Actually, after yesterday's blog and today's "stuff"...I am almost too mentally drained to write.

Last night Dominic came up for a visit since he had the evening off and the morning off today. This morning he joined me on my visit to the school and sat in on the class with me. Yesterday, I had requested Tate's report cards so I could go over them with her teacher today, but apparently the teacher put in the same request shortly after I did...so the receptionist told her, "That's funny, Tate's mom asked for them too!" Tate did alright in kindergarten, but she was painfully shy, so she improved, but had a slow start. Last year, however, she excelled the whole time. Of course her teacher focused on the kindergarten report card. "Well, Tate did have some problems there..."

The same chaos as yesterday ensued. And while it didn't seem as severe, it seemed like a more steady stream of distractions. The only thing I can compare it to would be a scream to a nagging, droning sound. Each are annoying and disruptive, but in very different ways.

The teacher got attendance recorded much earlier today. But she really didn't get that much into a lesson. She had work posted that the kids needed to do while she conducted one-on-one student assessments. While she did that in the back of the classroom, with her back to the class, the students started to lose focus as a whole. About a six kids got up and streamed in and out of the bathroom. Apparently no one asks permission for that sort of thing anymore. When the kids finished their assignment, they had to take it to the front of the classroom. And of course, they dawdled and took their time, meandering around to avoid doing much else.

And the teacher's son made two more appearances today...one before class started and one during class.

The teacher called out to them a couple of times when she heard talking, etc. but she didn't go up to the front of the room, she did it from her seat in the back. Most of the kids didn't even pay attention...why would they? She was not commanding their attention. OH...and the kicker is there is a class leader (called a camp counselor - they have a camping theme this year) and the teacher explains that when she is doing these assessments, the kids are to direct all of their questions to the camp counselor. So...they ask questions to a fellow classmate who is in the same boat as they are??

My father has described it as a self-service education. You get what you take from it, but that's pretty much all you're going to get.

After we stayed in class for a bit, Dominic and I went to make an appointment with the guidance counselor. It turns out she had some free time, so she saw us today. We explained everything to her. She made lots of notes. She didn't have many suggestions at this point, we will be having a meeting with her and Tate's teacher next week. But she did continue to explain that the state's requirements are insanely strict and fast-paced...like Tate's teacher explained. She also told us that Tate's teacher had 4 or 5 students last year who required extra help. She is an advocate for the parents, children and teachers, so she is trying to see things from all sides, which is fine by me. I am in no way trying to circumvent Tate's teacher, but I want to make sure that we are using all the resources available to us to optimize Tate's educational experience.

We have also set up an appointment with a psychologist to have Tate tested for a myriad of things...ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, anxiety, etc. With any luck that will help us pinpoint something and we can begin to formulate a plan on how to address it.

Then I went and picked my baby girl up today and she was upset because some girls were mean to her...so she says to me:

"I hate this school."

"I don't want to go to this school anymore."

"Won't you just let them kick me out?"

"At first I thought this school was going to be awesome, but it's not."

"I don't want to go back there."

"Don't make me go."

I tried to get more info out of her to see if it was ONLY about the girls or if it was more. But the only other thing she said was that she was worried the other kids thought she was dumb.

She is at my Mom's house now and my Mom has reported back to me that Tate has only talked about the girls being mean to her. So, maybe that is it.

For now, we wait. The teacher/counselor meeting is the 6th. Her next therapy appointment is the 10th. The psychological testing is the 12th. Then we will see.