Kindergarten Picnic Day

Tomorrow is the last day of school - today is picnic day.  She has grown up so much this year...

We are pretty sure she will be a first grader next year.  Grades get delivered tomorrow.  And then we have a whole summer stretched out before us.

Christmas movie at school

 Early morning sendoff, so the pictures aren't quite the best as there was no light.  She was home sick yesterday, but really didn't want to miss her movie, and seems to be noticeably better today.  These are her Christmas pajamas Grandma gave her with the iron-on name.  We did it last night after I got home from work.  I've added a tshirt underneath and her 'coonhound, not poodle' skirt to keep her from freezing to death today.

Polar Express, here we come! 

Packed school lunches

Esme said that there were kids bumping her tray and making her spill things at school - and apparently nothing had been done about that by teachers, so she wanted to start bringing a lunch box to school.  She also wanted to sit with certain girls who sit at the lunchbox table... so there is a double motive there.  We told her she would have to earn the lunch box by taking brown paper bag lunches to school until Christmas Break, which is at the end of next week.  If she does good with those and is actually eating what is sent - she can buy the pink lunchbox at the store.

So, now she is eating ravenously at home, and she 'appeared' to eat her lunch yesterday as the bag came home empty.  I packed her another today, and she seemed to approve of all of the contents.  I had went out to the store and picked up some fruit and better bread etc etc.. to make the lunch more complete.  And I insisted she eat a cheese stick this morning and part of a bagel and milk.  Which, she did.. although she hates cheese she said it wasn't so bad.

Since I don't know and haven't been told if they refrigerate their lunches (Esme says they don't - they stay in the backpack) I have just sent (good) strawberry jam on bread the past few days and assorted other items and a drink to make it balanced.  If she gets refrigeration or a lunch box I can send an insulated sandwich case with a cold pack so she can take bologna sandwiches with ketchup, which she likes.  It might make her a little less picky about what she eats and/or just be a learning experience for both of us.  I kind of like the idea of packing her a lunch at night for the next day - but don't like the idea I might not know what she eats and what she doesn't.  etc etc...

Esme's science experiment

We bought food coloring today, new shiny bottles for her.  Then I had her get the writing journal and a marker, and write down 'in code' the experiments she was going to do.  We wrote a 'key' of the colors so she could write just letters (and reduce the stress of the writing) and make 'equations' to record the 'findings'.  We talked  about a 'hypothesis' but she didn't get that - maybe next time.  She did guess once what she thought something would make, red and green would make black - but then she saw it was brown, so there was a moment of interest there. 

We put one drop of each color into the small container of water and used a white spoon to mix and tell what the color was.  Then she carefully wiped the spoon on paper towel (like a true scientist, not messing up her results!) and recorded the result in her book.  If she wasn't sure what the color was, I had her drop some on to the paper towel to double-check.. she decided blue plus green food coloring was 'light blue' because the mixture was lighter on the paper towel than the blue looked like by itself.  I had to agree that was what it looked like... 

After we had gone through as many of the variations as she thought were important (I reminded her to check the equations and see which ones we had not done - she did well!)  Mark had made a container of oil, and we tested what the color did in the oil.  It made 'dots', she said.  We put some water in the mix, and it made bubbles AND dots.  Then we put some of the oil on top of a container of water, and dropped food coloring into it.  It made dots - but the spoon pushed the food coloring deeper into the water, and it made a 'whoosh' and colored the water underneath. 

After we cleaned up I had her come upstairs and 'explain her findings' to Daddy.  We answered a few questions and made a sheet about it to send to her teacher.

We also did a sheet of 'find the missing numbers' and her one sheet of homework from school.  She did measuring and length worksheets last night and this morning before school.  I am trying to do 'extension' without going too deep into the subtraction and multiplication they will be doing in the next grades... there is a lot we can do in science and math that will help her use better language - bigger, smaller, above, below, longer, taller etc etc... 

Her behavior was MUCH better today, and that continued when she was home, as well.  I got her to bed at 8 pm again to be up at 5:30 am...

Kindergarten math...

I am starting to work with Esme on subtraction, and carrying over larger addition numbers... began a little bit of length, measurement and halves vs. quarters.  Her behavior in school is still getting her in trouble... not too many of the things serious, but most of them indicate boredom with what they are teaching.  She has been going and listening at other doorways of classes instead of going back to class - and that gets her in trouble... and a few other things that just indicate she wants to find out where 'the action is.'  Her handwriting and cutting skills are a bit better, but she finds them laborious at the best.  We were practicing the sewing and cutting out a pattern tonight, again, and she showed some good perseverance.   Someone had been telling her that she could do 'good enough'...when what she was doing was really only a half-effort on her handwriting.  Trying to backtrack to get rid of that idea.  She really thought there was no school this month because I had not written it on her calendar... we talked about school being a place to see kids, but it doesn't mean the kids will be friends, and learning to make good decisions while she is at school is the big thing.

I will continue the extension of math at home, because she doesn't get it at school, they have just barely started addition as a concept.  I hope it will help her to feel she is learning something if she does this at home before and after school when I'm available? 

bits of advocacy

We had the parent teacher conference the other night.  I wasn't unhappy with the results, but still think they don't see the real Esme... and it is my job to help with that - so she is treated like a smart child by all of the instructors - and then they will see improvement all around.  I think her speech teacher can be an ally with this.  I followed up with an email about what she had said the other day - about (someone, children, teachers maybe both) thinking she is the child that does not understand, when she does understand, and it makes it hard to learn when they put her with the children who do not understand. I also sent them Minecraft screenshots of her world to show her creative side, and more home drawings and math work in her folder.

She said yesterday to Daddy off the school bus that she was not a baby, and that it was a sweet thing.  She didn't say much more... but I hope that is true.  She told me this morning about not getting in trouble for something the day before because she did the right thing, even though the other child did not do the right thing, and she knew they would cry when they did get the timeout - and they did, but she didn't.  She said that was a hard decision, whether to have them cry alone or be in timeout with them.  I agreed it was tough - but she had to show she knew what to do and maybe the child would understand better then, too.  She said maybe.

She drew a mama mouse with a baby inside, and told me the baby would be small and pink and eyes not there (because they are closed), and would have a small tail when it came out.  She then remembered she wanted a pink crayon for her pouch at school, because she didn't have one.  I said that was a great idea and put it in her bag to take to school.  I put the mouse drawing and wrote down what she had said so the teacher can see her thought process there.  She said they are doing some spelling of the words in the ABC book and she likes it but it is hard - and she has to read their book 'apple, bear, camel' sometimes and not hers, but ok...  She read a pretty long book with me for bedtime.  I ordered her another pack of reading club books that were a good price.

She came back from the bathroom this morning and said in a very small voice to me that she was scared of all of the hair ties on the sink because she thought they were bugs and then she was a brave and looked at them and they were not bugs.

I am glad she is advocating a little for herself, even on tiny things like the crayon - and talking to me about the things that are hard for her at school, so I have insight and can help.   I relayed a little of it to the teacher in email - because once they see what is going on inside her head, they might interpret things differently than just 'she is copying' etc etc.. with the timeouts.

small note

Not that much done today, either - but something.  I finished the washcloth from last night, made Esme a pair of pants and started on a pillow for her room (since I didn't need any, but she obviously does, right?) ha.  She had a disagreement of rules and terms with her teacher today...and the teacher called to find out how we deal with the stubborn streak.  I do appreciate the teacher taking interest and consideration in that way.  Teachers words today : ' I can tell that she is a very smart girl - but there is that stubborn streak, as well.. and she was insistent that I was the one not listening to her (and not that she caused a problem to begin with etc..).  Yes, sounds like our girl... her skill in logic makes for a love of disagreement and picking apart of the rules at the same time. (I think I did exactly that thing when I was her age, too - so can't say this is all from Daddy.  I remember several exasperated teachers in the early years calling my mom and having words...not very nice ones.)  And with her language oddities and possible misunderstandings from them, it is exactly the kind of thing she needs to work on with other people who are not Mom and Dad. 

Back to work tomorrow... I need to make a few more pairs of pants as several 'good' ones now have holes in them and others are just plain missing.  We did her homework page and then for good measure I had her do more handwriting exercises on her lower-case 'e'..

Second day of school drawing and a bit of sewing

Esme's coloring today, and a drawn in bus driver because, the children needed one.

When she colored her gingerbread man she gave him a nose and pupils in his eyes that were not in the original drawing, either.  I love seeing her extra details.

Made three pairs of blue shorts today... Esme wants me to make some matching shirts tomorrow - it's possible on the pale blue one, but maybe not quite on the purple one.  Her other requests were rainbow colors or maybe something green?

school bus

 Waiting for the school bus (in the wrong place)...

Running for the school bus on the side of the county road... she was nice enough to wait for us to speed up there in the car... but I should have followed my instincts first about where we should be.. and I didn't - because I didn't want to seem too anxious etc etc... instead we almost didn't get her on it at all.  Now of course my Mom worry is that she'll fall out of her seat on the first corner etc etc... but the rest of it I have to leave up to someone else and her own responsibility...

She's off to a real first day of Kindergarten.  So much, all at once.

quotes: 'When I see the bus that is 90 I will stay away from it.. when I see the bus that is 18 one and eight I will go on it and I will sit and say Hi Miss (name), I am Esme.  But not the bus that is 19.. or the 20, or the one hundred!  That is not it.' 

Sunflowers in the garden

school bus bit

Tried to do the whole run this morning for practice.  Esme got it after the first few minutes - stopped being upset that it wasn't real school and started getting excited it was practice.  She had to go back and check her calendar in her room to make sure it said 'no school'... it was actually blank on today.  Ha!  I tried to explain it as best I can.  As I told Mark - she gets some things so early and so easily.. things I don't expect her to and then am blown away with (like building bat caves and rail systems in Minecraft) and then I have to explain things three or four times a day like 'no we have to practice so we get this right at the time it happens - which is Tuesday.'  But, she WANTED to understand today.  She felt better knowing that tomorrow is a school day.  She wanted to 'know all the things' and get 'practiced.'  And she finally got that Mom has to do all her own things to get ready for work at the same time as I help her do her things to get ready for school -- which is why we are pressing her so hard to do as much as she can for herself.  Mark did another hair brushing and hair tying back lesson.  I explained how LONG she would be on the bus so she needed both a snack and a bathroom break before she would 'normally' leave.  We even got on shoes and coats and went out to discuss where the bus would come and how she would get on and sit down and stay seated. 

Lots of little things.  Mama and Daddy culture shock... and Esme, as well.  For all her furious notes and drawings and Minecraft creations the past few days I can see she wants to be as ready as she can be.  We hope she isn't going to be too disappointed with the place the teacher starts for everyone... but hopefully it will pick up quickly...

Tomorrow, we all go for the half day, and I have that day off to do it with her.

bits

Put Esme to bed last night fuming mad - got her up for 'just like school' this morning tired and wanting to go back to sleep rather than put on clothes... but she had to help take me to work... and she did.  She nearly crashed about 5 pm saying she was so tired, but it is 7 pm now and she has bursts of energy running around the yard screaming and hollering with the dogs.

We bought school supplies (during which she was quite unhappy she didn't get much choice), and some clothing (again, not much choice, I had decided ahead of time one yellow and one blue tshirt each, and underwear, and tennis shoes).  She tried very hard to get Daddy to buy her some other shoes instead.. but it was not going to fly.  I bought four and a half more yards of cloth for nearly as much money - to make more pants, shorts and dresses in the 'right' colors... it will be used, and it will be the same high quality.  I added up on my calculator and we spent almost exactly as much on the cloth and shoes and clothing as we did on the rest of the supplies.

She did get more choice in the snacks - and was happy about that.  She pointed out several items she wanted and they were not a bad idea.

At home this afternoon she had been writing all over sheet after sheet of paper, alphabet, her name, several words.  She was 'getting ready'.

And she did this in Minecraft - building a forest of letters in her forest of 'brothers and sisters and a Daddy.

Esme's alphabet with corrections from Daddy


Toothbrush festival, new ones and old ones, playground swings and a slide
(Saturday work)


Writing work from Saturday morning.  This was an empty tablet I placed on her desk without mention yesterday after school supply shopping.  She has also been drawing all over her easel in her room and trying to erase the marker with her hands only to wipe it on her knees (luckily it is washable!)

We did some work on brushing her hair herself tonight .. lots of tears.. she is really not liking that idea.  But I got her to take a good stab at it.  We'll give her a few weeks before we make a decision about if she can learn from the other little girls just how important it is.

Striped Triangle shawl started

We have Esme's Kindergarten orientation tonight, in about an hour... have had a day at home as I switched with someone so we could be there.  After I finished Esme's blanket I started on this triangle shawl, which is a very simple pattern.  I cast stitches onto the circular needle as far as I thought it could go - then at every second row I would decrease one at the beginning (the secnod and third stitches) and at the end of the row (same reversed).  I started striping the shawl by changing color at the finish of that second row, carrying the white yarn over as each color goes across one row, across (decreasing) the second row, and then holds in waiting for the white to do the same.  Just pick up the other color at the end of the row and clip and change colors as needed.  It looks very pretty from the front or back (front only shown).

Esme asked if it would be her next pretty blanket for her bed... but I told her what a shawl was - a blanket for your shoulders to go outside in, and that ladies in the past used to feed their chickens or milk their cows while wearing warm shawls, or walk in the woods, or look at the sunset.  She liked that idea.

A few things to remember for her - she is reading more, things on TV, in the store -and she is writing more, as well.  She copied the words 'No Party' in her room to make a sign for when she is not using her boombox.  It says 'Esme's Party with the Beastie Boys' on the front side, which I wrote for her on request.  I was surprised to find her addition to the sign later, but giggled :)  She is also using the word 'future' more.. She's still confused about the word 'graduation', she thinks the American flag is graduation, and we are all living in the graduation place... close, but not quite on the mark.  She said my shawl colors were 'graduation', too.. so we talked about the flag some and what it meant, and that graduations were just a ceremony - a time for the school students - that tells us that the students are going from one class to another, and that yes - they have an American Flag shown at the graduation because we live in the United States.  She still thought I was just misunderstanding her.. and didn't want to talk more about it.  She gets so stubborn!

As the shawl decreases every other row, it shouldn't take too long to finish.  

The longer it gets, the fewer stitches in a row!

Her school supplies list was at the store tonight - and we will round up the items for it this weekend.

We got back from the school orientation a few hours ago... we feel like hipsters among a crowd of jocks.  And Esme is going to be so bored until/if they get some differentation going I think... the first week they focus on reading 'I' and the most common three letter words.  As the teacher said this to the parents she looked at me and said 'I run.. I can read that.  She said I run?'  Yes, child.. she did.. sit and don't squirm so much (play dead on table, pretend to fall asleep).  Well... well... I'm with you kid but I can't help much on that one.  The teacher did say they will find out what level they are at and push to get them higher... they tested her in June as not knowing the letter Q and Y.. which I was quite sure she did know (and can write as well as tell me words they are used in).  So, how well are they 'going to get to know her level' if she decides they have nothing to offer her and decides to play dumb until they give her something easy to finish and go play?

Tonight I decided to get her to start to go to bed earlier, since her bus times will be just after or before sunrise around here...  Even tonight (30-45 minutes earlier) was tough.  She was so mad.. I tucked her into bed with her arms crossed and a wrinkled up nose.  I set her alarm clock.  She told me I was making her madder with all the fun when I tried to cheer her up.  Tenacity.  Do they have any idea what we have on our hands here?  Do we?  Not really even now...

I wish someone had clued me into the school spirit color days during her preschool years.  Every Friday she 'should' wear the school colors.  If I had known that three months ago I would have done my school sewing a bit different maybe... probably have to add a few new things to the wardrobe to account for it, or try to convince her it isn't as important as they said it was going to be.  

waiting for school, first day of kindergarten summer session

She was waiting in the kitchen for the right time for us to take her to school.  She told her kitten Pumpkin that she would have to wait until she came home to play.  She had just had her fingernail polish redone and was examining it over and over.

The session went well - she played on the playground and skinned her knee, but also had a bunch of worksheets she had done and a CD of songs to play at home.  The teacher said she was glad to meet her and would be happy to see her tomorrow.  Pretty good compared with the failure we had taking her in on Monday. 

Purple Gray dress for Kindergarten

 Probably a touch on the 'formal' side - she said it was 'just like a gown', but it is the same basic idea as the other dresses I made for her last year, and which she wore to preschool.  This was fabric I had on hand and a remnant from her other dress for 'pretty'.  I had some pink fabric I wanted to use but it wasn't washed and dried yet.  The fit is just about perfect so it should be easy to whip up a few more time permitting.

I played with the front pleats a little because the back pleats were SO full... hopefully it looks like a happy medium.  The sleeves on this work out the most perfect of any pattern (this is Butterick 3600 again, size 6 with very few alterations, copyright 1960).  The zipper up the back does make it really easy for her to put on - doesn't sound like it would, huh?  She can get her head and arms into it without any 'trapped' feeling and then come to us to pull the zipper up.  It fits on a hanger nicely and she is learning to pull the zipper down to get the hanger out.

A few more of these and she will be ready for K this year - and a few new pairs of pants.  As Mark said last night, she will be 'teased' by those kinds of kids no matter what she wears - and this works for us on all levels.  Until she asks for something else in particular I'll sew her some high quality well-fitting clothing and send her off in it and we'll see where she leads me about it.

For pants I'm using size 5 Simplicity 6583 copyright 1974 and it is a perfect fit, as well - just the right length and with a 21 inch elastic in the waist.

Interesting:  We are watching 'Colonial House' on DVD borrowed from Grandma, and I am examining the set of their sleeves, and the arrangement of pleats and tucks while I was sewing this dress up at the same time... ironic :)  I know that those clothes were made by hand by someone for the show - but I doubt they were made specifically for those people, just to a general size.  The people on the show think the clothes are uncomfortable...  I am making these dresses for Esme because they fit her better and last longer than storebought..

I'm sure the insides of the 'period' clothing are much less simple though.. and multiple layers would not help with comfort, and being in an environment full of bugs without air conditioning in the heat or heat in the cold adds on to that as well.

K test and puppy dirt lesson

 Giving the puppies a lesson in mixing dirt...apparently.

Esme's Kindergarten test was today, it did not take very long at all.  We filled out some forms, let them take some copies, and then they had her go into a room with the tester for about five minutes.  She scored 95% on her letters and sounds, missing just a few (h, y sounds, recognizing a lower case q by itself).  She scored 100% on numbers, counting and simple math.  She could not tie her shoes or skip through the room - but did hop on one foot and write her name (points taken off for bending her wrist over and gripping with a fist).  Overall she did very well - the tester had her IEP in hand and was duly impressed considering that.  They'll see her starting in July for the 'ease into school' program, which will be every single day for four days, then three days, then one day.. and the regular program will start in August.

We planted things out in the garden.  We have a genuine flower bed started in there now.

Summer sewing has begun

First sundress of summer - the same pattern I used for her several years ago, I just fudged the measurements off the original and then had her try it on to adjust the straps just right.  I'll probably make another one with a fuller skirt as she has to pull it up some to sit down.. but it looks great and is not binding otherwise. 

Other news - Esme has her K test next Friday.  I'm trying to make sure she knows her birthday, as she really doesn't care too much about dates yet - but other than that I am just waiting and wondering what it will be.  I asked for the morning off of work short notice and they did work it out for me.. which is excellent.  In August we will have a Kindergartener :)

some changes in the langauge department

The past few weeks have brought another level from Esme. She is making analogies, and comparing things to each other in other ways. She is using more emotion words, and also words like 'forgot'. She is spelling some words, although she often says she 'can't at first. She spouts long narratives and uses phrases like 'now you listen to me mr.frog, are you hearing me, you have to keep yourself clean! How are we ever going to get it now/Now we will never have *x*' That has to be from school - or from a movie? When she knows we are listening she goes off with long theatrics with her toys - they are worried, and happy, and play games, and are mamas and daddies and babies and grandmas to each other. She also told me her two boats in the tub were a pirate ship and a lifeboat, or a speed boat, she wasn't sure on the other one. I have never told her that, but it was interesting to hear it. She has been calling herself a giant to her toys, and having them 'talk about the giant girl' to each other about what they are going to do. She also told me in the bathtub, after hearing it would be ten minutes until supper, that she wanted a nine minutes, not a ten minutes, and when there was nine minutes she would pull the plug. I think she mistakenly thought waiting nine minutes was BETTER in this case than ten, because I am usually asking her to wait ten or fifteen minutes before she can get me to do something (and having her watch the clock for it or telling her how many minutes actually went by). She told me I had not splashed water on her - and I told her it was right there on her head. She said 'No it's not, it's .. it's on my... *long pause as she feels the water obviously on her head and nose* it's on my bed!' And then she burst out laughing. I told her I could put some in her bed, and it would be wet. She said No, my bed is not wet, it is DRY. HAHAHA. I told her I could put her in the bed and then it would be wet, because she was wet in the tub... and she said that was all very funny... very very funny. The rhyme of head/bed was a new one for her ;)

We have decided to keep her on another year at the special school - they said they would let her, but several teachers suggested she might be far enough along now to go to Headstart without problems. Headstart is five days a week, the language school is one day a week. But, I don't think she needs the more days in a less responsive, more crowded atmosphere. Headstart focuses on things she already has a good grip on - letters, numbers, shapes, colors, simple reading and writing. She has been doing those for about two years. The special school focuses on specific developmental problems and tries to work on specific goals. I think the leaps and bounds we have seen since February are because she is hearing proper language attuned to her in a small environment from teachers well trained to pick out problems and try to correct them.

A lot of the children in the school have severe problems, others are just very noticeable physical, social or language problems. Esme's language 'issue' is not easily noticeable now. It has improved a lot from where it was. Even though it was not easily noticeable by strangers back then, it was if they listened for more than a minute, and it was something I wanted, needed help with, to feel I was giving her the best I could. I had her tested as more of a 'catch this now while we can fix it' precaution, and because we were having such a hard time communicating on the otherwise 'advanced' topics she was trying to discuss, like growing, and sickness, and emotions she could not express or understand. She did qualify for services from the wide gap in abilities shown by the tests, far above age on understanding but lacking in many ways in ability to express herself in words.

I think her excellent visual memory and logic/deduction gifts do help her compensate for an area of abstract language that just does not come naturally to her otherwise. The idea of he/she, more/less, emotions, past tense and future and describing things she has seen before but are not here etc...she always found ways to make herself understood to us by repeating things, referring to combinations of objects or making hand signs - but it was still very hard to wrap your head around 'Esme-ese' and translate it back to English. And, unless she gets that area of language naturally sorted - she will have more trouble learning in a regular school when she is older. It does seem to be sorting much better lately, she uses complete sentences and I understand much more of it without having to look at her or try to remember what she is referring to it by the sum of its parts. With a little more attention on that continuing in her school program and just generally following all of her other interests - she will be be set for Kindergarten testing in March or April even without a year of specifically focusing on numbers and letters. In fact, she will probably just blow them away in that regard anyway, even moreso with better communication skills.