My aunt Kristi sent a box of Christmas gifts early, and it's still sitting in the entry way. On the way down the stairs tonight Aaron stopped by it and said, "It's my birthday! It's mine, not for Luke!"
We went to Kansas City for Thanksgiving with my dad's side of the family. Long drive - 10 hours - but Aaron did pretty well, considering. Dad reminded me that a couple of years ago we drove to KC after Luke had potty trained, and both boys figured out pretty quickly that "I need to go potty!" is a good way to be released from the car seat for a few minutes. Both boys loved being with my cousin Dean's kids - cool older kids who were happy to play with them. Luke especially liked Dustin, who is 16 and can juggle, and was willing to rough house with him. I wish my extended family was nearer.
Big couple of weeks for Luke -- he won a price in a PTA art contest for his collage he made with Mama called "Transformers are beautiful AND cool!", he has his first gymnastics competition this Sunday, and his first (very informal) piano recital next Tuesday.
Aaron has stopped saying "Bob the Yo-Yo," now called him the more common "Bob the Builder." Rich and I are both disappointed. Fortunately, he still says, "Tricera-pops."
I have a statistics final on Monday, then a delightful 4 week break from classes. Tired, don't want to study. Oh well.
Friday, December 4, 2009
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Gymnastics
Luke's a level 4 now - that means that he's on the competitive team. He's thrilled! He practices 9 hours a week, with a group of about ten boys who range from 7 to 13 years old. It's fun watching how supportive the boys are of each other and his primary coach, Jim, is fun to watch while he works. Tonight they had team photos (hm, wonder if some of you will see those at Christmas??), and he put on his official uniform for the first time - white pommel pants and a black step-in, which is basically a leotard worn under the pommel pants. He also has nice warm-ups and a tiny pair of white shorts. His first meet is in Louisville Dec. 6, then he's in Chicago Dec. 19, and St. Louis Jan. 9 - 10. He has a total of 7 meets. He's a funny kid - very relaxed at the idea of competing and performing.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Bathtime
A total change in routine tonight - Luke was first in the bath, and Aaron desperately wanted to be there. Luke said it was ok. They played for awhile and there was a happy bunch of giggling, until......"Dad! There's poop in the tub!" And no, not just one little poop.
Rich did the honors. The boys got showers after their bath.
Rich did the honors. The boys got showers after their bath.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
A bit of comedy & misc
Luke told me tonight that his teacher's first name is "Mrs." I'm sure she's heard it before, but I can't wait to tell her!
Rich has H1N1.....not happy but not horrible either. He stayed home today and took Tamiflu, and I think is going to work tomorrow. Everyone else in the house has a cold, but nothing serious.
Aaron is staying dry at daycare, but pees himself everyday at naptime. At night he wakes up if he pees and begs for a new diaper. It's good in terms of potty training but it's driving me a little crazy when I just want to work.
Rich has H1N1.....not happy but not horrible either. He stayed home today and took Tamiflu, and I think is going to work tomorrow. Everyone else in the house has a cold, but nothing serious.
Aaron is staying dry at daycare, but pees himself everyday at naptime. At night he wakes up if he pees and begs for a new diaper. It's good in terms of potty training but it's driving me a little crazy when I just want to work.
Friday, November 6, 2009
Aaron......
is potty trained!!!!! 3 days of no accidents, including at daycare. He pitched a healthy tantrum screaming for a diaper last Saturday when we started but pretty quickly adapted. The process, in an odd way, was helped by an ear infection -- two days at home to practice without the distraction of other kids.
Luke's math assessment
A friend of mine from NKU did a diagnostic math assessment with Luke a couple of weeks ago - here are her notes:
Heather,
Hi, I finally got a chance to review the recording with Luke. Also, I converted it to a format that I hope you can play. Here are the links to download the video:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929332/0577d26092f7985d8b6d2e6c869eefb9
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929390/ef2429d8ca59f0daae40a2d61c10ce48
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929460/8525321a3c340cc12fddca769bd63e2a
He is, as I’m sure you know, doing great and well above grade level.
I assessed his forward counting to 112. He was able to start anywhere and give the number word after in the entire range. There were only slight pauses or self corrections and he clearly knew forward counting in this range.
I assessed his backward counting in the range 1 to 100. He was confident to 30. Above 30, he had occasional pauses and skipped 30 when counting from 38 to 27. But he was able to count back from 72 and give the number before in the range to 100. He is very close to having facility in the range 1 to 100.
I assessed his numeral identification. He was amazing with this. For example, he could read 90,380 and 247,641. The only one he had trouble with was 700,090 – which is difficult because of all of the zeros. He read it as “seven thousand-ninety”. I suspect if I had pushed a bit he could have gotten that one as well. I was impressed!
I assessed his addition and subtraction strategies. For addition, he comfortably counts on and occasionally uses known or related facts. For subtraction, he tries to count down, but is often off by a count. For example, for 16-4, he counted back “16, 15, 14, 13” and got that the answer was 13. There were situation where he correctly used a known or related fact to solve subtraction. For example, he was able to solve 15+3 then use it to solve 18-3. So he has the idea of subtraction and can relate it to addition, but is off on the details.
I assessed his structuring (part-whole knowledge of whole numbers). He solidly knows how to combine and partition 5. He either knows or is very close to knowing how to combine and partition numbers up to 10. It was interesting to me what he did with the questions involving teens. He used the 10+ structure to solve some problems but not others. In one task, I said “I have 10, I wish I had 18, how many do I need”. He immediately said 8. A few tasks later, I asked “Tell me two numbers that make 17” and he said 5&7. My guess is that it’s not quite clear that teens are building from 10. In other words, I think he knows 18 is something important plus 8, but not necessarily knows that is a ten plus 8.
I enjoyed working with Luke. He has great number sense!
If you want full a copy of the written assessment I gave him with my notes, I can scan them and email them to you. Let me know.
Cindy
Heather,
Hi, I finally got a chance to review the recording with Luke. Also, I converted it to a format that I hope you can play. Here are the links to download the video:
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929332/0577d26092f7985d8b6d2e6c869eefb9
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929390/ef2429d8ca59f0daae40a2d61c10ce48
https://rcpt.yousendit.com/770929460/8525321a3c340cc12fddca769bd63e2a
He is, as I’m sure you know, doing great and well above grade level.
I assessed his forward counting to 112. He was able to start anywhere and give the number word after in the entire range. There were only slight pauses or self corrections and he clearly knew forward counting in this range.
I assessed his backward counting in the range 1 to 100. He was confident to 30. Above 30, he had occasional pauses and skipped 30 when counting from 38 to 27. But he was able to count back from 72 and give the number before in the range to 100. He is very close to having facility in the range 1 to 100.
I assessed his numeral identification. He was amazing with this. For example, he could read 90,380 and 247,641. The only one he had trouble with was 700,090 – which is difficult because of all of the zeros. He read it as “seven thousand-ninety”. I suspect if I had pushed a bit he could have gotten that one as well. I was impressed!
I assessed his addition and subtraction strategies. For addition, he comfortably counts on and occasionally uses known or related facts. For subtraction, he tries to count down, but is often off by a count. For example, for 16-4, he counted back “16, 15, 14, 13” and got that the answer was 13. There were situation where he correctly used a known or related fact to solve subtraction. For example, he was able to solve 15+3 then use it to solve 18-3. So he has the idea of subtraction and can relate it to addition, but is off on the details.
I assessed his structuring (part-whole knowledge of whole numbers). He solidly knows how to combine and partition 5. He either knows or is very close to knowing how to combine and partition numbers up to 10. It was interesting to me what he did with the questions involving teens. He used the 10+ structure to solve some problems but not others. In one task, I said “I have 10, I wish I had 18, how many do I need”. He immediately said 8. A few tasks later, I asked “Tell me two numbers that make 17” and he said 5&7. My guess is that it’s not quite clear that teens are building from 10. In other words, I think he knows 18 is something important plus 8, but not necessarily knows that is a ten plus 8.
I enjoyed working with Luke. He has great number sense!
If you want full a copy of the written assessment I gave him with my notes, I can scan them and email them to you. Let me know.
Cindy
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