General Kid Updates - Kaylen

Kaylen is enjoying 2nd grade. The first day of school, her favorite things were recess, PE, and lunch, where the 2nd graders are now allowed to choose salad bar instead of hot lunch if they don't like the hot lunch and didn't bring their own lunch. She is doing great in school academically. Her biggest challenges are following instructions, slowing down and doing things carefully and neatly the first time, and not interrupting classmates whe she finishes before them.

She's an excellent reader - I think I've said this before, but it's hard to keep enough books for her. They're always on her birthday/Christmas lists. She checks out as many books from the school library as she can at a time (2), and her class goes once per week. She can read faster than I can, and still comprehend very well. We challenge her with books that are beyond her understanding, because of her reading level, and then get a lot of questions like, "What does _____ mean?" She is learning so quickly!

Although she doesn't know it, Kaylen is enjoying science and social studies in school. They aren't called that - which is why she doesn't know it - but they incorporate these topics into their reading and group times. Recently she's been learning about communities and community helpers. They also are doing a project related to a book called Flat Stanley.

Kaylen is excelling at math as well. This year, they've worked on basic addition/subtraction facts (building on what they learned last year), money and making change for purchases, and now adding double-digit numbers. I haven't been the biggest proponent with the new-fangled math program the district started last year. However, they are teaching the concepts, and they're using some interesting strategies to help the kids learn how to solve problems.

Kaylen played soccer this fall, and really enjoyed it. She's in a more formal league, and will continue playing on the same team in the spring. We considered signing her up for a winter soccer camp, but decided against it due to the scheduling issue.

Kaylen has enjoyed Awana this fall. Her being behind her 2nd grade peers in Sparks was a really big motivator for her, and she completed her first book in November - only about 3 months into Awana. She decided to start on the 2nd book instead of doing a book review, but if she goes through this book as fast, she'll definitely be doing both book reviews before the end of the year. She's also looking forward to making a race car for the Grand Prix next month. Daddy remembers doing the same thing as a kid in Boy Scouts, so is looking forward to helping her with it.

And with Christmas coming in two weeks, she's definitely looking forward to that. She's also looking ahead to her birthday which is only 6 weeks away too. Hmmmmm... We're trying to decide what we should do to celebrate her turning 8! Any ideas?