2nd Grade - Progress Report #1

Collin is doing well in 2nd grade so far and his grades on his progress report show it:

Subjects:

Writing - 88
Reading - 95 (so happy to see this one)
Oral Language - 88
Spelling - 98
Math - 92
Social Studies - 93
Science - 88

Handwriting - E
Art - E
Music - E
Health/Fitness - E

Other Skills:

Works cooperatively - S
Respect of student, teachers and property - S
Participation - E
Effort - does personal best - E
Time management/organization - E
Completes tasks independently and turns in work - S
Active listening/Follows directions - S

Teacher's Comments:

Collin is a hard worker and loves to participate in class!  We are working on having less side conversations with our neighbors and getting right to work.

Looks like my guy is still social but follows the teacher's instructions and doing his work.

The Raiders played their third game last night.....and lost.  Collin was better at hiking the ball to the quarterback and only rolled it once.  He begged to play offense so he could run and pull flags.  Coach Dad let him and Collin pulled a flag during a major play.  He was excited to talk about it on the way home and did not seem too concerned about the loss.  Coach, on the other hand, was really bummed about the loss but happy the boys played better than they had the previous game.  They are at least improving.

Collin's First 5K.....Attempt

This morning, Collin attempted his first 5K.  He has ran multiple 1Ks before but was ready to try a 5K.  Dad thought he would be able to make it but I knew he would only make it with lots of walking involved.  I talked to him about not running so fast in the very beginning because he needed to make his energy last through the entire run.  He ran fairly slow for him (9 minute mi) for 1.2 miles and then had to walk the majority time the rest of the way.  During this time, I talked about how to look behind him when he moved over so he would not cut a runner off...which he almost did later in the run.  That runner was fine because he was paying attention.

When we got close to the finish line, he wanted to hold my hand so we could run across the finish line together.  When he saw Dad waiting and the crowd cheering, I think it was too much for the competitive nature he has because he dropped my hand and started running....until he made it through the finish line.  He was happy to get his medal and then he let me know he forgot to hear the announcer say his name when he crossed the finish line.  I let him know I heard it and was very proud of him for making it 3.1 miles even if he did not run all of it.  "I want to do a 1K next time.  I did not like that".

Even if he did not like it, it was a great experience for him.  He also now has a better understanding of what Mom does when she is running in a race.  Even though I did not get to run 6.2 miles like I was supposed to on the schedule, I had the best morning with my boys.

Collin wanted to sleep because we had to leave at 5:50am

Great time at the finish line

That's my boy crossing the finish line

Tradition for us to bite the medal after the race

YEAH, we finished the race

Baby Tooth #6 is Out....Of....Here!

Collin finally let Dad pull baby tooth #6 Saturday night.  This one was on the bottom left if you are facing Collin.  The other tooth popped through his gums which really made the tooth loose.  Collin bravely let Dad pull his tooth which was a first for Dad to do because the dentist or the teacher's aide pulled the other five.

Earlier in the day, Collin had told Dad that he could lend him $121 if he ever needed it from his savings.  "And, when I loose my tooth, I can lone you $123" because he just knew the Tooth Fairy was going to bring him a $2 bill.

Well, the Tooth Fairy DID bring him $2 the next morning.  He asked several times if I or Dad were the Tooth Fairy.  I was able to dodge the question and re-direct every tine but....he is going to figure it out soon.  Fine with us.  He has, what, nine more teeth to loose?  That will save us some money if the Tooth Fairy does not have to come anymore.  :)

Here he is having fun pushing a straw through the hole from his missing tooth.

Collin's Handwriting

I don't know where he gets it because Daddy and I don't have great handwriting but it's at least legible.  Collin's first two spelling tests have come home with comments about how nice his handwriting is.  Other than because his name is at the top of the page, I would not have thought he wrote the words because this is not the same handwriting I get at home when we do homework.  He must take his time during the test as he is writing the word.  I do agree with Ms Briggs though.  What do you think?

He sure has come along way from his Pre-K penmanship:

Collin: The Cyclist

Collin has been riding his bike almost every day and getting really good at it.  He is much more confident on the street riding by cars and dodging things on the road.  Recently, I have been putting pine cones or other objects on the drive way that he has to ride around before heading to the street.

He is also practicing jumping off the curb.  So far, he is cutting close to the driveway and not riding too much on the curb because of the height of the curb.  To him, he thinks it's a big deal for the route he is taking to get to the street.  As long as he is outside and riding his bike, I don't care where he rides.

Collin's Reflection on Summer

This was too cute not to share.  Collin had to write what he liked about summer. This summer:

• He made Legos, 
• He traveled to Arizona and Colorado, 
• His favorite water activity was swimming and 
• He loved summer because he got to be with his family....awe!

Collin's Expectations of 2nd Grade

For an assignment last week, Collin had to fill out a questionnaire about 2nd grade to help Mrs. Briggs understand what her students wanted to learn about during the school year.  Well, from Collin, she learned that he did not want to learn anything (he wrote "nuthing") and was not nervous about 2nd grade.  Some other responses were:

Favorite subject: Magic - never heard him mention magic and I did not know it was a school subject

Favorite sport: Golf - well, we know that when we are on vacation.  Then, why does he ask to play soccer, football or baseball?  He is a funny kid.

Favorite holiday: "Holwene" - I could have guessed that.  He likes dressing up all year round and Halloween is a great night for that.

Favorite TV Show: Star Wars - With all of the shows he watches on the iPad, he picks a movie that he has seen maybe three times.  I guess it left an impression on him.

Favorite candy: Skittles - ....and Air Heads but did not have enough room to write that too

Subject you are best at:  Soccer

Subject you need help with:  "Baskitball" - yep, knew he did not like basketball

What are your hobbies:  Cook and ride bikes - I loved this response.  He does like to cook with his Mommy and he has been riding his bike almost every day.

What's a Slacker?

When I first saw these in our neighbor's yards, I thought someone did a great job at selling them the idea that tying their trees together would help them stand up taller.  Really, 20 something year old 100 foot pine trees would move and be more straight?  So gullible!!!

Well, turns out that's not what these brightly colored ropes were between the trees.  It's the newest outdoor crazy called Slackers.  Slacklining is a practice in balance that typically uses 1 or 2 inch nylon webbing tensioned between two anchor points, which are trees in our neighborhood.  slacklining is good exercise because it teaches balance and really works at your core while having fun.  Yes, I have gotten on the lines and played or even was more serious and tried to walk across without falling off.  The falling off part happens a lot!  I learned we have to clear out the pine cones in the area because those suckers draw blood when your foot lands on one.....or maybe wearing shoes would be easier.

Here are Collin and one of his friends goofing around on the Slackers:

2nd Grade So Far

We are hearing from Collin's teacher that he is doing really well in class so far.  He:

• Listens to instructions
• Does his work when he is told
• Is helpful to the teacher and others
• Is not distracting in class
• Participates in class

She also said that he has beautiful handwriting.  I know I was surprised to hear this feedback..especially that he was not the social guy that he has been in the past.  She was surprised too based on what she had heard about him.  All we can think of is that he has recess right after an early lunch.  Maybe getting some energy out in the middle of the day like that carries him through the rest of the day.  Whatever the reason, Yeah Collin!!!  Keep up the great work so far.

Author Sighting

Dad found out that our local book store was hosting author Mac Barnett to read from his latest book Leo, A Ghost Story.

From the author:

Leo, A Ghost Story introduces readers to Leo, a gentle little ghost who’s invisible to most people. One day he meets Jane, a little girl who can see him. She thinks he’s her imaginary friend, and Leo’s left in a quandary. Should he tell her he’s a ghost? People are afraid of ghosts and Leo doesn’t want to scare Jane.

“His being a ghost is a secret,” Barnett tells us. “He says, ‘If I tell her who I am, I’ll scare her away.’ There are so many people who feel that way, especially with new friends. That’s the emotion that I was trying to access, the feeling that when you show yourself, that could be scary.” 

After the author read the story, the kids got to be knighted like Leo pretended to be in the story.  They also could have created their own Coat of Arms but Collin was not interested in doing this.  Dad said he had a lot of fun and really liked hearing how the author read the book to the kids.  It made a difference to hear how the author intended for the story to flow and made it that much more interesting.

Author reading the book

Getting his own copy of the book signed

Being knighted like Leo was in the book

When I got home that night, Collin was excited to show me the book and tell me the story about Leo. We took turns reading the book.  I noticed not only did he have more patience with himself while reading, he was able to figure out most of the difficult words without complaining or pretending he did not have a voice like he has done before.  He even answered several questions I asked about the book afterwards like the main characters names, what they did in the book, why did he think only Jane could see Leo, etc.  While he was thinking about the answer to one of the questions, he said, "I know what you are doing.  You are asking questions like the teacher does to see if I understand what we read".  He was also really happy to point out that this fulfilled his required reading later.  He was eager to initial the spot on his weekly report card back to the teacher that he read for 20 minutes.  I hated to break it to him that, while he did read, it was not even close to 20 minutes.  

I tried to sneak in a book later that night before bed without success.  He was just too tired to push him to do something he did not want to do.  However, we talked about the book store event more.  He wants to do it again and wants me to be there next time.  I explained why I was not there and said I will try to make it another time.