. I would say, ENOUGH composition books already! Kids love these character notebooks, so let them use it! N since he's still in 1st grade, I add lines on each page so it'll be easy for him practicing "neat" writing. I've found the website which you can print out these lined pages with some characters on, it's very nice actually, but it would cost a lot after a while... N it's just hard too keep all printing stuff. So I think using a notebook is easier. It works great for us.

Oh, well... It's almost time to pick him up from school, already...lol

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What is "School"?

Ok, first thing's first. I got a phone call from Navy Family Fleet and DOE today, the Principal accepted John to stay in the school for all this school year! Yay! We won the war!lol Thanks to everybody who support us, and thanks to United States Military... This country's Military service is very good about supporting Military Family. Basically, Military DOE came out for us, 120% agreed with us, n talked to the Principal. I really really appreciate that.

So that is a good thing that John can stay in his school, though we as parents, are still not happy with the Principal. In this case, most important thing was about John. John really likes his new teacher, so do I, and John is very comfortable in his class.

The sad part from this case is... of course there are still questions left about this school and school system. It may be only this school issue, may be not.

The question is, what is "School"?

To me, I want "school" to be the place, where kids can feel safe and enjoy, like their second home. It's not only about education, but there are so many things they would learn in school. I understand that it may not be that simple. There may be always budget issues as well. But each teachers, include Principals and Vice Principals, their first concern supposed to be about their students?

When I was in 2nd grade... I just transferred to a new school, because of the moving. Then I met this Principal, who looked very familiar to me, because he was the Principal of my Kindergarten! He was very very kids-loved Principal all-time. He remembered all students faces and names, he spoke to students very often. I never forget his smile.

That's what "school" should be, don't you think? "School" should be the place, kids feel safe, enjoy, and be happy. If there's a problem, the teachers would fight for the students. NEVER leave them behind, NEVER EVER throw them out. Isn't that "school" supposed to be??

Now we are happy about our son John can stay in the school. But are there any other students treated same way before? They didn't know what to do, some parents might not be able to get a good help as we got.

I really thought this time, we parents should not give up anything for our kids. We should fight for the students' rights. We should appreciate the teachers who really care about our kids, and fight for those good teachers so they can make it a better place for kids. Let's not allow the system ruin our kids future.

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Oh, it's SO ON!!!!!

Yes, we are starting this war against John's school!

It was started with one phone call from his school's office. It was yesterday, around lunch time, I think... They asked me about our address, so, because I already started to process Michele's pre-school program in the same school, I thought that was about Michele first. But the thing was... because of her paperwork, now they happened to find that our address in not in their district.

OK... The school year already started, n it's been 3weeks. John already has a class room, a teacher, a desk n everything set up. Before the last school year ended, we filled out the paperwork asking "Does you child come back to our school next school year?", with all our address. Top of that, back in April, I went to the school office n asked them if I need to fill out GE form, they said they were not sure so they will call me for that, so I left my name, address and phone number. Did I get any phone call? NO! So of course I would think, I don't have to fill out the GE form!

Now, this is ridiculous. So they transfer my call to Vice Principal. She explain the situation, but she told me that I have to transfer John to another school. And to me, THAT IS NOT ACCEPTABLE. So after that, I called to Department of Education Hawaii. I couldn't talk to the person in charge at the time, but the lady I spoke, she suggested me to talk to not Vice Principal, but talk to Principal.

So I called back to the school, n talked to this Principal....

OMG... this lady... she is a B**CH!!!!!

I was explaining what is going on, of course by this time I was very upset, but this B**CH doesn't know how to listen! She SCREAM BACK TO ME SAYIN,

"ANYWAY YOUR SON DOESN'T BELONG TO MY SCHOOL!!!"

Can you believe that? She was too busy screaming at me that, she didn't even care the fact this student's father is currently Iraq and this student is having a hard time about it, and he feels very comfortable in school right now!

I yelled back at her "So how can you explain about that I see the students in this same housing area in same school uniform?"

Then she screamed at me, again, n said,
"I DON'T KNOW! I AM A PRINCIPAL, THAT IS NOT MY JOB!!!"

Really? Huh.
I even told her, back in April, I actually tried to filled out GE form, but I never got contact back. She screamed back at me, again, n said,
"HOW CAN I KNOW YOU ARE NOT LYING???"

ENOUGH! I was so done talking to this PSYCHO B**CH!!!

So I called to Navy Family Fleet Service, I explained to her everything, oh she was MAD! She was mad at this school and the Principal! I was like, "Finally! Thank you!!!"

Now she is taking care of this case on her level, n she's taking this to all Navy level. She told me there will be a long process n meetings, but she won't accept any other answer from them but our son stays in the school at least til the end of the school year.

I already don't like this school because of this PSYCHO B**CH Principal, but John likes his teacher, n he is comfortable there. I am not removing our son just because of their ego. And this Principal needs to pay the price. There are so many "fishy" things going on in this school, include the money situations, if they would give us a hard time and wanna play the game, I am willing to bring this to the court, plus I will bring this to the local news.

This is not right. The school, the teachers, and most of all, the Principal, supposed to think about the best for all the students first, but she doesn't care! Oh, BTW, we paid $10 student fee which WE HAD TO. They were checking if everybody paid, so they care about the money, but obviously they didn't check all students information n addresses. So we have this problem, but my very next door(which I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE THEIR NAME TO THE SCHOOL, of course!) didn't get any notice about transferring school! It's all started only because of NOT THE FORM ABOUT JOHN, but the form about totally something else. Which means, if I didn't try to enroll Michele in their pre-school program, they didn't even know anything!

I can't believe this, I can't believe that this lady is actually sitting on the Principal desk. We need to make an action about this!

The school is NOT THE PRINCIPAL'S OWN, but the school means because of the students, the teachers and the parents! She has NO RIGHTS to say that our son does not belong to HER school, she has NO RIGHTS to SCREAM at ANY PARENTS with ANY REASONS, she has NO RIGHTS to CALL A PARENT A LIAR, especially when SHE'S NOT DOING HER JOB!!!

I am very VERY upset, but thanks to all my friends, and all this Navy system, hopefully we will get through this.

But... you know what? IT'S ON!!!

Back 2 Busy "mom" Days...

UGH! Here I am, back to busy BUSY weekdays...lol Most likely, thanks to John's school work. I mean, I feel bad for him. I don't really remember that I studied so hard when I was in 1st grade. Did I even have tests???




OK, enough complaining.lol I had a great weekend with my friends(which reminds me that I totally forgot to upload the pics from my camera...), n I had some good time with my friend today as well. So I suppose, I recharged...?



Well, anyway, being busy is a good thing now. Especially I am enjoying it, even though I get stressed out with John's school work.lol I think I really love being a mom.

Since I was a little girl... well, may not be a little, but like early-teen, maybe? I always thought I was gonna be a working woman, not just a working woman but SUPER working woman. It was not like a dream or anything, but I thought I was gonna be like that. I never actually imagined to be a regular "mom". It sounded so boring to a girl who like excitement.



But now, I love being busy with kids over being busy working. N I would say, there are tons of excitement being a mom! When I was a working mom... I couldn't even enjoy these excitement. I was like, wake up - get ready for work - wake kids up - get kids ready - take kids to school - go to work - working - working - working - go home - pick kids up from school - get ready for dinner - eat dinner - put kids in bath - take a shower myself - go to bed. Everyday was like that. Like everything was on "to do" list, everything was chores... Now I get to have some stress with kids! How great is that!lol



So even though I complain about it, I'm actually liking it.:):):0:D


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Study Time!

The 2nd day of homework... More like studying for the test? Well... he's... trying... he's trying my patience...lol I know it's hard for 6yrs-old to focus n study, but he's gotta learn eventually... right?

I already made a deal with him about this test. If he gets good score, he can get something he wants. Just so he has something to looking forward...

I hope he will do okay with his test... I'm more nervous than he is...lol

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Seriously???

John's got his first "1st-grade homework" today. I was expecting a couple of papers copied from some text books. I checked in his backpack, there were 2 notebook inside... hmmm...

One was it's said his school's hand book... regular note book size, n inside is like 2page-weekly planner. For this week, his teacher already put what he has to do... which means his homework... on each day. Hmmm. Well it would be helpful, I guess.

The other one is one of the composition book I sent with him, now it's labeled as "Reading Notebook". I opened inside, it's made for "Reading Log" for the first half, n "Vocabulary List" for the end half. "Reading Log", ok, I understand... "Vocabulary List", there is already one list attached...

As on the hand book schedule said, these are the word he has to study as homework from today to Wednesday, n according to the schedule, he will have a test for these words... There are 36 words... Are you serious??? He just started 1st grade!!

N there is a note of suggestion for us, parents, to make flash cards for kids... Flash cards... Hmmm... So I made this.

For today, I let him do write down half of the words repeatedly on his notebook. I guess he's gonna do the other half tomorrow. Then I will use these cards on Wednesday...?

But... 36 words??? Really??? Well, it's all easy words, but still... When he came home from school today, he was so exhausted so he needed to take a nap. After nap, it was already dinner time, then after that, he studied for an hour n a half. Then he had to take a shower, then bedtime... Is 1st-grader's life supposed to be this busy n hard???

The First Day of 1st Grade!

John's been so excited going back to school. It seems he already made a new friend. I am very happy for him! I can't wait to hear the all story about his first day from him when he comes home!!

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What do you call this, again?

So I did it! After I control myself (with Caplico's help), I finally finished this project! I should have started a long time ago, I didn't even touch it til today...lol

So whatever you call this, this box tray looking thing which kids put in their desks in school, obviously this was second time for me to make.

Of course, it's me talkin here, A.K.A. "Obsessively Crafty", even the last one was made soooo strong n water proof.lol You never know, kids might put some a-half-eaten-apple in there, may starts to mold. So it's gotta be water proof.lol N it's also has to be very strong. They will drop it when they try to pull it from the desk. Anyway, when John brought it back home when he graduate the kindergarten, it was still in perfect shape! A-ha!lmao

So why didn't I let him use same thing? No! My pride wouldn't let me do that to my son!lmao Nah, I just wanted to make a new one.lol

Anyway, I made it strong, taped all over, n this year, I made with John's favorite WWE n Super Mario. I used those trading cards, just cut a lil bit so it can fit(again, it has to fit PERFECTLY!!!), then taped all over again. Of course he loved it! Oh, I am sooo proud of myself!!

BTW... We can just BUY these thing in Japan...lol

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Field Trip + Zoo = Rooster...?lol

...Couldn't help to upload this pic...lol
Well anyway, we went to the zoo for John's school field trip. It was okay... Since it was the second time to go there, we didn't see all the animals. But we had fun...

Twins Day

So the last day of the spirit week was 'Twins Day'. Dress alike with their best friends. John n Korbin (plus Michele n Jarrett) made this t-shirts. They loved it...

Wacky Wednesday

So today's theme was Wacky Wednesday... Basically whatever dress wacky. I was so tired last night and didn't prepare for that, so I just let him wear Chris's shirts n tie. I think it was cute after all, n I expected to see some kids dress just like him, but didn't see any... so it was totally cool...lol

Funny Hat Day

John had 'Hat Day' @ school today, so John, Michele, and tneir friend Korbin and Jarrett made their own funny hat yesterday. They had a fun making the hats, n they loved to wear them to school...

Dictionary Study For 7yrs-old!?

Obviously now it's getting popular in Japan. 7yrs-old, that's the age when they start to learn to read 'kana'. So according to the topic, just let kids to use a dictionary for anything, for instance, they had an orange for lunch, then look up for 'orange' in a dictionary. And every single word they take, they have to put a sticky note. When they have 500, or even 1000 sticky notes on their dictionary, they get a prize. I mean, it sounds kinda good... Well, it sounds fun... But, does it work for our kids with English dictionary? Well... Why not... Right? John will be 6 in this summer, maybe I can let him start that with my help...?

Color Word Songs

OK, these are the color word songs John is singing at school... I was looking for this lylics all day... finally found it!

RED (Are You Sleeping?)

R-E-D, Red
R-E-D, Red
I can spell Red
I can spell Red
Fire trucks are Red
Stop signs are Red, too
R-E-D
R-E-D

BLUE (The Famer In The Dell)

B-L-U-E spells Blue
B-L-U-E spells Blue
Hi-Ho, did you know
B-L-U-E spells Blue

The big sky is Blue
The ocean is too
Hi-Ho, did you know
B-L-U-E spells Blue

GREEN (Row, Row, Row Your Boat)

G-R-E-E-N, G-R-E-E-N
I know hou to spell Green
G-R-E-E-N

Caterpillars are Green
And grasshoppers, too
I know how to spell Green
G-R-E-E-N

Yellow (If You're Happy And You Know It)

Y-E-L-L-O-W spells Yellow
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells Yellow
Like the early morning sun
When the day has just begun
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells Yellow

Daffodils and baby ducks are Yellow
Lemonade and scrambled eggs are Yellow
I like the smiley face that's Yellow
He is such a happy fellow
Y-E-L-L-O-W spells Yellow

ORANGE (10 Little Indians)

O-R-A-N-G-E
O-R-A-N-G-E
O-R-A-N-G-E
Orange is what that spells

Jack-O-Lanterns are always orange
Carrots are always Orange
Oranges are always Orange
O-R-A-N-G-E!

PURPLE (Camptown Races -Doo Dah, Doo Dah)

P-U-R-P-L-E, Purple Purple
P-U-R-P-L-E, Purple's what that spells
Purple grapes on the vine
Purple kool-aid's fine
P-U-R-P-L-E, Purple's what that spells

BROWN (BINGO)

There is a color we all know
Can you guess what it is?
B-R-O-W-N
B-R-O-W-N
B-R-O-W-N
That's how you spell Brown

Teddy bears and squirrels are Brown
Autumn leaves are too
Chocolate candy is always Brown
Chocolate cake is always Brown
Chocolate milk is always Brown
I like Brown, don't you?

PINK (The Jingle Bells)

Cotton candy, fat pink pigs,
Girls with socks and bows
P-I-N-K, P-I-N-K
That is how it goes
Bubble gum, Valentines,
These are all Pink too
Pink icing and Pink balloons
We can spell, can you?

BLACK (She'll Be Coming 'Round The Mountain)

B-L-A-C-K spells Black
B-L-A-C-K spells Black
Flying bats are Black
Scary cats are Black
Jelly beans are Black
I like Black

B-L-A-C-K spells Black
B-L-A-C-K spells Black
Sunday shoes are Black
Santa's boots are Black
B-L-A-C-K spells Black

WHITE (Little Brown Jug)

W-H-I-T-E
That spells White, sing with me
Milk is White, and so is glue
Ghosts are White, and they say Boo!

W-H-I-T-E
That spells White, sing with me
The clouds above, the snow below
Santa's Beard, Ho-Ho-Ho!

by Frog Street Press