Welcome (Almost) to Kindergarten
This entry is technically out of order relative to the last one since the Sam's introduction to kindergarten happened before Joshua's one year checkup. Sue me.
Last Thursday Samantha had her kindergarten orientation in the morning. Her teacher seems very nice and good with the kids. We weren't there long enough for me to get a feel for any of the other parents, but I'm sure we'll all get to know each other over the coming year one way or another. Samantha did well her during the orientation. I was proud of her for raising her hand to get the teacher's attention rather than just calling out when she wanted to say something; I know how hard that is for her. She didn't really have enough time to talk to any of her classmates for more than a minute or two.
There was one kid in the class who sat down to read a book and was reading way beyond the level I'd associated with a kindergarten student. I found myself hoping that Samantha wouldn't feel bad if she wasn't the best reader in the class, being just a wee bit competitive. (See post below on the MassBike Pie Race!) I needn't have worried. It turns out that somewhere along the way Samantha has been teaching herself to read much more advanced words than I'd even realized she knew. I learned this at lunch one day when she started reading words off a kid's menu that I had no idea she could read. So I wrote down a few things for her to try that I'd expected to be way too advanced for her, and much to my amazement she read all of them. Later in the weekend she had another one of those kid's menus, and on it there was an "unscramble the letters of these words" puzzle. Sam took one look at something like "lwofre" and immediately -- and I mean immediately -- said "Oh, flower". She then asked me how to spell flower, even though she'd been able to look at the letters and (I am guessing) work out the sounds associated with the letters, then rearrange them into a word in her head. I'd love to understand the mental processes that go on when she does that.
In the afternoon, after kindergarten and lunch, we went to see a new doctor about her knee, a pediatric rheumatologist. But that's a topic for another blog entry since it's almost 1 am, and I have to be up very early for Samantha's first full day of school.
Upcoming topics will include the results of this medical visit and our weekend at Storyland. Stay tuned...
Last Thursday Samantha had her kindergarten orientation in the morning. Her teacher seems very nice and good with the kids. We weren't there long enough for me to get a feel for any of the other parents, but I'm sure we'll all get to know each other over the coming year one way or another. Samantha did well her during the orientation. I was proud of her for raising her hand to get the teacher's attention rather than just calling out when she wanted to say something; I know how hard that is for her. She didn't really have enough time to talk to any of her classmates for more than a minute or two.
There was one kid in the class who sat down to read a book and was reading way beyond the level I'd associated with a kindergarten student. I found myself hoping that Samantha wouldn't feel bad if she wasn't the best reader in the class, being just a wee bit competitive. (See post below on the MassBike Pie Race!) I needn't have worried. It turns out that somewhere along the way Samantha has been teaching herself to read much more advanced words than I'd even realized she knew. I learned this at lunch one day when she started reading words off a kid's menu that I had no idea she could read. So I wrote down a few things for her to try that I'd expected to be way too advanced for her, and much to my amazement she read all of them. Later in the weekend she had another one of those kid's menus, and on it there was an "unscramble the letters of these words" puzzle. Sam took one look at something like "lwofre" and immediately -- and I mean immediately -- said "Oh, flower". She then asked me how to spell flower, even though she'd been able to look at the letters and (I am guessing) work out the sounds associated with the letters, then rearrange them into a word in her head. I'd love to understand the mental processes that go on when she does that.
In the afternoon, after kindergarten and lunch, we went to see a new doctor about her knee, a pediatric rheumatologist. But that's a topic for another blog entry since it's almost 1 am, and I have to be up very early for Samantha's first full day of school.
Upcoming topics will include the results of this medical visit and our weekend at Storyland. Stay tuned...
posted by Matt | 12:34 AM
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