Today is the third day of second grade, so far so good. I have to say that I like Cameron’s teacher and I think he’ll do well in her class.

Of course she does things a little different than the first grade teacher so that will take some getting used to. I never want to be THAT parent so I try to follow the teacher’s rules to the letter.

So far the only thing I’m not a fan of with second grade is the classroom supply system. Cameron only has a few on his own school supplies at his desk, the rest are put in a big pot for everyone to use. To me it seems a little socialistic. Really, I wouldn’t mind buying two sets of school supplies to make sure that every kids had their own stuff. I’ve asked my teacher friends to explain the why of it all and I get that it helps keep the kid’s work areas neater and makes it easier to move from one task to the next but how about teaching the kids responsibility instead. Be responsible for your own stuff, that’s what I had to do.

The major issue I have with all this sharing is the spread of germs. They’re second graders, not exactly the models of cleanliness. When Cameron was in Kindergarten they used this same classroom supply system and he spent the week before winter break and most of the Christmas holiday needing breathing treatments for a respiratory infection. Oddly enough, when he had his own supplies in first grade he never missed a day of school and wasn’t sick all year. Coincidence? I think not!

Enough about my issues, how’s Cameron doing in the first few days of school?

Not as well as I would like actually. He keeps saying he hates school. The past two years he loved school and seemed to really enjoy himself. I hate to hear him say he hates school and doesn’t want to go, it breaks my heart.

I’ve asked him if something is going on or if something happened and he says no. I’ve asked him how he likes his teacher and he says she’s really nice. The only thing I can think of is that he is much like me in that he doesn’t like change.

I’m hoping as he adjusts to the new teacher, class and routine that his attitude changes and I’m going to work at home to try and make learning fun.

How are your kids adjusting to the new school year so far?

Little Cheater!

Cameron gets board very easily which makes getting him to focus on school work difficult at times. He’s a smart kid, when he applies himself he’s amazingly intelligent.

At the beginning of the school year Cameron was really into his spelling tests. He worked hard and studied and loved when we would get all excited over perfect tests. Then he lost interest.

Every week getting him to study became a struggle. He was getting all the regular spelling words correct each week but they’re easy words for him. The challenge words were giving him a challenge and he had no interest in stepping up to that challenge.

I had the brilliant idea to bribe him to study. I told him that if he got all the regular words AND the challenge words right I would take him out and let him pick out a new Transformer.

He studied and worked on his words but there was one he was having trouble with.

A few weeks prior he had gotten a word marked wrong that was correct but never mentioned it to the teacher. I may be a mean mom but I told him that it was wrong because he had mixed his upper and lower case letters. I told Cameron before he left for school that if he thought he had gotten a word correct and it was marked wrong to talk to his teacher. Those were the last words I spoke before I said , “I love you” as he got on the bus.

He got off the bus and the first thing I asked was how he did. He got them all right but his teacher had marked it wrong. Or so he said.

That’s right folks, he changed the answer and then changed the grade on the front. You can clearly see eraser marks and his pencil must have been sharper the second time around. Did he talk to the teacher? Nope.

My bribe had backfired. He was so desperate to get that toy that he was willing to cheat to get there.

The fact that he would compromise his integrity for a toy has me a more than a little upset. Where did I go wrong?

Needless to say he did not get a new Transformer. He also lost his TV and iPad privileges for the week.

Have your kids ever been less than honest to try to get something from you?