Davy Crockett: King of the First Grade Frontier

Aidan,

Part of being a first grader is more and more responsibility and more in depth, more challenging school work.

And- one of the coolest events of the year- a report on a deceased historical figure. You, and each of the Lower Elementary students- chose a historical figure, dressed as them, and presented a report to all of the other children.

This is called "Historical Heritage" at your school.

You had been listening to a Classic Disney Songs CD and really fell in love with the theme song for "Davy Crockett." It turns out that Crockett was  a living historical figure- not just a cool song- and so you were delighted to pick him as your subject matter.

You and I went to the library and picked out some books on him.

You and Mommy read the books and you picked out the facts that you thought were the most interesting to you, which you wanted to share with the class.

Mommy wrote them down and you worked very very hard to transcribe them carefully in your best handwriting.

Mommy and you worked on your costume.

And suddenly you were becoming Crockett!

You worked very hard to memorize your speech, practice projecting, and reading your own handwriting.

You had a thirst for knowledge: you were so curious about how Crockett ate the bear meat that he hunted!

You've never lacked confidence, but you worked on stage presence as well. Practicing in front of mommy and aunt sham.

The end result was so awesome, and you Mommy and Grandparents and I are SO proud of you!

You took it all in stride.

Me: "Son, I wanted to let you know how proud of you I am."
Aidan: "I know that! You told me a million times already!" (I had, for the record, only told you once!)

I was most impressed with how dedicated you were to this project. You kept us on schedule. You kept track of your special index cards you needed to write the report on. You told us " I need to work on my aport!" And you did. Weekend nights, early mornings, you couldn't wait to write it down and practice and keep working.

You are truly growing to be a king of the wild first grade! You've grown into the stuff of legend, and even though you've never killed and eaten a bear

Julia's Little Gym Show Week Extravaganza!

Julia, the moment you've been counting down the days toward finally arrived with much fanfare, family, and amazing skills: it was your first SHOW WEEK at the Little Gym!

You've only been asking everyday if it was show week yet, and finally, today, it was!

It was almost a mini-Olympics with opening ceremonies, amazing events, tons of fans, and awards ceremonies.

So many people gathered to watch you demonstrate your gymnastics skills, and you were amazing, and cool, and skillful, and an inspiration!

First up: Opening Tumbles!

Next Up: Promenade & Floor Exercises!

Then, another little promenade and Bars!

The final event of the day was Beam!

You were so excited and confident! Capable and deft! Beautiful and fluid and strong and easy-going.

We are so proud of you! And so  was your teacher, Mr. Jaime- just hear what he had to say about you!

You earned a GOLD MEDAL! And a certificate of EXCELLENCE! Immediately after the awards ceremony you ran and said "I'm so excited that I got a medal!"

Later you told Aunt Sham, "I got a Medal AND a piece of paper!"

It was so sweet that you were excited about the physical awards given to you based on your excellence, and so humble about how awesome you are!

The smiles from you as you shared your love for Little Gym with your family say it all!

You are our Gold Medal Gal and we are so proud!

No... YOU rule!

Karate Kid: part three

Aidan, 

In 2014, your karate journey began. You were a wiggly, squirmy, excited, fun-loving, bouncy, kind, gentle, amazing 3 year old.

Today, you reached quite an accomplishment: you have attained the highest belt that a Little Rhino can- the black stripe.

For the record, you are still wiggly, squirmy, excited, fun-loving, bouncy, kind, gentle and amazing. Now you're 5 (almost 6).

But, you've grown so much thanks to karate and during your lessons with Mr. Garcia and the Pro Martial Arts gang.

You've learned lessons on patience, respect, responsibility, and confidence (this was one of your favorite lessons, often asking us to repeat the examples of not confident vs. confident).

You learned a lot of skills, including Anjo (sit), Jerryip (stand!), Joomby (ready stance), sparing stance, backwards brake fall, star block, escape from bear hug and run away shouting "you're not my mom! you're not my dad. FIRE!!!!!!!!!", and how to properly make a fist.

You earned many stripes on your belts for behavior at home, doing good deeds and chores without having to be asked.

You learned and loved many great games here, including TAG, dodgeball, and don't get hit by the ball (you really like to get hit by the ball).

You overcame adversity. A very pretty female teacher kind of made you too shy to even enter the building for many weeks. We thought you might want to hang up your belt, but you chose to continue and continue working at karate.

You had fun!

You grew so much. When you started you could hardly hold still long enough to participate in activities, but now you have poise, patience, and preparedness. You have grown so much as a Little Rhino, and we are SO proud of you.

This may sound a bit like a 'goodbye' to karate. And in a way, it is. You're going to take a little bit of time off from Karate to really focus on Swim classes,  which you really, really like!

But, it doesn't have to be goodbye- it's just a pause for now. You can always suit up with your black stripe again if you so-choose.

And, swim lessons are right next door to the Dojo, so you'll always be able to drop in and say KI-AH!

We are so proud of you, and so proud of what this accomplishment up 9 belts in about 18 months means for you.

You can do anything you set your mind to, and you are a great example for others.

Every class ends like this:

Salute to the flag. 

Salute to your instructors. 

Salute to your families.

You run -and salute- off the mat into your family's arms with a huge grin and a sense of accomplishment. You are proud. And we are SO proud of you, our little black-stripe karate kid.

TANG SU!

Pre-k A-okay

Aidan, back in late August you started an new school for your pre-k year. It's actually a school school! Your last school was more of a Mother's Day out/day care for two days a week. You had a lot of fun there, and had several great teachers who you still talk about. You grew a lot and we are thankful for the experiences you have had there. It's hard to imagine you were ever shy, but you really came into your own at Kidding Around.

But we thought you might be ready for the next step. So you interviewed and interviewed and got in to a lovely, cool school called White Rock Montessori. 

 

Your first day of school was a bit complicated by a bump in the road. Your Mom had drawn Spider-man on a ziplock bag which contained your spare clothes for the class room. While walking in to class for the first day, you were so enamored with the Spider-bag that you didn't watch where you were going and tripped on the sidewalk, cutting your knee pretty solidly. Bleeding and upset, you got to check out the nurse's station. You got a great big band-aid, and pretty soon thereafter dried your tears and happily marched into your classroom. So, your first day of school had some tears, but none of them were going-to-school related. They were just falling related.

 

And after day one, you've happily marched to school five days a week from 8:30- 11:30. You seem to like your teachers- Mrs. Mary and Mr. Lewicki- very much. You brought in a photo of your family, and a potted plant to take care of, and rain boots so outdoor play can proceed after wet weather. You don't really talk much about school, but when you do- in small details- you really seem to like it. You do sing about school a lot though: You come home singing new songs you've learned (like "Where is pointer? Where is pointer? Here I am!" and "The earth goes around the sun" and a song in Spanish that we haven't quite identified yet.) You also get really excited for Wednesdays, because that is show and tell day. For your first show and tell, you brought in photos of our spider, who lived on our deck over the summer.

 

After 2 months at school, we finally got to see where the magic happened: open house night. You took us to your school, marched us into your classroom, and immediately sat down on the carpet and told us to do the same. Then you took your mother, sister, and me around to some of your favorite stations to show us the cool work you do every day. You were so proud to show off, and we are so proud of you. You also showed us the turtles...who you named "up" and "down."

 

 

Your sister found the photograph of our family, your mom spotted your potted plant (you're taking care of both of them quite well). Your sister also had so much fun playing in your classroom that she forgot that she needed to go potty...so she wound up wearing my t-shirt.

 

 

 

You got some hugs from fellow students on the way out, and we met a few of your buddies.

 

I still am not sure of what goes on at school everyday, which is so weird to be in the dark.

 

Your teacher told us that you are one of the star students in Music class, and that it is one of your favorite parts of school. I don't doubt that- given all the songs you sing!

 

But we see the growth and changes in you ever since you've been attending WRM. We all still have a lot of growing and learning to do, of course; but I can tell that you love your school, and that you like going there.

 

 

 

When Mommy picked you up the other day, Miss Mary told her that she was so impressed with you because you've been working on your work stations for the whole 'work station' time lately.

 

And the next day, Wednesday, when you brought in "Billy Goats Gruff" for Show and Tell, Miss Mary told Mommy that she LOVED it when you do Show and Tell, because you're so animated, energetic and unafraid to talk in front of the class.

 

So far, so good in school and on a lifetime of learning. Soon enough you'll be teaching Mommy and Me!