Wednesday, June 19, 2013

JK in a snaphsot....

Oh Monkey... How you have changed this past year... At the start of the year, you could read a few words... Spell your name... Count to 20... Maybe more if you really concentrated...
But now...

Reading - You are starting read level 1 books independently.  I'm introducing level 2 & reading with assistance books.  You love going to the library, even though I will only let you check out books you can take a shot at reading.

Spelling - 100% every.single.test all year.  So proud of this for you.  And you loved your year end reward of walki-talki's.  Where grandma had to bribe me at every.single.test to study & do well - you thirst for knowledge & wanting to learn.  As you realized learning to spell would enable you to read independently, you were so good about studying.  I won't lie though, as the year wound down - your willingness became resistance, which equaled several go rounds with Mommy.  I never did have to resort to weekly bribery - so that to me is a total WIN when paired with your perfect score.

Mommy & Daddy are so proud of this!

Math - going into the year, you had the concept of addition nailed.  During the year, you grasped the concept of subtraction.  You can count by 10's, 5's, and well beyond a 100. 

Science - you love doing science experiments.  Microscopes are fascinating to you now.  You pick grass just so you can look at it *under* the microscope. 

Spanish - you speak it like a natural.  You blow mommy's mind with how naturally you take to rolling your Rs.  Senora stops me every time she sees me around FRA to make sure I know how naturally you speak it.  I laugh and always remind her, it's all you Bud... You correct my enunciation anytime I try to communicate with you.

American Sign Language - this has probably been the part of your FRA experience that has emotionally meant the most to me.  One of your before school teacher's is deaf.  In the early part of the year, a great way you & I learned your spelling words was learning how to sign them together.  For you, putting the two together helped you retain what you were learning.  For me, it forced me to learn how to speak ASL.  A skill I have never needed, but have found to be invaluable now.  Seeing Mrs. Camplin's face, watching you sign and knowing I was learning it with you - proved to me how under served our Countries deaf citizens are... Knowing how you & I love to talk, to be someone who cannot hear must be so isolating.  Watching the joy she received from you so happily learning how to communicate with her, and knowing I was making the effort was truly priceless...  I hope this is a skill you never let lapse & that you always remember how much it means to someone who cannot hear you speak.

General Knowledge - You now know & can recite on demand - both Daddy & my cell numbers, our home address, including zip code. 

Gym, Woodshop, Art, & Music -   Like the rest of your report card was all above average marks.  You rock on the +'s, and S+'s.  

Overall - you started your year with Mrs. Kaiser.  You loved her.  Mommy, not so much... My issues with her probably are also the reasons you loved her.  She was wonderfully kind, but totally scatterbrained.  She thrived on teaching compassion & warmth.  However, she had to leave at the end of Spring Break due to personal issues.

At that point... Mrs. Moynihan (aka Miss Dana from extended care) took over your class.  She is A LOT more like me.  You liked her, but she did not bond with you over school like Mrs. Kaiser did.  Part of that was Mrs. M being a little harder on you guys to enforce that she was no longer Miss Dana - fun, easy going, playful Dana... But also, Mrs. Kaiser had fallen behind the other JK class in basic teaching.  Since you will be expected to know this information next year entering into Kindergarten, Mrs. M had to work really hard to keep you guys focused and moving forward.  Times she should have spent repeating work, she spent teaching.  As a result, she is offering to tutor you guys over summer to ensure you guys don't lose any ground she made up during the latter part of the year. 

Last, but certainly not least... Social Skills - oh Bud, where do I start???

You are naturally a leader.  You will never be a wallflower, nor will you be happy not leading the charge.  You do well following directions, but would prefer to mark out your path.  You ALWAYS know better.  You are constantly trying to prove authority wrong that you CAN DO and WILL NOT GET HURT.  I'm certain my Mother's Heart is going to shed more than a few tears as you grow.  That said, I could not be prouder of you.  I know that strength will serve you well in your teens, even if it makes me want to knock sense into you now.  :-)

Oh the one piece of torture you added this Spring... You started declaring girls as your *girlfriend* and that you would be *marrying them & having babies*...

SONOTREADYFORTHAT

Sadly - this did cause the girls you passed over to shed more than a few tears at recess.

And I got emails over it.

Sigh...

But you do still tell me you have to wait until you are 30 to kiss a girl, but you do sneak in a few 13's to that question.  I keep trying to reinforce the concept of 30, but right now knowing I will be lucky if you wait until you are 13...

I love you so much Monkey!!!!

Good Luck Next Year!!!!

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