Last week, I went the whole week without posting, it just flew right by. Katie is getting the hang of being home without her sisters. Last week, she ran out into the living room and yelled, "steppin time" and started dancing. Her favorite show (and the only show that doesn't end up with her crying) is Mary Poppins. She has only watched it a couple of times but she remembers "Steppin Time." Today she finally is napping so that is wonderful. She gets so grouchy in the afternoon but she fights tooth and nail against naps.
Hannah has made a new friend named Victor at school. He is so nice to Hannah and they play together every day. He always makes sure Hannah can find her sister at recess and her mom after school and stays right with her all day. Her teacher told me today they are always sitting by each other and being friends throughout the day and are in short, very much in love. She also told me it has been good for Victor because he is sort of a dreamer and doesn't focus and Hannah is the smartest girl in class (that made me happy) so now Victor is really putting his heart into being like Hannah. I am so happy Hannah has a good friend. She still plays with Carolyn every day and that makes me happy too. In fact, they told me, when Hannah leaves Carolyn after recess, she gives Carolyn a hug and so does Victor.
Hannah is loving school too. Her teacher is just great!!! They don't have books in the Kindergarten classroom (one of the problems I have with the school) but she saw that Hannah was ready to really jump into reading so she has started using these photo-copy books. All the children work on them at their own pace. I am thrilled with Hannah's teacher. She has 25 years of experience and seems to have managing all kinds of levels and all kinds of children in the bag. Some of the parents wish her room was more decorated and such (they hired her only 4 days before school started and her classroom has only things that she personally owned in it--the school supplied nothing) but I wouldn't trade her experience for anything.
Carolyn loves school. She loves the structure and thrives on whatever kind of learning is offered. She certainly isn't being challenged here yet but I am hoping soon...Carolyn's teacher is somewhat new and I think teaching to various levels comes a bit slower with less experience but she tells me she WILL challenge Carolyn so that is good. Carolyn has had a harder time getting into her class. There are a few very nice girls that she has been playing with and two sweet little boys she and Hannah chase. There are also some really awful kids. Mean girls who say awful things to her--make plans specifically to leave her out, etc. She keeps trying to be nice and they just keep bing mean. Daddy told her to just stay away from them (particularly one girl is mean) and I told her to keep being nice. This is a new experience for all of us so we will see how it goes. I was surprised that girls start being mean in 1st grade!!! Yikes. It still feels like Carolyn is such a baby.
This Thursday, the girls get their first experience being taught by a naturalist in the MArin headlands. This is one of the things the school throws a lot of money into. They have a naturalist teach the children 3 hours a week (but no level-appropriate books in Kindergarten) for environmental studies. It feels a bit like a pet project to me but hopefully the girls will like it.
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