Thanks, I think he's very handsome too!!! I was a half blubbering wreck! I pulled myself together very well though!!! LOL I shed a few tears and then went to work

Jain wrote:Thanks, I think he's very handsome too!!! I was a half blubbering wreck! I pulled myself together very well though!!! LOL I shed a few tears and then went to work

As long as you didn't cry over the customer I think you can say you got away with it. Give it a few years and you'll be crying at the thought of the summer holidays

Jain wrote:Thanks, I think he's very handsome too!!! I was a half blubbering wreck! I pulled myself together very well though!!! LOL I shed a few tears and then went to work

Oh he's adorable Jain!

Auryn starts pre-school on Monday, big school next year! Labeling clothes has been interesting as both the kids wear the same clothes, even swapping coats depending on who fancies which one that particular day (the youngest has larger feet though and a bigger bum so at least shoes and undies are separate). Very much a unisex wardrobe in this household as I have a nasty reaction to girls clothing covered in pink, sequins or vomitous slogans.

I had to ask them which coats and sweatshirts they preferred as well as mark up a change of clothes with just Auryn's name in it.

Lunch bag and bag all sorted too.

Also Auryn starts ballet lessons next week, he's been practising pointy toes since watching ballet on telly!

Edit *Grats to Grandad CJ!

My boy just passed his 11+ exam so he can go to grammar school (that's selective state school for the non-UKers).

I'm really proud. He worked really hard and took a fantastic grown up attitude to it. Actually I be proud of how he went through it all whether he passed or not.

We pretty much knew he'd pass, but it's still a relief to see it in black and white (especially as the alternative options for schooling round here are not encouraging). He's a maths and science boffin (unlike his dad!), but not in a boring way - full of wackiness and imagination too.

He'll probably make some amazing scientific discovery completely out of left field one day.

Check out Thomas and his dad (me):




It’s not very exciting … but he’s cute!

Witticism wrote:Check out Thomas and his dad (me):

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oR2BeM5HJv8[/youtube]

It’s not very exciting … but he’s cute!

Beatsong wrote:My boy just passed his 11+ exam so he can go to grammar school (that's selective state school for the non-UKers).

Thank you VERY much for that clarification - it not only explained things quite nicely, it also prevented idiots like me from making uninformed comments which would have had me eating crow later ...

It was report card day yesterday for the kids' end of school year reports. Claire bear the wondergirl got 20 A's and 3 B's. She was bitterly disappointed, as two of those B's represented a backwards step in her marks. We think it's quite a reasonable effort. My boy Matthew managed to get all C's or higher, which is cool given that he's got a reading problem related to dyslexia. His reading level went from low grade 4 last year to acceptable grade 6 level this year, so he's made significant improvements. He got 13 A's on his report card - mostly for effort and behaviour, but he did get a few A's in music and art.

Durro wrote:It was report card day yesterday for the kids' end of school year reports. Claire bear the wondergirl got 20 A's and 3 B's. She was bitterly disappointed, as two of those B's represented a backwards step in her marks. We think it's quite a reasonable effort. My boy Matthew managed to get all C's or higher, which is cool given that he's got a reading problem related to dyslexia. His reading level went from low grade 4 last year to acceptable grade 6 level this year, so he's made significant improvements. He got 13 A's on his report card - mostly for effort and behaviour, but he did get a few A's in music and art.

Great news Durro!

Before my 7-yr-old woke up this morning, I was on RatSkep and linked to a YT vid on chromosomes and genes, which had a loud Beethoven score as background music. This woke her up, and she came into my room to see what I was doing. We've been talking about cells lately, and so I told her about chromosomes and showed her a YT vid on mitosis - she got a real kick out of that. When I started in about DNA, she stopped me, saying "Daddo, I already know about DNA. We learned that at school last year." (She finished three years in a local Montessori program last spring - for all you parents of toddlers, genuine Montessori = great program, BTW.)

I do believe that when I was in first grade, I didn't know WTF a cell was - the nuns were too busy shoving phonic worksheets under my nose, and I was too busy thinking about that hot little number Rosemary across the aisle.

ChasM wrote:
I do believe that when I was in first grade, I didn't know WTF a cell was - the nuns were too busy shoving phonic worksheets under my nose, and I was too busy thinking about that hot little number Rosemary across the aisle.

I 'failed' cutting out in Yr 1 ... I couldn't cut a circle to save my life.

Anyways ...

Here's our little man.



Thomas was doing some 'standing' whilst we waited for our lunch.

They're so damned cute at that age - and they don't talk back.

PS - if any parents out there have some ideas for kids' enrichment activities - things you've done outside of school, fun learning activities, approaches, etc. - stop by this tread and post some stuff. Love to hear from y'all.


-C

LOUD BRAG

Daughter got all Very High Achievements on report card, and son got Very Highs in Maths and Science, with Highs in everything else bar Music. Of course, they are only 6 and 8, but it's still pretty cool....

/LOUD BRAG

My poppets:

Q-ute kids! And congrats to them on their high marks. (Aside: just remember to tell them not to get too worked up about grades, which can be quite a distracting obsession for kids these days.)

ChasM wrote:Q-ute kids! And congrats to them on their high marks. (Aside: just remember to tell them not to get too worked up about grades, which can be quite a distracting obsession for kids these days.)

Thanks!

Yeah, I'm not too focused on grades myself (but this IS a brag thread... ). I'm just glad they're good at something.

My wife and I were watching TV, with my 6y/o granddaughter on my lap. Granddaughter Lily has been a minor Pain In The Ass (PITA) all day long - so tempers were slightly frayed.

Lily starts telling a story of a supposed Kindergarten experience in which she went out on recess, walked to the edge of the snowpack, where the grass grows. She found a tree with a lot of branches, which enabled her to climb it to the very top. Imagine a 6y/o telling you in full bullshit detail.

I expressed a certain amount of disbelief, saying I wanted to hear her accomplishments for what they were without embellishments - when my wife interrupted to say I should have more patience with a normal developmental happenstance. She tried to spell around the situation, saying I should understand that Lily was trying to exercise her "I-M-A ..." she hesitated ... "I-M-A-..." I continued,"I-M-A-G-I-N-A-T-I-O-N".

Lily pops up with "Does that spell Imagination???"

Stunned silence.

Wholey Sheet.

I look at the creature in my lap, and she tells me "Grandpa, I'm learning how to spell ...", as only as affronted 6y/o can.
I say to my wife "Shit, we are in T-R-O-U-B-L-E."

Lily says "That spells 'Trouble'".

At this point we are totally flabbergasted, and can't think straight. We send the creature to let the dog in from outside.
My wife says "If this continues, we are S-C-R-E-W-E-D."

Lily replies "I didn't get that one - can you say it again?"

I am soooo screwed.

@ Weaver. Surely you went through this with your own kids? And don't knock imagination. Go to the library and book shop and I M A G I N E how much money gets earned by writers of F I C T I O N.

My kids are stepchildren - I first encountered them at ages 10 and 13, so didn't experience this sort of thing.

And you're right, of course, I should have more patience with her imagined stories - I just want her to more clearly distinguish truth from fiction when she's telling us these tales.

Weaver wrote:My kids are stepchildren - I first encountered them at ages 10 and 13, so didn't experience this sort of thing.

And you're right, of course, I should have more patience with her imagined stories - I just want her to more clearly distinguish truth from fiction when she's telling us these tales.

Ah! I thought you were a little young to have grand children, I just assumed you and/or your kids had started rather young! So yes you are climbing a learning cliff. Bright kids have a wonderfully rich fantasy life and as you say the issue is not suppressing it but to just build an understanding in the child that crossing the boundary between real and imaginary is important and not to be mixed up. So 'tell me what happened today' should illicit a different response from 'tell me what you would have liked to have happened today.' And there is absolutly nothing wrong with helping a child understand the categories of 'real' and 'imagined'. A diary can be a great thing for a child and working with them to write it every day before bedtime allows one to guide the child in creating a factual document, while reading them a fairy story allows them to stretch their imagination. Good luck Granddad!