Another Week

Hadley wrapped up another school week, and of course, she did excellent! I just got my update from Miss Julie about how and what she accomplished this week. At this point Hadley can recognize the phonograms a, g, and c (in cursive). She is also working on numbers which she has a harder time recognizing written, but she can count objects very well. Lately my fingers have been her favorite things to count. Here is the email from her teacher.

"Hadley is doing wonderful in class.  She's catching on so quickly to all the routines throughout the day.  She was adorable on Friday after she got a new lesson.  We showed her the bean basin, which is a basin full of dry beans that the kids can bury their hands in and run their fingers through - I think they'd love to take a bath in it, honestly - it's quite soothing ;-)  She was doing this work for over 20 minutes!  It's very easy to spill beans but they know that part of this work is to pick them up if they spill out.  So Hadley was being SO vigilant about the beans and if one or two beans spilled out she would quickly pick them up.  She was quietly working for so long.  She even impressed herself because she said, "I'm being such a big girl!"   When she did the painting work she was raising her hand so quietly for a while and even smiling! It was sweet to see her wait so patiently.

 

Hadley tends to say, "I can't do it" or "I need help" fairly often, but that's actually really common and one of the first things I help all my students overcome, because these little kids are VERY capable!  So Hadley will often hesitate to attempt something and say one of those phrases and I'll encourage her as she tries and before she knows it she's done something all by herself and is SO proud :)

 

I love how articulate Hadley is when she expresses herself - she's very good at explaining what she wants or when asking questions.  I see this during our Line Time and she loves to hear what the other kids in class have to say too.  She's getting really good at raising her hand for a turn to talk and at waiting patiently for others to have a turn.  It's so cute to see the respect they show for each other this way and when watching another child working while folding their arms.

 

Hadley is making new friends daily and always so curious.  She's a sweet friend and easy to talk to as well.  I love to see her interactions and conversations!

 

I'm enjoying her so much and I'm so glad we get to have her at our school!"

 

I love that Hadley was able to concentrate for 20 minutes on something! I am also so impressed (and thrilled) that her teacher mentioned how articulate Hadley is. Trying to not speak to Hadley like a baby was always a little difficult for me because, well, who doesn't want to talk to a cute little kid in made up kid talk? I knew the "I can't do it" "I need help" would be brought to my attention soon enough, she does that all the time at home. I assume that we just helped to quickly in the past and so now she is having a hard time trying to do it herself without giving up. I'm trying to live by these words I saw, that went something like this:

At first we take care of our children, eventually we must just care for them.

I know that Hadley still needs me to take care of her in certain ways, but now I can care for her by teaching her to care for herself. She can help with so many things around the house, blow her own nose, go potty alone, I need to allow her independence and foster it. Now, for some pictures :)

 Hadley concentrating on her drawing

 Hadley doing a work with marbles

 Doing a work with her class

 The product of working together

 It seems Hadley likes doing works that contain small parts

 The beans which were mentioned in the email

Here is a picture of Hadley learning shapes and colors, and grouping objects.

And here is a video of it.

            

Happy Birthday to Me!

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday!! It would be way exciting, except that I had to wake up at 3 A.M. and get to my clinicals which began at 4. I proceeded to bomb a test that we had to take (at 4), and then sit in the waiting room at the hospital until 8:30, because my rotation was in the diabetes clinic, which is open for clinic hours... That sucked.

On a happier note, my cute little husband set up a little surprise party for me. Jenny got me a cute little gift and made a ton of cupcakes, and took me home. We walked in to a CLEAN, decorated house with balloons and streamers, and my sister and brother in law were there. There were all my favorite treats, and my favorite cake, thanks to my sis. We all went to P.F. Changs and had a delicious dinner. I'm so lucky to have a husband who tries so hard to make my birthday special each year.

Day 2, Already!

Jeez I can't get over how great this school is! Miss Julie, Hadley's teacher, has already emailed me about the day, and sent along some pictures and a darling video of my girl! Here's the video and pictures!

 I asked Hadley what she was doing in the picture above, she said, "Mommy, these are my works."

 Pouring water into this pitcher, to go fill up her glass.

 Painting a "masterpiece"

 Lunch with her little friend Audrey.

And this video is a must see! So proud of everything she is picking up from this school!

Montessori Mommy

It's official, I'm the mother of a Montessori girl. I feel like a real parent now that she has places she has to be at a certain time. She has been LOVING school thus far. Hadley was a little upset at first when we told her she had to go to school Tuesday evening because I believe she associates the word "school" with the day care she went to. She really wasn't a huge fan of that place, but it was what we needed at the time. Now that we are a little more able (and with a little ((lot)) of help from my family and John's dad) we are able to send Hadley to a great new school. The class has a blog , with videos and pictures of what they do in class. I decided that maybe showing her what to expect might calm her nerves a bit, so I did. She was mesmerized! All she wanted to do was watch the movies for a good 20 minutes. After that, she started yelling at us because we weren't taking her right away, and telling her that she would be going "tomorrow" was not at all good enough. 
     The teachers probably all think I'm insane now because before her drop off I emailed them to let them know that she tends to cling to me and scream and cry when she gets dropped off. I had class on her first day so John had to take her, and she did awesome! She walked right into class and didn't even notice that John had left. 

    When we went to pick her up she was just so happy. I could tell that she really enjoyed it, and she didn't have a single complaint when she woke up today and I told her that she was going to school today. In the car she was just gushing about "teacher", and finally asked what "teacher's" name is. I let her know it was Miss Julie and Miss Melody, and now she talks about how she loves Miss Julie and how she's "like you mommy". 
     On her first day she didn't have a whole lot to say when asked about class. She mentioned playing in the snow (They play out in the snow!! With snow gear of course, something her daycare never did) and how much fun the "park" or play ground was. Hadley mentioned holding the circle, they hold a loop on a rope to help keep them together on the way out, and she also talked about plants. 

Today she mentioned the same things and she told me about her cup and her cubby. They keep everything very neat and organized in this class and so to identify her cup and cubby they put her name in cursive (they teach cursive first here), as well as a picture of an animal so they can recognize which is theirs. I asked which animal she had on her cubby and she, to my surprise, was able to tell me after only two days, that her stuff is in "the rabbit one". 
     Needless to say, so far I am incredibly pleased with this program. Her teachers are wonderful, and email me each day with an update, and sometimes pictures from class. This evening should be one of those days where she sends pictures, and if she does I will post them ASAP. 


For those Grandma's and Grandpas who want to see what the teacher had to say, here is the email from her teacher :) Anything in color I am adding 

Like I said, Dad dropped off Hadley perfectly (good job dad!)!  He was on his way to the car before she asked when he was going to pick her up and all I had to say was "after class" and she was ready to explore.  That means the next day or two she'll know exactly how long that will be, which MIGHT make her a little anxious (it didn't), but don't worry - I try pretty hard to distract my new students by keeping them plenty busy!  I showed Hadley where her cubby was so she could hang up her coat and put away her shoes and then helped her put on her "slippers" (as we call them in class).  Those shoes will be perfect because they're easy for Hadley to get on and off herself!

We showed Hadley where to find a little plate for a little apple snack, as well as how to get herself a drink with our little pitcher and her class cup (I love that they are teaching life skills like pouring her own water, and the freedom and independence she will learn).  She was fascinated by everything going on all morning, seeing every kid in class doing something different and so excited for her turn!  She also loved watching our fish and getting a turn to sprinkle a little food in their tank ;-)  I gave a short lesson with one of our works (works are what they call the toys or activities they do, since each has a purpose and helps them learn, it is their "work") and she was thrilled to get to do things like the other kids in class and getting to do it all by herself.

During the morning I review numbers and phonograms with each child, which is the writing you saw on Hadley's hand.  One hand had a cursive "a" because she learned the sounds that letter makes and then she did a matching activity with some pictures that all begin with those different sounds (ape, apple, etc...).  We write the phonogram on their hand in cursive because we teach cursive first here at school, one reason being because after they learn cursive they easily recognize other text or fonts.  The other hand had the number "1" because we work on recognizing the numerals as well as counting.  We play a little counting game and practice tracing the number with our fingers.  We write on their hands and then they can show another teacher, their friends in class and their family so they can practice what they learned each time they show someone and say it.  So ask her about them when you see something on her hand.  I learned some new sounds a few letters make when my little boys first started here because they taught me!

We have Line Time before we head out to recess and we usually sing songs and do some lessons/games/activities about colors, shapes, seasons, holidays, and loads more.  Right now we suit up for recess in our snowclothes and the kids are getting really good at putting on all their own things!  Hadley was a little intimidated at first, but then saw everybody else doing it and joined right in.  Recess is pretty fun with all the snow on the ground!  Now I can't remember if Hadley had a hat or not (she didn't, oops), so I'll check tomorrow but maybe you can bring one (I did) just in case.

Lunch time is always a favorite for everybody and Hadley was no different.  She was a little distracted by all the good company she had dining with her ( I could have told her that) ;-) so I think she left quite a bit uneaten, but that was a great amount of food to send, thank you!  Your pick-up timing was perfect too.  Hadley really seemed to enjoy her first day, but there was quite a bit of new stuff to take in all morning so I hope she sleeps really well for you tonight ;-)

Thank you for all your help getting her prepared to come to our school, we sure had fun with her today!

Miss Julie