5 Year Check In

Supafly · Guru

RE: 5 Year Check In

Alicia · Senior Member

mctex wrote:

Great thread... I'm enjoying reading about all of the kiddos -- and I can't believe how grown up they all look (and are!).

As for Jibbers...

School? She's continuing at her IB school for kindergarden.

Bikes? She has one (with training wheels), and she rides it periodically, but not as often as I'd like. When we get back into town in August, getting them out on bikes more is a primary goal of mine.

Friends? She has some, and it seems she goes through phases. She doesn't have a strong BFF like she had at her last school, though.

Reading? She's really an unbelievable reader. IHNFI how she learned... I know they give her books at school, but I'm just amazed at what she reads. She read the word "daughter" the other day... shocked the hell out of me. She also reads things in Spanish and tells us what they mean in English. It's going to be her strong suit.

Writing? She spells things out phonetically, and it cracks me up. Supa, fwiw, she struggles with our last name, too. (She prefers Calle, LOL). They taught her cursive at school, and without fail, she forgets the second A in her name (Alexndra).

Drawing? She does an ok job. She loves to do it. She is constantly drawing family pictures, and she always draws the girls in triangle dresses and tries to draw Damon in a t-shirt, which comes out hilarious. I love it.

Sports? She's been taking swimming once a week and little gym once a week all year. She's doing ok in both, but she's got some movement patterns that I recognize in my own issues (difficulty with trunk rotation, which really limits both swimming and gymnastics), so we've got her in OT twice a week over the summer to work on that.

Pictures, please!

We were an absolute mess on the 4th, but here's a couple from then.

Are they using D'Nealian or full on cursive? Just curious.

sappy · Guru

Sonya wrote:

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives? Mikey finally finished chemo on June 1. June 26 was his first birthday ever NOT on chemo or cancer treatment. He is still looooooving Toy Story and is now obsessed with the newest movie. This has been his thing for 3+ years now. Toy Story toys, bedroom (thank you Target), birthday cake, bicycle, clothes .......

School? He finished up the 2 year program at the preschool in our district and is moving on to the elementary school's Early Childhood Kindergarten. It's kind of like pre-k and self-contained special ed kindergarten in one. Next year he should move on to regular kindergarten.

Bikes? He has a 2 wheel bike that he got for his birthday but it's been raining so much & so hot here he hasn't gotten on it yet.

Friends? He has some friends from school but mostly he likes hanging out with my nephews .... and babies. He looooooves babies (except Bennett!)

Reading? Nope, no where close. He knows his letters and most of the sounds but I don't think he gets the concept that those are the SAME letters that make words.

Writing? Nope - he doesn't write his name yet. Every time I try to work with him on it (and in school) he gets really impatient and starts grunting and yelling "I can't do it!!" When you ask him his name he says "Michael Pxxxx. P.O.E.E.E.Y" (lol)

Drawing? He likes to draw people with a round body and reaaaaaaaly long legs & arms. They're actually really cute. Other than that he doesn't really draw or color - just like writing he gets very impatient and upset and wants me to do it for him.

Sports? He tires easily, I think from all the treatment, but I'm thinking about trying to get him into some kind of program. He still seems so young to me so I don't think about things like soccer or tball....

Pictures, please!

-- Edited by sappy on Thursday 8th of July 2010 05:44:58 PM

-- Edited by sappy on Friday 9th of July 2010 08:03:20 AM

kdrew · Guru

Sunshine wrote:

Sonya wrote:

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives?

School?

Bikes?

Friends?

Reading?

Writing?

Drawing?

Sports?

Pictures, please!

Holly turned 5 on June 14th; I'm still in shock! 5 going on 13, I swear.

She's out of pre-K now; graduation is on the 16th.
No bike; she has the German pedal-less one but she's not big into it right now.
Her BFF Haley is gonna go to a different elementary school than she will. I'm sooo bummed for her. They've gone to each other's birthday parties and that's about it outside of school.
Holly can read most/all of the stories in many Dr. Seuss-type books, some Frog and Toad, stuff like that. She's constantly making cards (think: birthday cards, etc.) that say things like "Holly loves Mommy" and things like that; we go through a LOT of paper here! Her "y" can use some work, but she has a recognizable alphabet. She can usually read my handwriting, which is about 95% cursive and pretty loopy; not sure how she manages that.
(And no, she can't spell her last name, lol...as often as I have to spell it out loud over the phone though, she'll get it sooner than later!)
She draws all the time...better than I do.
No sports so far, no real interest (also like her mom!).
So cool to see what everyone's up to!
(and yes, that is an LL bow )

-- Edited by Sunshine on Thursday 8th of July 2010 01:39:55 AM

-- Edited by Sunshine on Thursday 8th of July 2010 01:48:00 AM

OMGosh blondie turned strawberry.

That's exactly the color I want my hair.

Lucky.

She's so dang cute.

Michele · Senior Member

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives? Lauren loves to learn about everything right now and I feel like I can't keep up some days. That little mind is just a sponge thirsty for knowledge. I love watching her learn and grown each day.

School? She will be starting Kindergarten in August

Bikes? Yes but with training wheels

Friends? She has a circle of friends we have regular play dates with each week although her very best friend is moving away next week and she is having a hard time with that right now.

Reading? She reads exceptionally well, on a 2nd grade level right now.

Writing? Again writing very well too, on a 1st grade level.

Drawing? She's a great artist. I am amazed by how creative she is sometimes.

Sports? She does not care for sports and prefers to sit out. She gets over-heated very easily.

Pictures, please!

Lizzy · Guru

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives?

School? She'll start Kindergarten in the fall. She is so excited!! We went for the tour and the assessment and she loved the smartboard they had -they let her use it to draw and such. I am excited to see her taking this next step, but sad at the same time. She is still my baby

Bikes? no-she doesn't have one at home. i think at pre-k they had some b/c she talks about riding one.

Friends? we just met up with her friends from pre-k and she LOVED it! we are going to try to get them together a couple more times before the end of summer. But, they are all still in preschool so, I am looking forward to her meeting new friends once she starts school and forming life-long friendships. she is very social.

Reading? no, not yet, but i think she is very very close. she has all of a sudden started asking about signs and such. and then she loves to make up rhymes and her own stories. she is very creative! she even makes up songs and poems.

Writing? she can write all her letters but doesn't write words on her own yet.

Drawing? LOVES to draw. she is always drawing...her favorite thing to draw is a cat. i love to see how it is evolving. at first her cat didn't have legs, now it does. she is getting very good at details.

Sports? no, but i just signed her up for swimming lessons. she wants to play soccer.

Pictures, please!

supergrover · Guru

School? We are keeping Koda out of K since we plan to homeschool them anyhow after this year when we move. He will return to his preK another year, but only 2 days a week with his brother. The rest of the time we will be doing school at home.

Bikes? Love his. We think he is ready to try without training wheels any day.

Friends? No BFFs, but he thinks everyone his age is a friend. He has socially developed so much in the past couple of months. Where he used to (still) parallel play, he now goes right up to kids, introduces himself, and off the go to play. I wish I had his social courage, lol.

Reading? He still loves to be read to, but he hasn't picked up on it yet. Tristen is much further than Koda. I am suspecting he is going to be a late bloomer in this (like everywhere else). One of the many benefits of homeschooling. We aren't stressing. We work on it as fun, and we know it will suddenly click with him and it will be like he was never behind. Whether that is at 5, or 7, he'll get there.

Writing? Like reading, not his strong area. He can write his name, but doesn't have the confidence for other things. We are working on it, but again, not pushing. It will come :)

Drawing? He went from completely random scribbles, to recognizable (well, to me, lol) drawings overnght. That is just how Koda seems to do things. From nothing, to a completely recognizable dinosaur with a story he made up to go along with it. He is my all or nothing child for sure.

Sports? Swim lessons all summer (he swam without the bubble yesterday!). In the fall he will be in soccer. All the rec sports (except swimming) don't start until at least K, or grade 1, so the options are pretty limited. We looked at gymnastics, but the cost was absurb so we'll wait for rec sports.

Pictures- I need to upload some new ones :)

daisy · Guru

Sonya wrote:

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives?

School?

Bikes?

Friends?

Reading?

Writing?

Drawing?

Sports?

Pictures, please!

i cant believe they're 5 this month either. it's nuts! i'm loving this age a ton though.

school: she starts K in sept and is totally ready - she LOVED her orientation and talks about who might be in her class and what teacher she might have EVERY DAY. she always wants to go to that playground too - she's so excited.

bikes: she just got her first training wheels bike last week from my mom when we were in the cape. she picked it up with no prob, which was a surprise bc 1) she's not all that daring physically, and 2) she never even once rode a tricycle, so i figured this would be a huge hurdle and it wasnt. she also JUST figured out how to pump on the swing - i think she's that way - takes a while to try something but then can figure it out in just a few tries.

friends: huge strides in this department thank god!!! she has a lot of friends and is very talkative. what used to be very awkward social skills are really developing nicely now.

reading: she sounds like tex's alexandra - completely 100% reading any word there is. no clue how she picked it up either, but i was an early reader and so were my mom and my sisters and their daughters, so i think it is a family trait. strong readers. cara just told me there's an "L" in "glue" but she cant say it (lol) so i think we might see the same from her.

writing: she writes but doesnt love to do it - i dont push it. she can spell stuff and can write all her letters, but writing isnt a big interest yet. she still writes a lot of numbers backwards.

drawing: again, not a forte ;) she can draw pictures but they arent anything to write home about, and she doesnt love it.

sports: she takes yoga, gymnastics, and we just started her in swimming.

i love hearing the updates!!!

Sonya · Guru

School? Charlie's starting school this year in September. I'm very excited for him. He's at an excellent school and is taking English instead of French Immersion which means he'll be in a very small class (under 20 kids) - he'll be in a split primary/1 class with an excellent teacher. He'll do so well with the older kids in his class, I think.

Bikes? He has a bike and was doing wonderfully on it until we took the training wheels off. Now we just have to spend a day practicing. He loved it but now he's frustrated.

Friends? He has a pile of daycare friends and loves doing things with them.

Reading? He can sound out words but I'm not working on this. I'm worried he'll be like my nephew and be bored in Primary if he can already read so I'm letting him go at his own pace. We're reading chapter books to him now and his listening comprehension is crazy. He LOVES being read to. The daycare told us that if a book is being read anywhere in the room, you can look over your shoulder and there is Charlie.

Writing? He's good with his letters and has just figured out upper case - lower case.

Drawing? He got really good at drawing and is now showing an interest in it. He draws the same "snowman"all the time and it is just awesome.

Sports? He's playing soccer this summer and is starting to get pretty good. He seems to be pretty naturally gifted with sports.

Pictures, please!

Erin · Guru

Sonya- great idea. I have been thinking about everyone alot lately and wondering what all the kiddos and moms are up to.

School? We thought about keeping her at her montessori which has
Kinder class, but, we decided to put her in our neighborhood school. We struggled alot with the decision, but now are really glad we made it. The kids in her Pre-k are going off to lots of different schools, and she is soooo ready for K.

Bikes? We are going on Sunday (her actual bday) to "pick one out" she doesnt know yet. And of course we will manipulate her into the one we want to buy (a huffy princess bike from Walmar). We just received our gyrowheel, so we are hoping she learns quickly. She has been wanting a bike!

Friends? We are happy to have lots of friends with kids her age. She gets to hang out with them and her school friends quite a bit. No real bestie though. She is very outgoing, and likes adults alot. I wish she did a little better playing without adult interaction.

Reading? She had been so close for so long, then a light bulb went off. She is a great reader. She actually reads stories with inflection, even if she has never read it before, which is crazy to me.

Writing? Hmm, we dont practice this much. I think she does fine though. She doesnt try to spell on her own though, I think out of sheer laziness. lol.

Drawing? She and Kyle took a class with Mark Kistler and her drawings were so fun. She is getting interested in it and likes "how to" books.

Sports? She does Soccer, tae kwon do, and sometimes ballet/gymnastics. Its very hard to fit stuff in since we are working all day. The tae kwon do has been a pleasant surprise - how much she likes it and how good she is. Soccer, she is okay, but in this house, she will learn to love it! I want her to do gym/ballet too for the girly part, but again, hard to fit it all in. Im hoping next summer she can fit in swim team/swimming somewhere.

Pictures, please! well if you insist :0) (and a little Rhys for good measure. )

-- Edited by Erin on Saturday 10th of July 2010 02:10:07 PM

3s_a_crowd · Guru

erin I cant believe how kiera looks. She looks like a 8 year old to me. Very mature. SHe is so pretty. And Rhys is adorable too.

Alison · Guru

What's going on in their lives?  Mason is currently obsessed with coloring, drawing, and playing the Wii.

School?  I kept him in school for the summer. It's pretty much part-time daycare since "graduation". He's starting kindergarten at the end of August. It's a "junior" kindergarten, so he'll go for 2 years, but this year will be part time.

Bikes?  He has a bike with training wheels, and handles it pretty well but forgets to brake when necessary, and then freaks out.

Friends?  Every child Mason sees is a friend. We go to the playground and he just walks up to strangers and introduces himself. It's kind of sweet and kind of embarrassing, LOL. I try to teach him about personal space, but he just loves to make friends. He has some good friends at school, and still plays with Jack and Quin that he's known since they were all babies.

Reading?  Not really. He can read a handful of words, but gets frustrated before he even tries, so he gives up right away. I think it's going to happen pretty suddenly where he just gets it. I'm looking forward to it.

Writing?  His writing is still pretty crappy. Even his name. But I remember that a good friend of mine, who is probably the smartest person I've ever known, who got a perfect score on his math SATs, who went to Harvard for his undergrad and MIT for grad school...had crappy handwriting and even in high school it looked like a 5yo's. So I try not to get worried about it and just encourage him to keep practicing!

Drawing? He draws people and houses and the sun. He loves to draw maps, and will put our house, a line for a road, and another building. Then he says "That's where you can get coffee, Mommy". LOL

Sports?  He's had 4 swimming lessons and has liked it less each time. He doesn't like water getting in his eyes, so we got him goggles today and will see what happens at his next lesson next weekend!

muffy · Guru

School? clara just finished the first year of a 2 year kindergarten program, she starts year 2 in sept.

Bikes? pink. it has to be pink. with hello kitty. almost ready to take off the training wheels

Friends? she has a small class (12 kids) and there are 5 others girls in her class. they all get along and play at each others houses for playdates all the time.

Reading? not yet that i know. there are a few bedtime books she can "read" (aka has them memorised). i am not doing and school work at all. she is tri-lingually fluent, with a big emphasis in school on german, the one language i dont speak. so i just let the school teach her and try not to screw her up.) there is a chance she knows some german, but i only read bedtime stories in english, so at this point ihni.

Writing? she can write the alphabet clearly and loves writing "words" and sentences, complete with word breaks and punctuation. but the best i can tell its jibberish with a few words clara, mommy, cecile, friends names, etc. thrown in. oh, and she can write "princess" lmao!

Drawing? imo she is a great drawer. she has done some cool stuff and has a fantastic imagination. she can draw stories.

Sports? she swims like a fish and can even properly dive. re-starting ballet in september.

Jennie · Guru

Sonya wrote:

I can't believe the babies who brought us together are 5!

What's going on in their lives?

School? Yes! School starts Aug. 17 here. So excited!

Bikes? With training wheels, sort of without.

Friends? Loads! He's a very social, loving creature so everyone's a friend.

Reading? He read his first sentence the other day!

Writing? For fine motor issues, he seems to be doing just fine. He says he just likes to hold the pencil the way he does. His pre-k teacher said it was fine motor issues. I'm inclined to believe he likes to holding it the way he does. He writes his name like a champ and a load of other words

Drawing? He can do it but he hates to do it. He'd rather build. He isn't much of an artist and I'm okay with that.

Sports? Nope. We'll see how school goes. He hasn't shown any interest in any activity outside the house. He'd rather just hang with us.

Pictures, please! In a bit. They are all on FB.

-- Edited by Jennie on Saturday 17th of July 2010 09:28:08 AM