Little Miss - update

Grade 1 has flown by. We are only left with a few more days!

Little Miss has done very well in Grade 1. Of course I was worried about her doing Grade 1 while still very young, but given how well she has done and how well she has adjusted, I think we did the right thing!

She loves school!
She loves her friends!
We actually want to move her to a nearby school, but she does not want to budge! (It would make it much easier on us in the traffic!) I hope we can persuade her next year!

She has made new friends! That's a big one for us! She had the one friend that she loves, but who was always putting her down, and who influenced her moods. She is playing with new friends that are good to her, and she enjoys their company. She is even playing with friends in our complex where we stay, and can't wait to get home at night!

She does her own thing when friends are around, and disappears at playgrounds and parties! We are finally at the stage that we can drop her off at a party! (Yay!!)

I am still reading articles about the strong-willed child in trying to understand our Little Miss a bit better! She has very strong ideas, and she will defend it for dear life! There are some things to disagree about, but some things we have to examine our own thoughts about it.

(Sometimes we have outdated parental mechanisms that kicks in when confronted with a very opinionated little girl!)

She has done well in most of her extra-curricular activities as well this year! We will be continuing with the ballet and gymnastics, as well as tennis next year!

The CMaths has been a challenge, and maybe we can let it go... It's a struggle to get her to do the extra maths homework each week...


We love the Girl that is emerging, and the Personality that she is.
I am so glad that she is in our lives!

It is especially great to get little love notes from her, writing that she loves her Mom and Dad!


It is passing too fast!!

We really do some stuff on a weekend - for future reference!

Little Miss has to do a weekend report picture after each weekend of the stuff we did. We have only seen her books from school on two occasions when it got sent home. Both times her pictures of the weekend reports came back very dull.

Week after week it is only a picture of herself with sometimes a tree, and sometimes with a small dog.
Her answer is that she forgets when I try to recount of all the things we did!

Why do we even bother to go out of the house?
And most of the things we do for her!

This past weekend had a birthday focus (mine), but she could have reported the following:

Weekend report:

- Her Big Sister was home for the weekend. She loves having her around, and spending time with her!

- Big Sister made her a t-shirt headband and bracelet, and she also could help her with it.

-  We had a breakfast outing at Urban Angel Cafe (love the place!) on Saturday with friends of mine and she could choose anything from the stand. (She loves that more than ordering from the menu.) She had a pie and a cake!

- Dad took her to the gymnastics which she loves!

- She played "tennis in our garage" with Mom and Dad in the afternoon while waiting for Mom's friends to arrive.

- She also got to ride her scooter, which she loves more than her bicycle. Dad had to tag along, of course!

- She could watch a children's movie while we were having a braai.

- Her grandmother and grandfather visited on Sunday, with aunt Deb and uncle Leon. She always loves seeing them.

- Her uncle Leon played some ball with her.

- The neighbour's kids came to jump with her on her trampoline.(Big Plus for the Sunday!)

- She scored a R10 from the family, and she immediately had to spend it at the petrol garage when we dropped the Student off on Sunday afternoon!


She could not remember to include any of this in her report?
Next Monday we will be reminding her of all  the highlights of the weekend, especially since we are going camping with her.

(For future reference, Little Miss!!)


Photo: I tried to get the rainbow on the photo in the background. Not that successful!

Grade 1 - we did the right thing!

As parents we are always second-guessing ourselves, and hoping we make the right decisions for our children.

But we also know our children, and know them at their best!

I am so glad we decided to send Little Miss to Grade 1 this year. The school readiness results last year indicated that she was not emotionally ready, and we were sent for occupational therapy as well as visual therapy. We have completed a series of visits to the OT as well as visual therapy. Both therapists have given her the "go-ahead" for Grade 1. The last of the visual therapy was on Saturday and Little Miss drew a heart picture to give to Penny (see picture above). I am amazed at how well she can now control her eyes. She can bring pictures together by only moving her eyes around. (I don't think I can do it, and I am too afraid to even try...)

The first week of school has also been a bit hectic with Little Miss being very tired at the end of the day, and clingy to start with! She also got quite confused with the extra-murals, and we are still searching for lost clothes that gets lost on an almost daily basis.

But, by the third week she started very good with Little Miss saying goodbye at the gate. There are less "Not a lekker day"-remarks that we have to hear at the end of each day! We are still walking her to the class, but she is happy to go off and play. Especially if she has a coin or two to spend at the Tuck Shop... (Which we try not to give in to, but yesterday I was weak again when I had to drop her off!...parenting fail much!)

She has been loving her teacher and her class. We decided not to say anything to her teacher about the extra OT and visual therapy, and to see how it goes! There has not been any complaint or negative feedback from school. Her school work also looks very good when it gets sent home!

She loves learning to read, and she is trying to spell all words she comes across. Out of her own free will, and without any push from us! (She is actually irritating us with trying to spell everything, and of course asking us to help her with it! Sorry, Little Miss! I will try harder at the end of my working day when asked to spell something/e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g for you!!)

She is also doing very well with the maths, and that we can definitely link back to her doing CMaths since last year! It has given her the edge that I have been hoping for! She is not a CMaths whizz-kid, but she has a better grasp of maths than her peer group. That's all we want!

There is a large amount of homework. It keeps her busy for at least an hour to two hours each day which I think is a bit much! But the after-care helps in doing most of it with the children, and we only have to quickly retrace some of it in the evenings. Luckily it is Hubby and I who are there to follow though! We can focus on her alone, which makes it easier on all of us!

I was talking to another mom the other day about her daughter that she kept back for another year, and I realised that I could say that we also did the right thing! Just as her daughter is still not ready for the huge leap into Grade 1, our daughter are now enjoying her Grade 1 year to the max!!

"Phew!"

Mom's the Valentine!

This Little Valentine gave us an uphill battle this morning in getting her into a kind of red and white outfit for a Valentine's Day at school.

We already had the clothes picked out last night, but today she was not happy with the red leggings and the hair was not done the way she wanted it! I don't know what the idea of the wings are, but as long as she is happy and and we can get out of the door... We go!

Little Miss is extremely fussy with what she is wearing and how her hair is done!
She only wears about 1% of her clothes, and the rest always have some sort of an issue.
Scratchy, or too warm, or too cold... (That "sensory issue" thing needs to be checked out?)

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On Valentine's:

We always love to get into the excitement of a theme.
As long as it is fun, fun, fun... Why not?

Little Miss does not have a special someone yet (so she says!) , and she gets very upset when I suggest that we buy something for a "boyfriend"!
She already bought a Valentine's flower for her mom, which she hid away yesterday. (I caught a glimpse of it...)

She of course bought it with her tuck shop card at the school. This tuck shop card has been the absolute highlight of the year. We have to limit her to only one day a week, because she will go back and back.
Yesterday she was only supposed to buy one thing, but she also bought a small something for her best friend, and of course the flower for me, and a biltong snack, and... (if pressed, she usually confesses in buying more stuff).
But, if the R100 for the month is finished, it will be finished!
It will be a good lesson with the finances!

She was sent to school with some hard cash today, because they have an entrepreneurs market at school.
I can't wait to see what she is going to buy with it...
(I did suggest a present for Dad, as well as for Big Sister!)


Happy Valentine's Day tomorrow!!
What will you be doing?

I would love to go out with Hubby! (*HINT!*)
Big Sister is even coming home for the weekend to baby-sit tomorrow night.
But the finances are low...

- Photo by Dad this morning!

Wordless Wednesday #257 - Final OT

Third week starting good

She told her dad yesterday that he can leave her at the gate, and that she would go in by herself.

Which she did today!

Her dad had to compose himself, and let her go...


(How quickly the dynamics change.
And how quickly they are independent little beings!)


I hope I won't be hearing "It's not a lekker day!" this afternoon.
But it seems the third week started on a good note!


Related post:

First week of school - still getting into it!

Not a lekker day!

"Lekker" = not exact translation, but "Nice"


This is the standard reply that we have been getting for the past two weeks.

Little Miss has an issue each day. And as soon as there is an "issue", the day is spoilt!

Melancholic personality? Hope not!
(Even writing this makes me feel that putting it out there will label it for her and us.)
But how do you teach a little one not to see the dark in everything? That the glass is half full, and not empty?

Is it possible to teach them to see the bright side, when they are constantly in drama mode and having some sort of crisis which ruins the whole day?


Some of the issues this past week:

- Her best friend did not want to play with her!

- Her best friend was mean to her.

- She had a bee sting in her hand.

- She hurt her toe.

- Mom forgot to put in her homework book. (No, I did not! It was in her bag.)

- I did not put in her dress for after-care and she could not put on her school dress again. Her friends teased her, and ran away. She had to make do with her jersey and stretch pants. (Unfortunately I did! Feeling very bad!)

- The sun did not come out yesterday. It was raining!

- Her friend broke her toy.

- She was tired. (We really stick to the 8 op'clock rule to get her into bed, but she struggles to go to sleep, and can't get up in the mornings.)

- She lost some of her stationary at school.

- She lost her socks / water bottle / clothes at school...


And it does not help to tell her to see things differently... It's not so bad! Never!


I saw this on Kidspot this month, and will definitely try some of these to help brighten her spirits! It seems like good advice!
11 questions that teach kids to be happy

Will let you know...


Related post:

First week of school - still getting into it!

First week of school - still getting into it!

First day of school - homework

The first few days of school have passed already. It has been hectic with sorting the after-care, extra-murals, parent meetings and helping with the homework. (And we only have the one child! "Phew!*)

Little Miss has been very tired after each day.

Her first feedback on her first day was that she very surprised that she did not learn to read on the first day!

Little Hoots - First day in Grade 1

Dad had been struggling with her being very clingy in the mornings when he goes to drop her off.
She doesn't want to play with the other friends. Only off course the one friend who does not always reciprocate!
How do you tell/learn a six year old that you can have and play with more than one friend?

We hope it's only because of the new year with new things and that Little Miss will become more relaxed as she gets used to everything.

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I had to make an unexpected visit to the dentist yesterday. Little Miss had been complaining about a toothache, but we put it down to all the milk teeth being lost in recent months.

Dr Wayne

It was with a new dentist, but Dr Wayne turned out to be a gem as well. He can speak good Afrikaans! (It was awesome!)

Little Miss cooperated and her tooth was fixed! (The previous time it was a whole hoo-ha! and we had to give her a mild sedative and we had to prepare her before the time...)

I am very proud of her for staying in the chair and sticking it out!

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How is the New Year school year treating you?

Wordless Wednesday #255 - Grade 1 #firstday

 

Grade 1 - Here we come!

Grade One learner

There is big excitement in our midst. Tomorrow is the Big Day! Tomorrow is the start of a new chapter in the life of Little Miss.

She is going to Grade 1.

We walked this morning past her new class. She could already check it out because the after-care at school had organised two days of holiday care at school this week. It was a good idea to get her familiar with the new after-care, before everything is a new blur tomorrow.

Hubby seems to be more apprehensive about this huge stepping stone. He loves her going into the new phase, but also mourns the end of her being a toddler and a preschooler. His little girl is not as little ...

I do not have the same apprehension, because I love each new phase of her. Maybe also because I went through these stages previously, I am not that upset any more...

But The Student told me I would pinch a tear tomorrow. She says: "You always do!" (I won't! I won't!)

As expected, Little Miss got the go-ahead from the occupational therapist as well as the vision therapist. Not that we would have kept her behind, but we feel more at ease that she will cope this year! I am glad that we took her for the sessions!

She is also going to school without any front teeth. She lost two more teeth and the count is now up to six! She is a true "haasbek", an Afrikaans word for all the front teeth missing!

She practised the whole day on Sunday to jump rope, and by yesterday she was jumping ten counts in a row. She could not understand her sore legs, and told me we had to go to the doctor... (Another accomplishment ticked off!)

The whole family is going with her tomorrow for the first day! We can't wait to see her in full school attire! (Expect a photo!)

 The bag, the clothes, the stationary... everything is ready!

You go, Little Miss! We are sharing your excitement!


Picture taken by Dad yesterday at the OT

Happy birthday to the Little Miss - finally a 6!

6 years old!

Finally! A full 6!

This has been a long wait, but it finally happened!

Little Miss has been celebrating since the end of November with a Spur party and she took party packs to school as well just before the end of the school term.

The teacher took these photos of her in class.

Look at the cute party hat that the teacher has made!

She also got her birthday present from us a little earlier. The trampoline has been a constant source of activity and joy!


I asked her last night about her future plans for Grade 1. She promptly answered with another question. Can she wear her hair loose in Grade 1? No!
Well , then she wants braids one day, two ponies the next day, and then again a French braid in her hair the next day...


Happy birthday to my not so little girl any more!

You are a constant source of joy in our midst!
We love you!

"You spoil me too much!"

Little Hoot: You spoil me too much!

Two months before she turns 6!

It has been a strange year! The year of Grade R that she could not wait for, and that turned into a bit of a bummer... Luckily the meeting with the teacher helped considerably!

It seems that Little Missy is becoming into her own right now. I suspect this will be the pattern for each year. (Maybe not!) Because she is younger, it is only at the end of the year that everything falls into place?

I have also been toying with the idea that she is also her own person, doing her own things at her own opportune time!
Because we try to measure them and place them in boxes (talking about school readiness tests), it should not define them. And I am not going to!

We have spoken with her about going to Grade One next year, and told her about doing Grade R again. She is in agreement (as far as a five year old is able to) that she wants to continue to Grade One.

She got the most brilliant report card last week! Enough said!
She is doing very well!

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They had their end of year ballet concert and certificate ceremony. It was as cute as always. She still wants to continue next year, and I think it is good for them to get the basics of dancing. We will see how far it goes! (I don't have a preference!)

Ballet is tiring

Ballerina

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The only thing that Little Missy is worried about now is her birthday party.
All the "planning" and the "talking" finally had to come to fruition! We could not forever promise an airy fairy party because she has her birthday in December and all her friends are on leave. We have made a booking end of November and invited a few friends.
Huge excitement in her life!

Now it is only the party packs for school that needs to be sorted! (Yes, we still need to do that as well?!)
You do not get anything past a nearly six year old girl!

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I gave Little Missy a Happy Meal toy yesterday, because I had ordered a McD Happy Meal just so she could get a toy.
The response: "We spoil her too much!"

Okay...

School readiness results

The school readiness results did not come back as positive as expected.

We will probably go to an occupational therapist, as well as an optometrist as suggested!

With hindsight I should have gone to the occupational therapist in the first place, and not "waste" my money and time at a educational psychologist.
I got the reference from parents at school, and did not think twice...


Little Missy also did a few unexpected things that could have impacted on the advice:
(As they do!)

- She brought a teddy bear along to the session. She hardly ever plays with her bears, and only once or twice slept with one of them.
There is no favourite bear that goes around with us, such as the blanket that her sister carried around.
But it definitely had an impact on the assessment, and the bear was mentioned a couple of times by the psychologist.

- She drew a terrible self-portrait of only a half person, with no facial features. And announced that it was enough for that picture for the day.
Her pictures are usually the most colourful and I like to share them because I think they are very good!
(See the picture on top.)

- She told the psychologist that her secret is that she was still drinking "Boobies" until quite recently. It was never a secret in our house, or to the outside world.
It seems that this confirms to the psychologist that she is still emotionally not ready, although I personally (and Natural/Attachment parents) think that it breeds a very emotional strong and resilient person! (As well as a HEALTHY person!)

- She also admitted to manipulate us with her tantrums, until we give in to her demands!
When do we give in to her demands?
The fact that she is able to verbalise and knows what she is doing, is telling me that she is already able to control her tantrums.

- She was also only able to sit still for 15 minutes, before she got bored. In the written feedback it even says 20 minutes.
I think it is quite a long time for a little person to sit still? Maybe the stuff got boring?

- She also told the psychologist that we still sleep with her. It is true in part because we lay with her in her bed until she falls asleep. But then we get up again.. And then we only go to her at night when she calls, and sometimes falling asleep with her!
It is a parenting style that we as parents are both happy with!
It seems that the psychologist thinks we are still baby-ing her, and therefore she is not emotionally ready!


I know that the psychologist only got to see her for a an hour and a half.
We will not only base our decision on her inputs, but what we get from the OT's assessments.

School readiness

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We are getting the results of the tests back this afternoon. It really is a difficult decision. 

Little Missy was born in December, and we want to make sure!

I must mention that after this past weekend at the Voortrekker camp, I am less worried. She did her own thing, and could cope without us!

She even instructed us to leave her!

I don't see how we would be able to keep her for another year in Grade R?