And so it ends, how it began in a huge pile of heaping exhaustion. Yes, the Hippo and I survived our first week of Elementary school. I am extremely ill and flared up (OF COURSE!) and he is sir grumps a lot as he adjusts to not having a nap in the middle of the day, but I think next week we will be in a full swing! What is the verdict? Kindergarten is a hit! He loves it! Absolutely positively loves it! Me? I’m pretty doped up on cough syrup, inhalers, juniper oil and arnica to really have a real opinion yet. I do know that the little brainiac needs to be challenged more, but that will come soon. You see Jax is technically in transitional Kindergarten because he doesn’t turn 5 until October. But because he is reading & math comprehension are advanced, we might be able to boost him up to kindergarten and add some harder work into that as well.
In the mean time he has “Mom School” afterschool which pretty much consists of the First Grade Brain Quest Workbook, 15 minutes of reading and 15 minutes of an educational game on a tablet. Right now we are using the LeapPad Ultra and the iPad2. I’ve been looking into the NabiTablet2 as well and I love that. The age range and number of educational apps is not as restricted as the LeapPad. I’m also going back to my original plan from when he was first born of teaching him Spanish, Mandarin and Italian. Looking into Little Pim or Rosetta Stone. My older sister used Rosetta Stone to learn spanish a few years back. She and Jax think a lot alike, so sometimes I like to listen to how she has taken in the information to see how he might process it on a four year old scale. She loved Rosetta Stone. I love the child educational reinforcements Little Pim has such as flashcards, workbooks and toys. But I also really love the Rosetta Stone App for kids! Really great!
To celebrate his first week of real school we are going to the Library tomorrow so that Jaxon can get his first library card! I know right?! So, exciting! We may even check out a book, just for nostalgia sake.
However, my friend Rachel, told me that you can download the public library app and they will let you check out a book and read it right on your tablet or phone! It’s amazing. No late fees. Super easy for moms with challenges. You won’t have to worry about actually getting to the library. Another great reading app that we LOVE is Reading Rainbow! As much as I wish they would bring back the show I am loving that we have an app to actually read the books they use to talk about on the show. Remember watching PBS shows like that for like 45 mins in first grade. And then when it was over your teacher would pull out the very same book they talked about on Reading Rainbow!! I remember my first grade teacher, Mrs. Randall did that like 3 or 4 times and I literally thought she was a magician. May God Rest Her Soul. I remember the first time she did it, I thought it was a coincidence. But the second time, I thought for sure it was magic! LOL! But yea, the reading rainbow app…awesome! I think one of the best things I’ve done for Jax is reading to him every day, at some point during the day. Even when I was sick. Actually I think that’s when we read the most, when I was sick in bed. He would follow my finger under each word and then we talk and laugh about what we just read. Even before he had teeth, we did this. It was like our own special little book club. We had snacks and he had milk on tap! LOL! Okay, guys, but seriously. Read to your kids! You’ll be amazed at what is born from it later.
So, moms and dads get some sleep over the weekend because we go back into the trenches on Monday!
As my boy Kevin would say, “This is it! Don’t get scared, now!”
