Tuesday: break

Today was my official day of fall break.

In the morning I went to Isaac's school to help out for a bit.  I did the sight words and letter flash cards with each child.  Isaac did well.  It was interesting to see the range of abilities, although it did make me wonder about the child in the bigger picture.  Are their parents helping them?  Are they trying really hard and just can't remember?  Are they bored with the letters and could use more words to challenge them?  I was also happy to find out that Isaac isn't the only student who hasn't picked up on many other names.

I saw the classroom a bit; in the few minutes I was actually inside it was well run.  Snack time was controlled, but not too controlled.  I saw a bit of carpet time and everyone was doing what they were supposed to be doing.  So...nothing unexpected. :D

Ben and I went out for lunch.  I took a nap.  I got some work done.  It was a nice day.

Monday: dirt and food basket

This morning I started making a new bucket for the worms.  I had some dirt left over from when I emptied the first bucket this spring.  It's good to have some initial dirt, and I thought this would be super easy to dump in.

It turned out that the dirt had dried out.  Seriously dry.  The dirt has now been in water for 12+ hours and there are still a ton of lumps.  I just figured I'd add water and it would turn into mud.  It makes me understand (a bit) what issues areas with severe drought might be facing.

This afternoon Joshua and I went to Kids' Food basket to pack sack dinners for kids that are food insecure (they often don't know where the next meal is coming from).  Joshua did an awesome job.  He was done by the end of the hour, but he packed for most of the time.  He was in charge of the treat (fig bar) for most of the time, and he took his job very seriously.  I was very proud of him.

Isaac was disappointed to have to write his first name again as homework.  Those a's...they're getting better but still need improvement.

Sunday: fall break

I'm on fall break so I am pretending that I'm a student and not a parent and staying up too late.

Oh well.

Saturday: pictures

There were a bunch of pictures that didn't make it on the blog this yesterday, and I added some from today.

Joshua was a worm hunter as Aunt C dug up some grass...but he didn't want to touch them.  He's wearing the helmet because there are bears around.

In the fabric store, picking out some greens.

During quilt picture time.  (Although I did have to take my own as Joshua would only take them with the play camera.)

Sitting as close to Ben as possible

We went to a bat presentation at the library.  (I may be trying to get a bat house now.)  Anyway, Isaac volunteered to dress up as the Malaysian flying fox, which is the largest bat.  Joshua put up with the whole presentation, but I fully enjoyed it.

Isaac - 69 months

Isaac turned 69 months last week.

Kindergarten (as seen from home): The transition to kindergarten has gone much better than I had expected.  He has not seemed significantly more tired.  He usually isn't cranky.  He hasn't complained about have to go.  The small amount of homework that he does have (15 minutes a week) has been a bit hard.  He doesn't love doing it but is willing to do it.  He doesn't love to accept my instruction though, and as I try to give him tips on how to write a specific letter (especially his a's).

Kindergarten (as seen from school): Ben stopped by to meet Isaac's teacher since he wasn't able to make the 'meet the teacher' night.  She said that he is very respectful.  (While this isn't a surprise, it does contrast a story that we just heard yesterday.  Isaac mentioned that his clip wasn't moved.  (It's a warning clip if you do something wrong.)  He often mentions this, but I might have said something like, "has your clip ever moved?"  He said no, but once it almost did because someone accidentally ripped his paper and so he purposefully ripped the other person's paper.)  Overall he seems to be enjoying it.

Kindergarten: His favorite special is gym, followed by technology.  This surprised me a bit, but he likes running around.  His least favorite is art, because there's a lot of coloring.  We finally figured out the name of his long-description-named friend, as Ben and I have seen him and his family and caught the name.  They don't always play together, but still sometimes.  I think Isaac sometimes just plays with whoever is running around.  We hear about some parts of the day, although I'm pretty sure there are big gaps that we miss.

Play: Isaac still plays a lot of Legos.  He still plays with Joshua quite a bit.  Screen time is still much sought after, although the schedule has changed and he's adapted. 

Puppy: Isaac is still a puppy and woofs, but it hasn't been quite as much puppiness as sometimes.

I miss him at kindergarten, but I also feel like I still get to see him quite a bit.  I don't have as much to update on for this post, but I think we've settled into a good routine.

whales at music class

Last week going to music class we started talking about the whale that swallow Jonah.  Joshua mentioned that it was a blue whale that swallowed him.  Ok, I thought.

Then we got to the class and suddenly it made sense.

This is the (blue) whale that ate Jonah.

This is the grey whale that didn't swallow Jonah.

This past week we were again talking about the whales.  The blue whale was in the ocean, but the grey whale wasn't.  I tried to convince him that all whales are in the ocean, but he wasn't convinced.  We got to the class and suddenly it made sense...the grey whale is on top of the water.  Did you notice it before it was mentioned?

I don't completely understand how he can't remember the letters of his name but he can remember exactly what these whales look like.  I expect there's a reason though.

Joshua: 38 months

Joshua turned 38 months a week ago.

Favorites: this month has been a month for favorites.  He's had a favorite color (green) for a while.  He has a favorite dress of mine (the long green one).  He has favorite shirts (t-shirts with rockets, long sleeves with with robots/controller).  He has favorite books (it often changes, but is currently a Lego gold mine one).  He has a favorite treat (Starbursts). His favorite restaurant is McDonald's for chicken nuggets.

School: school has gotten better now that we're into the routine.  It was never bad, but he is always a bit sadder when I drop him off than Isaac was.

Playing: he still plays Puppy Dog all the time.  He does it in a squeaky voice and in third person.  He likes doing anything with Isaac, taking bike rides, playing with Duplos/Legos, reading, and running around.  He enjoys his music class.

skills: Joshua has mostly mastered getting his own clothes on, but the underwear and shorts often end up backwards.  Shoes and sandals are hit and miss, depending on our moods.  However, there are times when he is incapable of getting up off the floor.  He can put on his car seat straps and can open the fridge.  He can also get water from the fridge.

tantrums: we've had some epic tantrums this month.  Well, epic for our family.  It usually starts with one small thing going wrong and then Joshua can't get himself back under control and it spirals out.  He has some ways of dealing with it, such as tasty water or putting himself in timeout, but it doesn't always work.  (I think he's put himself in timeout more than I have lately.)

letters: he can recognize J and O well.  He sometimes can get T, I, and S.  Otherwise he just guesses P, T, or B.  We're working hard on the letters in his name.

Overall, he's usually a very happy kid and fun to be with.