Liam: 5 yrs. 9 mo.

So Liam has been in Kindergarten for a few weeks now.  He is doing really great-even though the stuff he is learning he learned 2 yrs. ago?!  It is strange to have our kids that are 2 years apart learning the same stuff at school.  He came home today saying 'The A says Ah'....Poor kid is going to be so bored!  But, he is meeting new kids that live around our area, so that is good.  He talks about the different kids in his class. There are a couple boys that he mentions more often, so I think it is just a matter of time till he is making some friends.  Mike and I both went to Liam's K. assessment.  He pretty much Aced it!  I think the teacher was a little surprised how far along he is.  She pulled us aside afterwards and said that she could give him a little something different to do when they are learning how to blend sounds, he can make a sentence with the word. She also said he could start the reading program they have where they take books home to read, like they did at KV.  They also have some electronic devices where he can play learning games on. Having her tell us that did relieve us, although on the other hand, we haven't heard of it happening yet...it has only been 3 weeks or so, but hopefully soon.  He had the PTA carnival/ Fund raiser last week. The kids had a great time.  They had games there, and a bounce house which of coarse they loved.  They also had a silent auction, where we won about 35 books for just under $50.  We were pretty happy about that!  He started a golf class yesterday after school that runs once a week for 4 weeks.  He really seemed to enjoy that.  We figure if he won't be learning much at school, we can keep him growing in other areas.  Plus we will continue to do reading and worksheets at home too.  The hard thing lately about him has been his meltdowns after school.  They don't have snack time, so when he is out of school he is really tired and hungry.  The trick is to get him home in a good enough mood that he will eat, and be OK....it has been tough though.  His meltdowns are exhausting, frustrating, and depressing.  He gets on a 'I hate you-you hate me' kick, and it's very hard to turn it around.  There is going to be a parent teacher group meeting coming up soon, and they will be talking about how to avoid the meltdowns after school, which I look forward to learning about!  Anyway, overall he is doing great, and really loves going to Kindergarten!

comment by mom/grandma on 09/19/2013
He seems really positive about it when he tells me about school too. Hopefully they will get some enrichment going soon.

Rowan: 3 yrs. 9 mo.

Rowan has been doing really well in her new school.  She really loves going to her dance class too!  It has been a great relief to have both their schools closer to home.  They both were going to Kids Village for the last couple of weeks in August, and the commute every day was exhausting.  We will miss KV because it was a great school, and the teachers were always so nice, but since I am not working nearby it just wasn't convenient anymore.  KV was nice in that it had many different classes; music, art, science, and cooking...but I think that it did take away from some of the core learning time.  Her new school has one teacher, which so far I think is nice.  I think we will get better feedback on her progress...Before when they had teacher conference at KV, we had to talk to 5 different teachers, and their feedback was so general, and not very specific. We have already had a progress report sent home just after 3 weeks at her new school!  Also before school started they did individual assessments for all the kids, which I thought was good too.  The teacher told me when it was over that Rowan was where the kids will be at the end of the school year.  So she may be a little ahead knowing all her letters and sounds, but I do think the handwriting practice will still be helpful...also she needs some work on her numbers.  She comes home talking about what she learned, which neither kid really did at KV.  So I thought of a few of the words she says that is so cute: Pack-Kack for Back-Pack, she still says Lellow for Yellow, Chick Balls for Chick Peas, Yorget for Yogurt...I know there are more, so I still need to pay attention and write them down as I hear them.

comment by mom/grandma on 09/19/2013
She is such a cutie! She seems pretty excited about her dance class. So much fun, I bet she is a cute dancer.