First grade blues

I don't get many calls when I'm at work (or really, ever). When I see the caller ID of the school on my phone, I can only imagine that it's bad news. Well, today I got a call from Morningside and Ms. Lisa, the secretary, put Kennedy on the phone. She was sobbing because she didn't have her lunch bag with her. It wasn't in her backpack. I could barely talk to her, she was so upset. Apparently, someone helped her get hot lunch so that she wouldn't starve, but she was still crying as we said goodbye. Oh, she is a sensitive soul.

After we hung up, I went out to look in my car. Nope, not there. I guess she must have left it at home. Now, is it my responsibility or theirs to grab the things they need for the day? I made the lunch (BBQ chicken, sweet potato, green beans, applesauce, juice box, and trail mix). I packed it. I put it by the front door, along with mine and Macy's. Now I'm wondering if Macy has her lunch. Suddenly I'm feeling like a failure! There was drama about leaving the iPad at home (Macy), a quick read-through of Kennedy's decodable books (that maybe we should have done over the weekend), a last minute shoe change, arguing over who got to take Pig (the stuffed animal, to keep Pink Hippo, Pink Kitty, and Black Kitty company in the car), and then we were out the door. Maybe I need to post a morning check list to make sure we have everything from now on.

Other updates...
Kennedy did eventually lose her two bottom teeth. The first one right after school started and the second about a week later. She asked the Tooth Fairy if she could keep her first baby tooth with this cute note, and now it is stored in a special jar along with a feather and tooth number two. The Tooth Fairy left her two dollars in quarters, which she carried around in a special bag for several days...until misplacing it somewhere around the house. She never said anything about leaving the second tooth out for the Tooth Fairy, so I haven't pressed it. Does this make me a bad mom?

Kennedy got her first spelling test back from her afternoon teacher, Mrs. Squires. She got 14 out of 10. She was disappointed that she got a smiley face and not an A+. I told her that her score couldn't have been any higher, which definitely qualified as an A+!    

We went on a family hike over the weekend. It was a beautiful day, although it turns out we picked a rather difficult trail. Rattlesnake Gulch in Millcreek Canyon is a good climb and has some tricky terrain - especially for girls with short legs and bad hiking shoes. We reached an amazing overlook of the canyon, and I asked them to think of words that described it. Kennedy came up with "Spectacular!" Macy grumbled that it was "Boring." She complained about wanting a snack, a drink, or being tired nearly the entire time. I tried telling a story on the way back down. It kept Kennedy occupied, while she slipped down the mountain, but Macy and Jake went on ahead. Why is it that she never walks that fast with me? Yes, I know that I'm the pushover.

And what about the missing lunch? When I picked Kennedy up from school, she said, "Mom, I found my lunch! It was in my backpack, but behind my book and folder!" She was very relieved, but seemed to blame me somewhat for putting it in the "wrong" place. No need to worry about Macy - she had her lunch, but her teacher Ms. Ana said that they had a talk about eating the good-for-you foods first, and saving the treats for last.

L'ecole

I love the idea of having daughters fluent in French, which will hopefully mean that I am also fluent in French. Kids absorb language so quickly. I'm struggling to remember. Already Kennedy has learned quite a bit, and her accent is very good. It obviously helps to be taught by a native speaker, rather than a mom who took classes oh so many years ago. I'm already dreaming of taking trips to France, Canada, and French Polynesia. I've even looked into a few summer camp opportunities for when they get older. I want them to get the most out of this opportunity. Learn the language, culture, and geography. Push themselves outside of their comfort zones and really experience the world, while learning valuable lessons about themselves.

Study so far:
Week 1
Building community - important school locations, rules and expectations

Oral objectives:
Identify the date and the weather; colors; name and age in a complete sentence; and animals from the book "Ours brun, dis-moi"

Reading objectives:
Read the names of colors and the names of numbers from 0 to 10

Writing objectives:
Write numbers 0 to 10; write "je m'appelle Kennedy, j'ai 6 ans"

Math objectives:
Count up to 10; identify numbers of objects from 0 to 10; match a number name with the correct numerical digit

Week 2
Started the French reading program "Gafi" which introduces new words for a ghost, the window, the chair, the table, the pencil, etc.; identify the syllable 'la'; read "Gafi, tralala, c'est moi"; Understand that a sentence starts with a capital and ends with a dot; write a sentence

Math objectives:
Recognize the number of objects in a patterned arrangement, without counting; add parts to make a sum; understand that numbers can be broken into parts of the whole in different ways; write addition expressions to find the whole, given two parts

She is also getting her first spelling test (in English) on Friday. We decided that the on level words were too easy (am, can, map, ham, hat, man, sat, fan, has, tap), so she has been working on the above level words (hand, mask, glad, spat, sand, land, task, snap, bank, scan, and bonus words Matt and paddle). Her grade will be based on both correct spelling and handwriting, which she is getting very good at. I told her that her writing is much better than some adults...like Uncle Andy. And she loved hearing that! Since he is visiting for a few weeks, she showed him some of her homework, and guess what he said, "Hey, your handwriting is better than mine!"