Reading, Writing, and Arithmatic

It has been a while since the new year of school started so I thought it might be time for an update. After all, it is a big year for a certain little girl in our house!

Kaitlynn is well into her Kindergarten year in school and oh what growth we are seeing from her! From the very first day of school, Kaitlynn has been so excited and enthusiastic about school. For the first few weeks, she was quite exhausted when she would arrive home in the afternoon but she seems well adjusted to her new schedule now. She absolutely loves kindergarten and could not be having a better experience so far! Her teacher, Mrs. Wright, seems to have been hand-picked for Kaitlynn because she is the perfect mix of loving but firm.

Ready for school! She loves it!

I've posted before about the reading classes that Kaitlynn has taken to prepare her for learning to read, and while she has done great with sight words, she still didn't seem to catch on to sounding out words despite knowing all her letter sounds. For example, she would see the word "bed" and could sound out the b-e-d letter sounds, but she couldn't quite squish the sounds together to say the word "bed." Sometimes she would even see the word, sound it out correctly, but then say something completely different -- "p-o-t, picture!" Ha! We worked on that skill for months but she really struggled.

But then, within a week of starting kindergarten, I was practicing words with Kaitlynn and couldn't believe what I was hearing. She was reading words by sounding them out -- let, far, walk, pat, bus, and simple words like that. Jeff walked by as we were doing these words and I actually had tears in my eyes. The light bulb had come on, and Kaitlynn and I both were just overjoyed at her progress!!

Mrs. Wright hosted a kindergarten curriculum night back in early October when she explained what the kids would be learning throughout the year. One of the things she discussed was how her students would soon be starting to write words and stories with pictures. I kind of chuckled to myself at the time because I just did NOT expect to see that kind of growth with Kaitlynn anytime soon. Boy, was I wrong!

Not long after that discussion, Kaitlynn just had so many breakthroughs with her reading and writing. She began walking around everywhere sounding out all of the letter sounds in various words -- as in, "Mom, where is the c-a-r, car?" or "I am going to the c-l-o-s-e-t, closet." Then she quickly advanced to writing various sight words and stories any chance she could get to write and draw.

Now, everywhere we turn, there are pictures and stories that Kaitlynn has made all around the house. Her favorite pastime these days is to write in her "journal" and then give us her special letters and stories. Of course, she writes extra special notes to her Sweet Daddy, and he will often find these lovingly placed beneath his pillow on our bed. So sweet!!

Some of Kaitlynn's recent masterpieces.

One of the MANY notes Kaitlynn leaves around the house for her Sweet Daddy.

We had our fall conference with Kaitlynn's teacher last month, and Mrs. Wright had so many positive things to say about her. She called her a "model student" to which I might have stared back in disbelief. Kaitlynn is right on track with her reading and writing and is doing great with everything expected of her in kindergarten. Kaitlynn was even selected as the girl ambassador in her classroom, which means she will attend special training to help new kindergarten students learn their way around school.

All of this feedback was just music to this Momma's ears, considering that we were strongly conflicted about having Kaitlynn start school as a young 5-year-old. My hope was that Kaitlynn would rise to the challenges and thrive in the classroom setting of kindergarten, and she has exceeded any expectation I had going in. We are just SO proud of our girl!

Early morning pic before school, because I just had to capture the cuteness!

Biking to school -- it was dress-up for career day at school. (She apparently wants to be a Disney princess, ha!)

Oh no, her bike chain fell off on the ride home! Sweet Daddy to the rescue!

Lunch with Mom in the cafeteria.

Kaitlynn loves to buy her lunch at school.

Moving on to Connor's updates...he is having another great year at WoodCreek in 3rd grade. At the end of his school year last year, we realized that Connor needed some additional challenges in school to keep him engaged and to help him continue to grow as a student. After several conversations and testing with his teachers and the school administration, Connor was placed in the "challenge" program which aims to provide him with additional opportunities in learning. So far he is really loving the program despite the extra work and projects (more on that in another post).

Crazy hair day at school.

Lunch with my 3rd grader.

I remember being told years ago that the odd-numbered years would be the more challenging years for kids in school -- 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. So this year in 3rd grade, we were prepared for a big jump in the assignments and homework. But the actual level of work he now has doesn't even compare to what we were prepared for! Connor spends 7-8 hours per week on homework, excluding any extra projects that he may have. In recent weeks, he has been spending much more than that. Add to that the demanding schedule of extracurricular activities, and it becomes really difficult to stay on top of all the required work. It is a very hot topic among Moms around here!

In addition to the changes in the level of homework this year, there were considerable changes to the math curriculum in the state of Texas this year. Moms and kids everywhere in our community are reeling from the differences in how they are teaching math concepts, and of course it's being shared all over social media. I'll keep my opinions to myself, but let's just say we're all working our way through it!

An example of Connor's math curriculum. This lesson covered Mental math, but he had points deducted because he didn't show his work. Does anyone else see the irony in this?? LOL!

So far this year I have not been assigned to a project at work, so I've had a lot of time on my hands to spend up at the kids' school with various volunteer opportunities. In addition to my role on the PTA board, I've also been involved with many of the programs, the homeroom parent in Kaitlynn's class, and teaching Junior Achievement for Kaitlynn's class. That has all been keeping me busy, and I was honored to be recognized as one of the school's October volunteers of the month. The kids and I attended a breakfast in our honor and then we were introduced over the morning announcements with the other volunteers that were recognized. Kaitlynn was overjoyed to have her first appearance on the announcements, ha!

At the volunteer breakfast.

The October volunteers of the month with all our kiddos.

Fall is in full swing and we're so thankful for all of the positive benefits that our kids are experiencing in elementary school. Here's hoping we make it through the next couple of busy months, ha!

Connor and Kaitlynn before school by the bike racks. My big kids!!