The New Adventures of Jack and Jilly

Do you remember Dick and Jane? As in Dick and Jane can run. Dick and Jane can play. Dick and Jane can jump. Well, in case you didn't know, Dick and Jane have gone away. They've been replaced by Jack and Jilly, at least at my daughter's Kindergarten. We read lots of Jack and Jilly around here now!

Kindergarten has changed in other ways too. First and foremost it is now a full day affair. I remember going myself for about three hours, having a circle time and hearing a story, practicing with the calendar, lots of play, and then my favorite subject of all- RECESS! Well now Kindergarten is a bit more serious. You know our schools here must meet their "adequate yearly progress" goals. It's apparently quite a big deal. So we need this whole day to be jam packed with learning. We get lots of homework too. Yes, after spending 7 and 1/2 hours at school, my young student is expected to do some more work when she gets home! Remind me to schedule some time with her teacher to include bed making and room cleaning (they're falling by the wayside for the sake of academic progress).

Now, it's not that I don't care about learning. I think it's great that she's mastering reading and writing so quickly. I'm sure glad she can begin to count her allowance money too. But, what I didn't realize is what else is being packed into her extended day. Her teacher sends home a wonderful newsletter every Friday letting us know what has been covered that week in school. Well, wouldn't you know? Last week along with all those essentials they did find the time to do a bit of teaching on death and divorce. Now aren't those two great letter D words? YIKES! Now, it was of course taught in conjunction with a unit on families and the changes they undergo, but still, YIKES! I wonder what's in store for next week?

Thankfully, we were able to sit down that night and spend some time talking about it with our child. We did a bit of "damage control". It all turned out fine in the end. Just thought you'd want to hear about Jack and Jilly and maybe ask your child (or student of any age) what they learned at school today?