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November - what are they doing now?

2K views 31 replies 20 participants last post by  moominmamma 
#1 ·
Happy November!

We just had our first parent-teacher conference of the year, and am feeling pretty good about how things are working out in second grade, and I feel like sharing....

DD's teacher has impressed me with her willingness to tailor DD's homework to her level while still connecting it to concepts the class is covering. For example, they just started a geometry unit, so she gave DD a list of spelling words with Greek or Latin number prefixes (monotone, biceps, triangle, quadrilateral, quintessential, etc). She doesn't have a lot of time to differentiate instruction for DD during the day (DD's teacher said that 14 of the 22 kids in her class are identified as ESL students), but meets with her at the end of the day to review homework assignments as needed, and has been asking for and responding to feedback from me. DD has a weekly reading group with 2 other kids who are fairly close to her level. The teacher said she is running out of books for that group though, but said she plans to consult with the group about what to order for their reading bin.

Normally they don't do "advanced work" until fourth grade here, based on testing in third grade, but DD's school will be starting a couple of pull-out classes for second graders this month. The science teacher will be running an advanced math group, and the librarian will be running an advanced writers' group. They plan to meet weekly with 3 kids from each second grade room, so 6 kids combined. This is the first time her school has tried this for that age group. They planned for this when setting the class schedules, so pull-out math will be during regular math time, and the same with the writing.

Afterschool: DD is enjoying Math Circle and Irish dance. She has a dance competition next month. Violin lessons started last month, but they still haven't found the right-sized instrument for DD yet. I knew DD was young for the program (normally for grades 3-5), but it didn't occur to me that she could be too small for the instruments! The instructor brought a 3/4 violin the first week, then a 1/2 size the next week, and plans to bring a 1/4 size tomorrow....

So (big sigh of relief), second grade is going pretty well so far! Much better than first grade, which was such a disappointment for DD. I think it really paid to meet with the principal last spring to discuss options for second grade.
 
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#27 ·
Kalishanti- that is very cool. He must be so proud! I love the picture. That smile!

As of a couple of weeks ago DD is officially reading books--as in reading easy (very easy) books she has never seen before to people other than DH and I with very little stumbling. The other night she sat down between my mom and dad and read them a book she had just gotten from St. Nick (Buzz said the Bee.) She steadily got through the entire thing, only having to sound out about 1/4 of the words, but fast, and only incorrectly sight-reading one word. She is averaging 2-3 new books read a day.

She is also easily doing adding and subtracting on her fingers. She just can't run out of fingers. We were at dinner tonight and somehow 4 + 2 came up in regards to number of bites needed for dessert (four bites of pasta, two bites of chicken breast.) Unprompted, she quickly added up her fingers all on her own, and using the words "four plus two" she exclaimed, "it equals six!" The finger thing has been all her. She has been doing it for over six months, She loves counting her fingers. She unconsciously puts her fingers up when just casually glancing at numbers of objects. At the end of family functions she quickly runs around saying goodbye by pointing to everyone with a new finger so as to come up with a total at the end.

Most surprising of all, she is actually somewhat social in preschool. I am told she leads whomever will follow in imaginative play at recess every day. The play usually involves dragons or sharks. And, at least two boys desperately want to be her 'best' friend.

She will be 3.5 in January.
 
#28 ·
What a great picture! Congrats to him!

Quote:
Originally Posted by KaliShanti View Post

DS4 won 1st place for Kindergarten in the unrated player awards category in the US National K-12 Chess Tournament! This means he had the most wins for an unrated player in Kindergarten. He also placed 12th overall in the Kindergarten final standings. At 4 and a half years old, Tor was likely the youngest player in the entire tournament. He also had a great attitude with the games he did not win. So proud.
 
#30 ·
Yes, he is already planning on going to the Nationals in Nashville in the Spring. And here *I* thought that we only did this tournament because it was 2 hours from home and we had relatives to stay with. HAH!

Quote:
Originally Posted by Tigerle View Post

Congratulations Kalishanti! Get ready for a LOT of travelling!
 
#31 ·
I'd be going a bit mentally deranged if DC regularly stuck fingers inside my upright grand, too; couldn't take the worry of dirty fingers in there, tinkering with the fragile bits. They have to learn to respect the instrument care & needs, too. (Or maybe it's just MY piano preciousness speaking, but I don't care, it's MY expensive bit of kit).

DD (10) keeps running home from clubs and events (whilst we cycle), even DH noticed her ability to get stronger the longer she runs, and said "If you can run that far that fast without getting out of breath you really should work on it to see what more you can do"; she's nagged me to go running a few times together, but it's dark by 4pm here & I am often too exhausted anyway, I am resolving here and now to make more effort to go out running with her more often, especially over next few weeks when almost all the other clubs are off. DS7 is also a good runner, so we can all go out together.

DD is brainy, too, btw, but I think her heart may lie in excelling in sport first.
 
#32 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cavy View Post

I'd be going a bit mentally deranged if DC regularly stuck fingers inside my upright grand, too; couldn't take the worry of dirty fingers in there, tinkering with the fragile bits. They have to learn to respect the instrument care & needs, too. (Or maybe it's just MY piano preciousness speaking, but I don't care, it's MY expensive bit of kit).
I think my point was that you can teach a child to "tinker" safely and with respect for the instrument. Hands washed first, no manipulation of the hammers, etc.. To each his own, though, obviously.

Miranda
 
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