Hard to believe their very first school year has come to an end. Jonas has grown just under 2 inches and gained 3 lbs since fall. Jember has grown over 2 inches an put on 5 pounds!
Guess they are growing!
Jonas loved school this year. He is still my little scientist. He loves a challenge and will work it through til the end. He has quite the grasp on numbers and letters. He is seriously one of the fastest learners I have ever known. I think he will be reading before long. His language skill have really developed. He is able to communicate with much clearer language, and boy does he like to explain things to you! He tells me that he wants to learn to play the drums "like Freddy in School of Rock." And this kid plays a MEAN set of air drums.
Favorite pastime however remains sports. He loves playing games (baseball, darts, online sports, golf... you name it!) He has even started asking to watch baseball on t.v. The other day he and I caught a rugby match between Samoa and New Zealand on ESPN. He loved it!
He makes friends very easily. His best buddy this year was a boy named Ashwin. (Called him his "brother") Ashwin and Jonas were inseperable. We called them the "little intellectuals." Sadly, Ashwin and his family moved away at the end of this school year!
His other buddy was Ty. Ty was his "baseball guy" as Jonas calls him. Jonas loves play dates with Ty too. Ty has 3 brothers and its quite the "baseball-o-rama" when they are all together!
Jember took longer to get into school. The large montessori class was a bit anxiety producing for her. We sensed a bit of stress in her early on and after several months of stomach aches, emotional outbursts and declarations of her dislike for preschool, we figured something wasn't working for her in the classroom. Upon investigation, we discovered that the 2 women who taught at the preschool had a lot of tension between them over how things should be run. One of them actually left mid year. Sensing the tension, I believe created a lot of unease in her. Since that upheaval has settled down, so in turn, has Jember.
She loves painting letters the her name. She is most attracted to the letter "J." Maria (our nanny) has helped take a pro-active approach to letters. One day is "B" day and they made bread together. One day was "N" day (nails) and they went off and got pedicures together. The alphabet is taking shape for her, thanks to the beautiful ideas of a gifted and caring nanny.
I think my favorite part of preschool this year is all the new songs. Jonas loves the "Recycling" song and "Tell Me the Continents." He will burst in to these 2 songs often, making sure he hits every verse.
(And he knows about recycling and can name all of the continents! Cool huh?)
Jember loves singing too. And after a year of loving shows like: "Mary Poppins" and "Mama Mia" and "The Wizard of Oz" she not only sings but sings in her little vibrato voice. (And she sings on pitch!) She loves making up her own songs and and dances. She performs them in the living room and in the front yard. She has a remarkable imagination. She is strong willed, determined and has a crackling sense of language. She weaves words together like a teenager. She can sound wry, funny, witty, sarcastic and the other day was talking to me in a British dialect!
The happiest day for Jember was the day we took her to a face painter. She wore a butterfly on her face for 3 days before it had to be washed off. She is counting the days until her next trip to a face painter.
She tells me she misses ballet. We may get her started in the fall again.
Her favorite 2 friends still remain Maiya (her soul sister) and a 5-year old neighborhood girl named Tori.
We all still read every night. We have SO many favorite books that I have lost track!
We won't be returning to Gardenview Montessori next year. We have learned a lot but have decided to switch our courses to a new school. Next year they will be attending Samish Preschool! I am so incredibly proud of these two.
Pre-K on the horizon. But for now...
Summer vacation please!
