FIRST DAY OF FIRST GRADE

The first day of the 1st grade.

Yea, that happened today.

I got to live out my lunch packing dream by preparing Joshua something the night before so that all I had to do this morning was to open the refrigerator, pull out his packed lunch bag and put it into his backpack. Done! I will go into more detail on Friday about what I backed him for the week.

He was eager to go to bed last night! Starting at around noon on Monday he kept asking "is it bedtime yet?" At which point we had to explain how many hours where left until bedtime, then we had to explain the concept of "hours" and the concept of "time" and why we needed time. *sigh*

This morning he was so excited to start his day. I felt a range of emotions. Happy, sad, excited, scared, anxious, nervous, proud, then sad again. At work people kept asking me what the matter was, I told them I was tired, which was true considering I didn't go to sleep until 2am this morning. Really I kept wondering about Joshua's day, looking at the clock and saying to myself he's already had lunch, I wonder how that went!?...He's had recess, I wonder how that went!!?

Everything went well according to Joshua! He ate all his lunch, his teacher told him that he was a good student, he made a friend and he had girl chasing him because they wanted to play with him but he wasn't up for that...you know, cooties and all. 

Learning How to Read: Bedtime Stories

Learning how to read is probably the most important skill a person will every learn. Well the time has come, my 5 year old has started his journey in developing his reading skills. Reading has become more critical since he will be entered 1st grade next year and I want to prepare him as best as I can starting now.  

So what do I do to promote good reading habits? and what improves their reading skills?

I constantly read to my boys. From the moment I gave birth to their precious little bodies I have been reading to t hem. Babies they love to hear the sound of their Mama and Papa's voices. They love to look at pictures and grab at the cardboard pages and explore all the things in their world. Reading was something I did with them to encourage bonding and closeness since I didn't breastfeed them for very long. I held their bare skins again mine and read softly to them and let them feel my warmth. Those were great bonding moments. I can not imagine breaking that just yet. I know the day will come where they will not need me or want me to read them to sleep so I enjoy every minute that I can get now.

Now that my boys are older reading to them helps to build their imagination as they picture the story unfolding in their head as well as thinking about what will happen next. I generally read them one or two stories a night at the same time, so when it's time for Lucas to go to bed, the three of us will gather in his room and have story time. I might ask them to point to things in the story, "Where is the big apple?" The objective of this is for books to become a regular part of their life. I want them to have a passion for it, to get excited about story time.

I save all the baby books! Joshua and Lucas no longer hold interest in books with rhymes or incredibly simple sentences. Lucas grew out of the cardboard book stage quicker than Joshua did and I chalk that up to him wanting to be like his big brother. I have continued to keep them in Joshua's room because they are great when it comes to developing reading skills. The repetativeness and the rhynmning together are fantastic for emerging readers. Hop on Pop is one of my favorites for just that reason. This was one of the first books that Joshua learned how to read.

I have Joshua host story time! So now that he has some reading skills, we do two books a night. I read one and Joshua reads the other. During this time we pretend that he's the teacher. He takes command of the room, making sure everyone is quiet and ready for the story. He feels so grown up!  I always stay close to him just in case he needs help sounding out the words...lets face it, the English language is messed! examples: Rough, Through, Bough...make up your mind!

Identify your kids problem areas. In order to overcome a problem you have to know what the problem is right? The only way you can do this is by reading with your child regularly. Joshua's problem is guessing and not taking the time to point to each word and to focus on the letters in front of him. What I mean by guessing is that he looks at the picture and based on what is going on he guesses what the words are. In order to combat this I make sure that he uses his finger as a guide and consistently points to every single word before he says them. 

There are other ways techniques that you can your to assist your child through this processes but I will save those for another post because this one is already way too long!

BACK TO SCHOOL AND GROWING UP

I wanted to write this post a lot earlier than now, but I waited until we go our new computer.
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(He was so happy to take this picture...can you tell? hehe!)

The first day of school seems to be a rite of passage for most mothers, especially those who stay at home and whose children have never been to daycare or preschool. It's not just the first day of school, for many it's the first day your little will leave your comforting side to step into a teeny tiny part of the world that they will get to discover with their peers. I am so excited for Joshua and Lucas when I look back and reflect on my own childhood, my school days and the times in my life where I was able to grow into my own. Childhood is a notion that adults often simplify "being a kid is easy, you don't have any responsibilities, wait til they get into he real world!" I admit, I use to utter these phrases, often when I became overwhelmed by the realities of life forgetting just how tough and how important and how much responsibility it takes to be a kid.

Currently he is learning how to navigate the world on his own. This week we continued the process of growing up both my boys started school. Joshua is now in Senior Kindergarten and Lucas is attending full day daycare (luckily they are going to the same place). Junior Kindergarten and Senior Kindergarten and very different. First in JK Joshua only went for a three hours a day, in SK it's all day now that I am working.

He has also received "homework" for the first time! He takes home a work package on Wednesday and has to return to school to be checked on Monday. He has actual subjects such as Language Arts and Math twice a week and Science once a week. On Fridays he learns Mandarin! For the area we live in Mandarin is an important language as we have a large Chinese population in Toronto. When I looked at his curriculum for the year I have to say I was a bit surprised at the amount of work he had to learn but he does have an entire year to learn it and I trust his teacher's ability and judgement.

I walked through the book store the other day (it's like a church for me) and I passed the ever famous Dr. Seuss book "Oh the Place You'll Go." This book so fitting for people of all ages and it's truly fitting for a kid just beginning his way through his big kid world.

"And when you're alone, there's a very good chance
you'll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won't want to go on.
But on you will go

....be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ali Van Allen O'Shea,
you're off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So...get on your way"

- Dr. Seuss "Oh the Place You'll Go!"