Highlights
- Kids visit the Natural History Museum
- The first trip to Disneyland!
- Calan starts school, violin classes, basketball and soccer
- Evan is learning to read words
Calan
School and many new activities…
This was certainly a busy month, with new schedules and activities starting up for Calan. Our new “kindergartner” seems to be taking the busier schedule in stride though. School was already underway at home, but on September 28, he started his two days of classes at River Oaks Academy – charter home school. Each Monday and Tuesday morning he’ll spend a few hours in classes that let him explore science, imagination/improv acting, creativity (working with clay), arts and crafts and even one centered on Mindfulness. The bulk of his “schooling” happens the rest of the week at home though, as he works with Mama learning math, writing and various subjects about history and science through various resources – mainly his Magic Tree House books and some books borrowed from school such as “Life of Fred”. As the weeks continue, we tap into more and more educational resources whether online or books we can check out from the school. Some more details about Calan’s learning and where he’s at were captured in a letter to his primary teacher at the school (see below)
Calan also started his first-ever practices for basketball, soccer and violin group playing this month. Basketball is at the YMCA on Mondays. He loves running around doing the different drills while Dada and Evan hang out nearby. The coach is very easy going and always offers positive support for the kids, so it’s been great so far. Friday night games will start in October. He also had his first soccer practice. Here, he really gets to run a lot which he loves. He’s not quite as sure of himself however, as he worries more about being “good” at the skills needed to play in a game or some of the drills with the other kids. The coach and his assistant are also a little more structured and demanding, shouting out commands and reminders as they guide the kids through their different drills and techniques.
Every other Tuesday evening, we (Dada, Calan and Evan) trek over to Thousand Oaks for his violin class. This is his chance to play in a group setting, some of the exercises and songs he works on with his teacher and Mama each week. Calan seems so grown up in the rehearsal room as he focuses intently on Ms. Diana and what he’s supposed to play with the group. As the rehearsal goes on, more kids join in making the group larger – but still only eight kids or so. The pieces get more advanced and the other students who come in are older and have been playing longer. When it’s time for Calan to “drop out” because he hasn’t learned those songs yet, he’s not ready to leave. He finds a seat and sits and watches another 15-20 minutes as the other kids play their pieces together. He’s definitely inspired to play like the more seasoned players he’s watched.
Heidi’s letter to the Leina, our main teacher contact at River Oaks:
Hi Leina,
Now that we’ve been going at this in a more structured and “rigorous” way for a week (not really, Calan told his violin class last night that he hasn’t started school yet lol), I’ve learned a little more about where he’s at and have some questions.
Math: I think the books we have are perfect, and we’ll be excited to hear more from Fred when we can. I think we will be ok with turning in the first one at the next meeting. Calan is much stronger/more confident with old fashioned, single digit addition/subtraction than he is with all the various ways the singapore books ask the students to apply the math. I understand this, I’m the same way:) That’s one reason we were sort of skipping around at first. I know that we’re realizing an even greater importance than in the past on a deeper understanding and more meaningful application of math concepts, so I think that working slowly through all the exercises will be good for him, although he’s sometimes reluctant. I can’t quite gauge the reason for the reluctance – is it difficult and he’s tuning it out, or is he finding it boring? Even though he can do basic addition/subtraction and follow directions without my prompting, I’m needing to sit with for all the picture/word problems and number bond activities. I’m careful to make sure he thinks through steps, but with these, I have to prompt him along the way. If I give him a plain worksheet though, I can walk away, just check in every few minutes, and be a cheerleader. For the most part, he’s still using fingers to solve these problems.
Reading: He’s comprehending a lot more than I originally though. We’ve had a nonfiction explosion as he’s discovered the Magic Treehouse Fact Trackers. He’s obsessed and he’s starting to tell us things he’s learning in these books. Things we’ve not talked about, that he’s definitely getting straight from reading the books. Even though these books are young, we’re starting to be a little concerned about some of the subject matter that’s coming up. Mostly various ways that people can/have died! He seems ok, but he also internalizes a lot of anxiety. But he loves the books and reading them makes him happy, so maybe it’s ok . . . In terms of inference though, I’m pretty sure that’s still “lagging”.
Because reading is so off the charts, I’m starting to wonder about other skills that he’s “skipped”. We’ve talked about hand writing, and I think spelling is going to be coming along naturally, as he’s more confident in writing. But what about grammar? Obviously, we correct him when he speaks, but should we be addressing grammar more formally? And phonics? The explode the code book we have is perfect, because it’s getting him to write (slowly), and giving us some vocabulary to cover. There have been a few words in there that he doesn’t totally understand. But as we were working in it the other day, I realized we’ve never talked about what vowels and consonants are, or syllables (we did for the first time), and only loosely addressed differences in letter sounds, as he’s encountered new words. Regarding grammar, we’ve never talked about parts of speech, and punctuation has only been touched on.Should we “go back” and try to cover all these basics somehow? If so, should we do it with a text, or is there some kind of a phonics and grammar checklist that we can use to make sure we haven’t missed something. OR, can we just let all of this catch up with his reading organically?
As I’m realizing that we have so many great resources, and he’s hungry to learn (albeit still on “his terms”), the only other “issue” is that we don’t have time for everything. And I’m perfectly ok with picking and choosing. I just want to make sure that we’re not missing something that we should be doing.
—
Hi Leina,
There are a couple of things I wanted to mention before we meet tomorrow…
We’re still having a hard time getting him to narrate his thoughts or answer questions/retell stories on command. If I try to type or write his thoughts, he gets silly. We do have lots of conversations about everything though – his experiences, books, etc, so I’m not concerned about it, I think he’ll make the leap soon. I think this may be emerging for him because he’s started to reenact some of the Magic Treehouse adventures. His obsession with those books is growing! The last two days he’s been pretending to be Jack – he packs his backpack with a notebook, pencil, and a relevant book, and uses the couch as the treehouse. He’s started copying down text from books, just like Jack does in the stories.
I’m a little worried about the subjects of the books, though. He reads them all fluently, and while I think they handle the subjects in a gentle and age appropriate way, he’s still reading about things like Pompeii, the Titanic, etc. He doesn’t seem to have made the connection that a lot of these subjects entail death and disaster, but on the other hand I sometimes wonder if he’s connected more than I think, and he does hold on to information even if he doesn’t talk about it right away. He doesn’t forget much, and he does get anxious. I don’t want to take these books away – I have started using them as incentives for other things, to help pace him and motivate him, and he just adores them – but I worry.
The Natural History Museum
One fun trip we got to do as a family was visit the dinosaurs and butterflies among other exhibits at the Natural History Museum in LA. We left as early as possible with Calan who was extra excited to learn more about the dinosaurs he’d been reading about in recent weeks. It was a fun morning of exploring around and taking everything in. We ate our healthy lunches that we packed after a couple hours of walking around. As the morning went on, it got busier and busier, especially in the popular museum sections. We were all ready, especially Calan, to get away from the crowds and the large, echoing halls and rooms. Luckly, we found our way into a section about the history of SoCal and LA, where it was dark, cool and quiet. It was a nice cap to the morning, although Calan got an extra treat when he got to play in the water features just outside the museum entrance. A chance to cool off a little on a warm day. Evan did well too, watching all the activity around him. Eventually he too was ready to get out of his stroller and move around – not always easy in a crowded museum.
Disneyland
For sure, the highlight of the month was a trip to Disneyland. This was Gran and Grandpa’s very special birthday gift for Mama’s 40th and Calan’s 5th… Dada was lucky enough to get to come along too! It was Calan’s first visit to the park, and while it was tempting to pump him up about it, we restrained and got him just excited enough in the days leading up to September 23rd. Evan stayed at home with sitter Annie – we’ll save his turn for the future. Like the museum trip, we set out as early as we could and armed ourselves with snacks, water and a good plan for what to see/do and where to eat. (Good job Mama!). It was a good day overall, because we stuck to our plans and were able to enjoy rides and experiences that didn’t require waiting in 45-minute lines. Riding the train was an obvious hit, and an easy one to do around the park. Calan’s other favorites were the Monorail, Autopia (driving cars along a motorway), the horse-drawn carriage, double-decker bus, Carousel, the Jungle Cruise and of course It’s a Small World. All these provided for a full day, despite some intended rides we wanted to try being closed. Also, fast, high and crowded rides weren’t necessary for all to have a good time. Watching Calan have fun and see everything for the first time is more fun for Mama and Dada anyway. Our lunch AND dinner spot at the Carnation Cafe was great too. It was cool, with big-walled booths and a really helpful staff. We called it our “restorative niche” when we stopped in, a term we recently read about that introverts use to describe a place to get away from people, noises, etc. so they can recharge. 😉 Here are the pictures from Disneyland.
Evan
Evan continues being the Evan we’re coming to know (for now). He loves playing with Calan, kicking any kind of ball around, and eating most things. One of his favorite snacks now is a fruity-veggie-yogurt smoothie in the mid morning. He sucks it down through his straw quickly and with the utmost satisfaction. It’s becoming his biggest meal of the day.
Evan is also starting to “understand” a few written words now as we continue to expose him to reading, flashcards and multi-media. Arms up, Ball, Tongue, No, Teeth, Yes, Head, and Mouth are a few that he’s responding to more consistently when we hold these cards up or find them in a book. It’s always fun to see how cute he is when his brain is working these words out when shown to him.