October 7, 2006
Lauren is still being the type of kid that you can’t
take your eyes off of for a second. She’s really great at seeking out trouble
and making messes.
The girls and I are gearing up for Halloween. We
spent a while this morning cutting out shapes to glue together next week. We
are making pumpkins, bats, witches and ghosts to put on the front door and
windows. Katherine is getting better with the scissors.
I had my first parent-teacher conference with
Katherine’s teacher Miss Anna. I wanted her input on what she thought about
Katherine’s academic and social adjustment. She confirmed that Katherine is a
teachers pet, doesn’t participate in large group activities, does play well
with one or two other kids at a time, is very imaginative, very very bright and
ahead of some of her older cohorts, she knows how to take care of herself when
rough kids are bothering her, she is chatty and sweet as pie. The only negative
things she said was that K was that she’s not as independent as some of the
other kids and she misses me when I leave. Those aren’t really negative things
but we are working on the independence thing. Katherine does love to ask if she
can do everything…wash hands, wipe butt, go pee, etcetera.
Miss Anna thinks that waiting until Katherine is 6
before we put her in Kindergarten is probably not in her best interest. She
thinks that socially, she will be fine with older kids and academically, she
will be board to tears if she’s held back. So, since the state will not accept
her in public school due to her missing the date of birth cutoff by one day,
our options are either home school her for Kindergarten and then test her into
first (or maybe keep home schooling if it seems to be working for us all) or
send her to private K then test her in. Since private Kindergarten is about $8k
in our area, we are thinking home schooling. There are a lot of programs
available and support groups here in our area. I need to get cracking on
researching which program we will use.
October 12, 2006
Some of K’s latest quips:
“When I grow up, I want to be a mommy like you….or a
flashlight” “Know why they call them chipmunks? Because they are monks and they
like to eat chips!”
Boy howdy this kid!
October 25, 2006
I called the school district yesterday. There are
state statutes regarding age and enrollment in Kindergarten and First grades.
Kindergarten is 5 years old on or before September 1st and First is
6. There is no such age rule for 2nd grade. So after speaking with
the guidance counselor, we will homeschool for K & 1st then she
will test into second. They have levels even in 2nd grade so no
matter where she tests, she should be in challenging classes.
She was saying that she didn’t want to go to dance
class on Monday. I chatted with her about it on the way and finally ferreted
out that she enjoys dance but she doesn’t like it when the kids run around
aimlessly to the music and run into each other. I guess she got knocked on her
bottom one day and it’s stuck with her. So, in an effort to help her enjoy the
class more, I made an appointment to chat with the teacher, Miss Joan. We met
her this evening while her daughter was taking a dance class. She talked with
K, showed us her toe shoes and how to stand en Pointe. She showed us a video of
her dancing in the Nutcracker last year. She talked about falling in classes
and how much practice being a ballerina takes. She also told K that there won’t
be much more of the running around since they are going to start working on
their rehearsals for the spring recital. She complemented K on being quiet in
class and following directions so well. K’s interest in dance is
re-established. Whew!
After meeting with the teacher, K and I went to a
local bistro for “big girls dinner”. We ate a lovely meal and K was super good.
On our way out, I told her to tell the owner (who was at the front door) “my
complements to the chef”. She wanted to get it right so she asked me 3 times
“what is it again?”. Finally she got there and she said “my competence to the
chef!”. Hahahahaaa. Of course, I called Woody to tell him and she got all mad.
“that’s what you told me to say mom”. Oh man.
I took the girls to the pumpkin patch today. Lauren
was being kind of whiney so we didn’t get to stay long but we did get some good
pictures.
October 31, 2006
Last weekend we went to the Pumpkin Fest in
The girls went trick or treating tonight. Aside from
the bigger, ruder kids (where are their manners?) we had a blast. Lauren really
got into it for about 15 minutes, running up to doors giggling, saying “Twick
or Tweet!” then running to show daddy what she got in her bag. Katherine had
fun running door to door with her two friends, Sophia and Selina. They were 3
little puffs of tulle and sparkles. Sophia was Minnie mouse, Selina was Ariel
as a bride and K was a princess on a unicorn. We now have enough candy to last
us for a year.
