I'm here....

just under the weather. Don't worry, Hubby is being great, and I'm resting when I can, and eating my chicken noodle soup and crackers. I'm still enjoying life and can share it with amazing friends, but you get reminded to put yourself back on the list.

I haven't really been able to post, or read my other blog buddies. I'm thinking about you!

We have had a great week on the learning front for Lovely. She's had a great first 5 week session at school. Meeting with her teacher for conferences was really great. She's having a much better learning experience than I was having at her age! It warms my heart.

Admittedly, I'm a worrier when it comes to my kids. Not in the "health" ways (well, mostly), but in the behavioral. I'm marked very much by my childhood emotional battles. I had both learning disabilities and difficulties, as well as major behavioral issues. I was basically every teacher's nightmare from K to grade 4 (grade 4 was a turning point...). I did not take medication and only was tested and labeled in the learning disabilities, but I gather I battled ADHD with a BIG emphasis on the H. I acted out CONSTANTLY. It took a lot of patience to teach me, guide me, parent me, and wrangle me in to learn. It took discipline. People are usually VERY surprised when I share that, because aside from being VERY talkative and animated (and chipper lol), I don't seem remotely ADHD. I think it took growing, maturity, and time. But I remember the struggles, and freak out about my kids going through all that.

So, back to me worrying. Oddly, when it comes to parenting, I'm REALLY relaxed. I don't know if it comes from 7 years of dealing with 24 teenagers in my classroom at a time and dealing with the noise (tuning noise out), etc - but it takes a lot to grate on my nerves. I think I'm pretty consistent as a mother, but I do question myself when I see my friends parent. I worry do they think my daughter is too loud, goofy, or bossy - and are all those things because of me. I worry (the mean voices in my mind) if they think I'm doing ok as a parent. I worry if I am consistent enough. I know why I crave affirmation....that's another post and struggle I try to pray away, but it still lurks (and friends who are reading this, this is NOT a plea to affirm me...I'm just sharing here! You are a blessing to me. No worries. What's in my head does NOT make sense or is reality).

So, it's funny....I think I catch myself saying things at times (to other moms) that are more critical of my elder daughter, more to show people "I'm aware" of her 6 year old moments, than praising all her cute mannerisms. I guess I'm afraid of the worries in my head that people are judging me for my parenting. I personally need to work on pointing out to others her INCREDIBLE imagination, creativity, musical gifts, creative writing/drawing, homemade puppet shows, dress up games, songs, tender heart, motherly instincts, headstrong assertiveness if they already don't see it for themselves and feel a smile cross their face or a laugh lightening their mood. She has such a gift for that!

So, I can't tell you how well my meeting with her teacher went. Mrs. S was so nice in all she said. Of course there are areas we need to work - but nothing terrible - normal skill making, reading, etc. Lovely has shown incredible academic improvement since day 1 where she seemed confused she couldn't just play when she wanted, and centers are not for playing with the small objects (she LOVES imaginative play with small toys). She finally has task persistence (sometimes she did not want to finish coloring, or doing an assignment, or even color things in) and Mrs. S says she is now one of the last to finish because she is working on things so thoroughly. She's still working with us, and at school, on reading - both phonics and sight words, and writing. She's apparently the only kindergartner at their school that knows every coin and its amount (hmmm, can't take her shopping anymore HAHA) and in character education she's exceeding expectations. At school she apparently is super sweet, generous, helpful, a good listener, and a great attitude (I'm so thrilled, a dream come true for me!! I'm so proud of her) and in fact is ahead with character education and social skills. Her teacher reported sometimes Lovely says "I'll do this when I home school too..." about a certain thing they are doing, so apparently, so far, she loves both concepts of learning. Mrs. S is really supportive of our current ideas for grade 1 - which is great. Lovely seems right on average with other kids in K - and her daddy and I are fine with that. We know this year will show growth, and we'll continue boosting and learning at home as well as we've been doing.

One of Lovely's favorite times at school is creative writing. Even though she can't write much free handed, they are encouraged to draw what they can't write - and her teacher showed me that Lovely does things from left to write, in "storyboard" form - like a comic strip - and the pictures are so detailed. Our friends and then us had started to notice she's starting to draw in profile, and we've always taken note of the DETAIL of facial expressions in all her work, since she was little. She can make a face really MAD, or Happy. It's all there in the pictures. She's more creative in their expression, then doing drawing as an art form, but it is GREAT. I see it more as how someone would write a play, short story, cartoon, or novel than artistically painting a picture. I think as she learns to write words, the detail will be in the words and their descriptions. But, she could be showing off a new drawing talent too! She's usually the last to finish and her pictures and stories just knock her teacher over. I'll have to scan some of them when I get my hands on them and post them.

So we are beyond thrilled. I've always known she has a strong suit for "traditional" learning, but with her musical ear, imagination, and love of the "little details", she consistently demonstrates learning in other ways and methods. I don't think anyone learns just one way, and we need to embrace all that is out there! So, she is doing a combo of Suzuki and Faber for her music. I learned this year our church has been offering a Sunday School option in Montessori learning for years! So you can bet I signed Lovely up and she takes a class on Thursdays for an hour and 15 mins. She loves learning by touching and exploring - and the ideas, rules, and respect Montessori teaches is so valuable. Her classroom is full on Montessori. I grabbed two pics on my cell, but didn't capture the wall of trays, other items that teach practical life (from the bible and today), sensorial, language, even mathematical (lots of math and numbers in the bible!), or their flowers. They teach in a true "atrium" and arrange flowers for their tables before class starts, use true "precious" items made of glass, etc and the teach demonstrates to the kids who need it first (others who were in the class last year - multi age classroom, yeah! - can build on their lessons). Lovely had to learn to finish what she started before she could get another tray and learn more. Still, she loved the class, and cried that she didn't want to leave (one of the pics shows her sad face). It is also awesome, that in her multi-age classroom, she gets to be with her buddy, whose incredible mom is here. Man, the world is blessedly small!

We're really excited for this coming year, and the years ahead being in Montessori's Good Shepherd. (ok, and I can I say what a blessing this class is for a one time fee of $40?? I'm completely blown away?! Bless you dear parish!)

So, all in all....what a fantastic start to her year of Kindergarten!! She astounds me everyday, I love her more every day, and I wonder...with all my fallible stumbles - how the heck did God think me worthy of Lovely? I'm forever grateful!!

Pictures from her 1st day of Good Shepherd:

See the sad face....I had just said we need to go...