Josephine and Elijah are also both confused about the fact that she’ll be in first grade after summer break is over. I told Josephine, “Yup, after summer break, you’ll be in a different class, in 1st grade, and Kaylen will be in 5th grade.” Then Kaylen piped up that when Josephine goes to 2nd grade, then Kaylen will be in a different school. Well that was REALLY information overload for her, because a couple days later, she told me that she heard that there were 5th graders at her school, so why does Kaylen have to go to a different school? Back up, that’s another step down the line yet! I think they’re starting to get it, though. But I still need to get a calendar out and go through the months of the year (which they know) with them. Maybe they’ll understand better if they can see it on a calendar, that the last day of school is May 29th, and then they have summer break, before they start 1st grade (and Kaylen starts 5th grade) on August 15th.
At any rate, the kids are all doing great in school. Elijah probably has had the biggest challenges, with his behavior issues. He’s improved greatly since the beginning of the school year, but still has his days. We saw great improvements in his reading since January. At his parent-teacher conference in February, his assessments at the end of the 2nd trimester, showed that he was progressing, but still behind grade level. About a month ago, after spring-break, they sent home another progress sheet, and his counting and number recognition, letter and sound recognition, and sight-words were as expected for the end of the year in kindergarten. He also is doing better with sounding out words and then thinking about the possibilities if the word doesn’t quite come out right the first time he pronounces it. He’s also starting to understand the flow of the sentences and how to stress words when there’s a question mark or an explanation point at the end of the sentence. His writing pages are starting to show some words that make sense or that relate to the topic assigned rather than just random words and letters. It’s so fun to start seeing these light bulbs click!
Josephine is doing well in school. We’re seeing her reading continually improve. She does a great job reading her books, so long as she’s not too tired - when she gives up easily when she sees a big word coming. She’s writing quite well – it’s fun to try to read her stories and how she’s sounded out her own words on the paper to tell the story of the picture she drew. She’s had her number recognition down for quite a while. We worked at home a few times on writing the numbers 0-120, and mostly had them all down. She’s even starting to do simple math problems, and can write out the number problem and draw a picture of it. She likes having us quiz her on addition problems as well. It’s so neat to see them starting to love learning!
Kaylen has rarely had any problems in school. She’s a bright student, and has had few behavior issues. I think her teacher’s personality this year has helped things go really smoothly, but also helps challenge her without her feeling too burdened by the challenges. She’s been in the extended learning program for humanities (reading and social studies), and this winter she started in a monitoring program for the STEM extended learning program (science, technology, engineering and math). She was nervous to start that, but I think she has really enjoyed the challenge. Her math test scores on the annual assessments given to 3rd graders and up, were great, and allowed her the opportunity to take the two additional tests that will be used for math placement classes for next year. It made me a little nervous when she came home one day and told us they’d taken one of the placement tests. She said her friend was in there testing for 80 minutes and it only took her 45 minutes. She’s an excellent student, but her testing doesn’t always reflect her best work, because she rushes through things. I hope that her speed wasn’t detrimental to her scores. She assured me that she didn’t rush through it, and that she was faster because, "the tests were all different because they were on the computer." Somehow, I don’t think they were THAT different, but we shall see. I don’t know when we’ll find out the results of those tests and what her math placement will be next year. I imagine we'll be getting a letter in the mail this month.
The fourth graders recently did a famous-person project. They each had to choose a different famous person to research, and write about. They made a display board, to show photos and their writing. They could use props for their presentation, and then on presentation, all the 4th graders set up their display boards in the lunch room of their school, and dressed up as their famous person. They had to present themselves as that person to all the parents/visitors that attend the “Famous People Fair”. It was a pretty fun project for Kaylen. She was one of the last kids in her class to choose her famous person, so she didn’t her first or second choice, but she ended up with Judy Blume. I think she did a great job with her project!
Just a few days after the Famous People Fair, the fourth graders also had their music concert. They did a couple little dances, demonstrated tone and rhythm skills, sang, and played their recorders. It was a cute little concert. Kaylen had told us where to sit, because during the dancing part, her class would be in the back right corner of the gym. But then when they went up on stage, we couldn't even see her. I wasn't impressed with how the risers were set up. All kids were on the risers - I thought they could have omitted a section, and had a row of kids on the floor in front of the risers, but so be it. One of Kaylen's friend's moms had a good view of her and shared some photos with me. They all did a great job, and looked like they were having fun too!
I usually plan activities in the summer for the kids, but I think this summer it is going to be especially key for Elijah and Josephine, so they don’t lose ground on the progress they’ve made this winter/spring. I guess I have some home-school type planning to do to get ready in the next month! I think I’ll be printing lots of number/math worksheets. I’ll also have to come up with some ideas and/or worksheets for writing practice as well. I already have a few books ordered from Scholastic, but I have a feeling we’ll be making lots of trips to the library this summer as well. Kaylen can read so fast, and is way beyond her grade reading level, so I’ll have to get stacks of books for her every week or two – probably even some fun non-fictions. Elijah and Josephine just need new and different easy readers to keep them occupied. I’d like to continue having them each read a book to us each evening, to keep those skills up to speed.
1 comment:
If you don't already do Starfall.com, that's a good free website that will help keep them reading. And our Dollar General is a great place to find reading and math workbooks, all for $1 each. Sometimes Target has those too, in the section full of cheapy stuff that's usually at the front of the store.
Post a Comment