The biggest news is the start of the new school year. Andrew started 2nd grade in Ms. Faykosh's class. She is a brand new teacher at Ridgewood this year, but so far things seem to be going pretty well. Andrew was kind of upset because he didn't get a postcard early telling him which class he would be in, but he finally got it the day of Open House. At Open House, he met Ms. Faykosh and also got to pick out where he wanted to sit ... the back! He didn't really recognize many names - there is only one kid from his class last year. Sometimes this makes him sad, but we told him, this way he gets to know more kids than anyone else because it is a whole other class of kids to meet.
His class seems to be going well. Andrew's daily schedule is morning work, reading (8-10:15), writing (10:15-10:55), lunch (10:55-11:25), resources (11:35-12:05), recess (12:05-12:35), math (12:35-1:35), SS/Science (1:35-2:00) and then he comes home.
During reading time, they just started groups. Andrew's reading level is an L, which is what he ended with, though he has very high fluency. I think he must not be answering questions very carefully because he read probably at least 50-100 books over the summer ... and he reads high level books with good comprehension. Oh, well - that's for the schools to teach ... I just teach to read and love of reading. During independent reading time, he gets Geronimo Stilton books from the library, a new one every day or two. He is doing well in his classes. Math still seems pretty easy, but again, Andrew isn't very careful when he does the worksheets. His handwritten is usually pretty poor, unless we remind him and then his handwriting is excellent. I guess working on it over the summer was worth it - now, if we could just work on his motivation! I know he has been studying the human body in science - I guess they just had a test about the ear, but he never brings anything home, so it's hard to say. Andrew has been doing awesome on his spelling tests.
Andrew brought home an award yesterday for being the character kid for his class this month. He was pretty excited and got a certificate. His class has a behavior scale each day - from red (bad), orange, yellow, green, blue, purple and pink. Andrew is usually blue or purple and occasionally pink. One day he was even pink +1, which I guess is pretty great. He always has very good behavior at school.
We are still doing the walking school bus to and from school. I usually walk home with the kids on Monday and Friday and the other days, the other parents do it so I can just stay home. On Thursdays, it is bike to school day - Andrew didn't do it last year, but is doing it this year. He got a cool new bike lock (with the lock being a 4 letter word). He really likes doing it and was super upset the two weeks we didn't get to do it (sleeping in, one day and raining the other). They meet at the corner around 7:20 (school starts at 7:55) and he usually gets home about 2:25 (school ends at 2:10). He likes talking to friends to and from the way to school.
This year, we have been spending lots of time playing with friends after school. Our neighbors are all home after school this year instead of being in after school, so he usually plays with them from 4:00ish until dinner. They ride bikes and play tag, jump on the neighbor's trampoline, play sports, play on the swing set and just have a pretty good time. It is so nice! I have let the boys be more independent, so they can play without me having to supervise. They can also ride bikes to a friend's house with prior permission and can ride up and down a couple streets close to the house.
Homework has been much better this year than last. There is a nightly math worksheet, nightly spelling (either ABC order, writing 3x each, or writing sentences with the words), and then reading for 20 minutes - but they can read whatever they want, so we usually just count Andrew reading scriptures with dad and the reading he does before he goes to sleep. With friends to play with, I can usually motivate Andrew to get his homework done before he goes to play, so it is not a hassle at all this year. Yay!
Andrew finally lost a tooth for real. He has several lose teeth and he finally pulled one out. The tooth fairy came (although he is pretty sure it is just us) and gave him $1. He is always complaining about how he can't eat properly because his teeth are so loose ... silly boy.
Katsu and Andrew are trying to read the Book of Mormon together before his birthday. They take turns reading and try to read a chapter a day, though it is tough to keep on track. Andrew does a really great job reading.
Andrew is still reading a ton, though maybe not as much since school started. He LOVES the "I survived" books and has read all the ones I can find at the library, plus bought a couple at the book fair. He read James and the Giant Peach and is reading the Half Magic book series. He read a graphic novel of the Little Prince. He is reading Mouse the Motorcycle and Hardy Boys books and other things.
Fun Things August & September:
- Birthday parties galore! Andrew went to a Lego birthday party for a neighbor, a swimming party for a friend from church, a Laser tag party for a neighbor, a birthday party at the house for me, a water outside party for another friend from church - plus we had a blessing party for Noah, a couple parties for Katsu's work and a party with all the new people from church at our house. Andrew LOVED the laser tag party. He made the whole-place record for the laser maze when he was there. He keeps talking about how he wants to have a party there ...
- Open House at Ridgewood. We made sure to tell the librarian to let Andrew check out hard books.
- Parade for the Watermelon Festival. Andrew did a great job getting ltos of candy.
- Starting school.
- Making some new friends and having lots of play dates with them.
- Going to soccer games to watch Seth. But mostly playing lots of soccer with Dad and Seth. He always said he didn't want to play this season ... until it was too late to sign up. He will probably play soccer again in the spring and basketball soon.
- Title 1 Curriculum Night at the school. We got to sit in both the classrooms and learn what they were up to for the year - but the real reason the boys wanted to go was to get books at the book fair!
- Pizza from pizza hut with friends for school spirit night.
- Too many donuts from Talk Like a Pirate Day.
- Pot Luck at church.
- Fishing with worms at River Park North. The boys have been dying to go fishing. And they realized that fishing ... is slow going. I think they thought we would bring home lots of fresh fish to eat. It was a little disappointing.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment