Second Grade

It's safe to say that we are just now settling into the routine of the school year, more than a month after it started. As usual, it hasn't been an easy transition. There is much less hand-holding by the teachers now that we're in second grade, and it's just a total shock to Connor that he should take any responsibility for the day-to-day events that shape his life. Also, his teacher's husband had surgery the second week of school, so she had to miss about a week. That kept the classroom routine in flux a bit longer than normal, which kept Connor from feeling settled. That boy loves a routine even more than I do.

At the end of last year, Connor was tested for CLUE. It was a big deal to him- he really wanted in. So this year I was thrilled the day he brought home a packet of CLUE forms for me to fill out, along with information about what they would be working on in the coming weeks. I enthusiastically brought it to his attention and congratulated him, and he replied, "Oh yeah, we had CLUE yesterday, but we just got those forms today." Seriously? The day before when I asked, "How was your day?" it didn't seem appropriate to mention it? When I asked about specifics, made him tell me which encore classes he had, who the teachers were, etc. etc., he never thought to mention CLUE? He wears me out.

CLUE takes him out of his regular classroom for a few hours twice a week, which means he has to do a little extra homework those evenings. The idea is that a CLUE kid can handle the extra work. But not Connor. No, it's not that he isn't smart enough- it's that he's just so lazy! (Oh, he's so clearly my kid!) He acts like doing homework will kill him- we have had some really impressive hissy fits so far this year. One night he screamed and cried for TWO HOURS over a little four-question worksheet. Fortunately, he's moved past that stage- although do we still have nights (cough**lastnight**cough) when the idea of writing two more sentences to finish his homework brings him to tears. (I'll count "tears" rather than "complete nervous breakdown" as progress.)

Meanwhile, Chloe has chosen to spend Connor's designated homework time doing her own "homework." Thanks to the magical dollar aisle at Target, I've collected tons of workbooks that are on her skill level. And she is tearing through them- that girl LOVES homework time. In fact, we were playing outside the other night when I realized Chloe had disappeared inside. I went to check on her, and she was sitting at the kitchen table dutifully tracing her letters in a workbook. "I was getting eaten by bugs out there, so I decided to come do some more homework."

Have I mentioned lately that my children have wildly different personalities?