Homework

A few weeks ago, Jesse's teacher made a list of specific goals for him to (we hope) accomplish before starting kindergarten (again) in the fall:

o   Write first name correctly.

o   One to one correspondence up to 10 (if I say 7, he can pull out 7 objects).

o   Write numbers 0-10.

o   Recognize all upper case letters.

o   Write correctly 10 upper case letters.

o   Write correctly 10 lower case letters.

o   Know 10 sight words.

So for Jesse's homework time, I've been foregoing the worksheets his teachers sends home (I imagine she's not thrilled about this) and working on those goals. For one thing, this lets me teach to Jesse's style. We practice letter recognition by scattering letter flashcards in a circle on the floor. I play one of his favorite songs while he hops from card to card. When I stop the music, he tries to identify the letter. Then we slip the card into a page protector and he uses a white-board marker to practice tracing it.

The fact that he's willing to cooperate at all on this kind of thing is progress in itself.

Betsy is very helpful during homework time.

I've also made a list of home goals:

o   Keep clothes put away.

o   Do an afternoon chore.

o   Tantrum-free three out of four days.

Jesse is doing a great job on these as well. I'm feeling some glimmers of hope.

When not working on chores or homework, Jesse meditates a la Aang from Avatar: The Last Airbender.

This is the price I paid for my nice, hot shower--Betsy got jiggy with a marker. Perhaps with Jesse's help?

I've never understood the point behind babies' teeny  top-knots. Now I get it. Baby's short arms can't reach it up there to pull it out. And what else can you do with those few little wisps of hair?