From Ms Johnsen:

From Ms Johnsen:

 

...We have had a wonderful first 13 days of school. Today the compliment  chain reached the floor! Tomorrow we will be voting on what special treat we want for our reward!  I will keep you posted!

This class is a wonderful group of students!  They can get silly or chatty at times but they can also get settled and be good listeners!

This week we have a wonderful addition in Kindergarten. Mrs. Vera Lynch joined the kindergarten classrooms for 5 hours a day! She has aided in Kindergarten before and moves easily between both classrooms. She is helping support students by working along side the teachers during a lesson and helps the few who need support when most of the class has finished. She is able to work with small groups or one on one for review or extra practice when needed. She is a wonderful extra set of hands in our busy rooms. By the end of October we will also being getting a High School helper each day for 1 hour and 20 minutes. These are students who are planning to pursue a teaching career in college. I have had a high school helper for the last 2 years.They have been a wonderful addition to my classroom, and the children benefit from additional adult support.

In the first 3 weeks we have been working on getting into a routine with our schedule. In Literacy we are working on using our letter sounds to stretch our words and write what we hear. All the students are willing to at least try and write something. We have a large range of skill ability in the room. Those that know all their letters and sounds are being encouraged to write more and to work independently as much as possible. The students who only have a few are getting support when needed.  Miss Meeks and myself have been pointing out all the wonderful beginner writers we have in the room. Even the beginning letter is celebrated!

We have been listening to a lot of stories and doing some comparison of different versions of the Gingerbread Man. On Friday the Gingerbread Man had left the back page of our book so we went looking for him around the school. The children had to figure out different clues and we moved around the building looking for him. We ended back in our classroom where we found some gingerbread play dough and a little bag of teddy bear cookies for each student.  The play dough was home-made. Not really meant to be eaten since they played with it but it is all edible. (very salty though!)

In Math we have been working on writing the numbers from 0-10 and learning all the different ways we can represent a number. We started our math books. As we work through the math curriculum we will be doing some paper and pencil activities and lots of hands on  manipulative activities.  As we work with the math book there will be homework pages as well as stapled packets of a mix of completed pages and pages that can be used as extra practice at home.

I hope you are enjoying the treasure story questions as a time to discuss stories with your child.

This week our Treasure story is The Rainbow Fish. Look for their canister on Friday.

Please read with your child daily!

...Have a good night.

Green Belt Karate

Lilly slept until 11 am! She had the right idea. It was dark, gloomy, and rainy well into the afternoon. I didn't try to wake her since her sleep schedule is all over the place lately. Unfortunately, that also meant that she didn't nap. This evening could be interesting...

When we went to the bus stop to get Shawn, it wasn't raining anymore, but it was muggy and +90°F! Blech!   

Shawn tested for his 3rd stripe for his green belt in Karate today! (Next test is in about 2 weeks for purple belt!) He wasn't as motivated or energetic about class today as he usually is. He seemed floppy instead of intense. Not sure what's going on with that.  

Meanwhile, Lilly watched eagerly perched in the doorway while snacking on crackers. She chimed in with, "Aa-YAH!" and a stomp/kick or an arm flail every once in a while.

This was actually taken yesterday, but she was doing the same thing today. "The anticipation of starting her own Ninja training is almost too much for Lilly to stand!"

Lilly and Shawn had dinner early, so when Raj got home, he and I had a stay-at-home dinner date and the kids played. Not entirely romantic, but there was candlelight! 

I made chicken & potato Vindaloo, saag (creamed spinach), and onion kulcha (flatbread). The Vindaloo sauce was pre-made; I just added chicken and potatoes. The frozen kulcha just needed to be warmed. I made the saag from scratch. It's not hard, but when Raj asked where I got the mix or the package for it, I took that as a good sign! We also had Moose Drool Brown Ale from Big Sky Brewing Company to cool down the spiciness. (Shawn loved the name!)

Shawn breezed through his math homework (counting). Then we had a  serious family talk about how karate went today. He admitted he was just making excuses about being tired. Raj and I explained that it's totally reasonable to be tired: school + karate is tiring! On the other hand, if he says he's tired, then it's time for bed and not time to play or do other activities. He can't turn on/off tired-ness at his convenience! (I wish I could!!) Seeing that he had no trouble being awake when we got home from karate, he must not have been THAT tired; therefore, even though he passed his stripe test in spite of his 'tired-ness,' his attitude in class and his test performance wasn't a reflection of his true effort. That's not okay. He apologized for (what he called) lying and agreed that faking wasn't a good choice. Regardless of if he was tired, 'tired,' or not, it was time for bed.

Lilly cat napped through the family meeting. When she woke, she wanted her Daddy and no one else. The two of them played quietly for a little while to have some much needed time together. Before long, she was ready for bed, too. 

Though they both went to bed easily, neither slept particularly well; therefore, I didn't either. Glad tomorrow's Friday. We need a chance to re-charge.

Kindergarten!

See the Story here.

Raging Waves waterpark

Mothers & More planned a family day at Raging Waves waterpark in Yorkville.  Raj and I were just $12 each, Shawn was $7, and Lilly was free! That included all day admission and a picnic lunch (Lilly shared ours). It was a great deal! Regular admission would have been $30 for Raj and me (each), $20 for Shawn, and Lilly still would've been free. Mothers & More ordered picnic lunches from Jersey Mikes in advance: Original Italian sub for Raj, the American Classic sub for Shawn, and a turkey & provolone sub for me, chips, cookies, pickles, and sodas (though they disappeared before we got any). 

(Cheeeeeese!)

Unfortunately, there was a bit of a bug problem back at home and Raj didn't feel comfortable leaving them until we got back. So he stayed behind while I got the kids out of the way.

We could've arrived as early as 10 AM, when the park opened, but we ended up getting there around 12:30 instead. We started with the picnic, walked around to get the lay of the land, dabbled our toes in a kiddie area and then watched a cheesy diving/trampoline/comedy show, Sinbad and the Search for the Golden Pineapple.

"Join Sinbad and his band of Gold Seekers on the search for the fabled Golden Pineapple.  After finding the Book of Knowledge, they sail towards a mysterious island – diving for treasure along the way.  After arriving, Sinbad has to make repairs to the ship while slapstick comedy ensues when a crew member falls into the water.  Sinbad and his crew then follow with amazing dives from 3, 5 and 10 meter platforms.

After the pandemonium subsides, the only person who can see the Golden Pineapple is the crew member on the 80 foot platform."

Though we didn't do any stunts like Sinbad or his crew, we had a lot of fun at Kangaroo Falls.

"Kids will love this Aussie-themed area filled with slides, water cannons, rope bridges, and water hoses. Whether its your child’s first or fiftieth trip to Raging Waves, they will be ecstatic when the bell goes off signaling the tipping of the giant dumping bucket! There is one thing for sure, YOU WILL GET WET."

(Shawn's in blue, scoping it out in the far left corner)
This was one of Shawn's favorite areas. He was thrilled that he was tall enough to ride all 5 of the slides in this mini-park. I was shocked that the giant bucket of water that splashed down every 10 minutes or so didn't turn him off completely, but it actually got him really excited trying to 'beat it' by jumping into a covered slide just at the right moment.

He even went in farther than I expected him to go, with me within arm's reach, of course. The farther into the pool you went, the deeper it got and the bigger the waves grew. We got in far enough that Shawn had to jump when waves came toward him in order to keep his head above water, but otherwise, he could still reach the bottom easily.

(Yup, you WILL get wet when that bucket dumps out!)
Lilly had fun splashing in a series of troughs that emptied into each other and I helped her down a small slide a few times. (I thought the water here was a bit chilly!)

We spent a couple of minutes in Koala Kove.
"A wading pool featuring tipping toucans sets the scene for those young ones making their first trip to a waterpark.  When your child is ready to try something a little more challenging, two kid-sized slides await where you can meet them on the bottom!" We were there just long enough for Shawn to go down both slides, but there were too many other exciting things to do! Lilly wasn't overly impressed by the wading pool or the bubblers and sprayers in this area.

Lilly and I liked Kookaburra Kreek and, while it might not have been his favorite of the day, I think Shawn did too (except for when he somehow flipped his inner tube and he thought he was trapped under it for a split second).
"Enjoy the relaxation of the slow current of Kookaburra Kreek, our quarter mile long lazy river.  Float on a single or double tube,  enjoy the warm weather and blue skies straight above you."

I was surprised how much Shawn enjoyed the Great Barrier Reef Wave Pool.

He even went in farther than I expected him to go, with me within arm's reach, of course. The farther into the pool you went, the deeper it got and the bigger the waves grew. We got in far enough that Shawn had to jump when waves came toward him in order to keep his head above water, but otherwise, he could still reach the bottom easily. 

(Check out the waves behind us!)
Lilly clung to me pretty tightly the whole time. I managed to pull a couple of giggles out of her in the very shallow end by lifting her up and down (just to her waist deep) over and over again. She splashed and kicked the water a little at the very edge.
"Crikey! Surf the raging waves at this 25,000 square foot wave pool! Big kids can travel to deeper depths for more wave action, while little ones can stay at shallower depths and enjoy the waves reaching kid-size heights."

It was too bad that Raj didn't make it out with us, but we found out his ticket it good until Sept 1. So, we may go back next Sunday so he can have fun with us. Then Shawn can go on some of the slides that I couldn't take him on today since I had Lilly, too.

Lake Geneva Cousins Weekend

Raj worked a half day today, so we could catch up to his cousins in Lake Geneva, who got there last night. While he was at work, I finished packing and dropped off Baron at his babysitter's house. I couldn't find Lilly's suit anywhere (I think it's tucked inside of something bigger from the laundry) and rather than stressing over it and tearing the house apart, I ran out to Target to pick up another. (I'm sure her original one will turn up as soon as we get back from the weekend!) Shawn helped me pick out snacks to share for the weekend, too. We got home just before Raj.

Because he has a CPR seminar really early Sunday morning in Westmont, we took separate cars to Lake Geneva. When we arrived at the Timber Ridge Lodge, Sandy/Sareena and Hema/Meera were napping in their rooms, but we found Manish, Milan, Simrin, Sumit, and Misha in the arcade.

After saying hi, we opted to go to Moose Mountain Falls water park. Shawn LOVED the water slide the most. Raj and I took turns riding down a 2-person inner-tube (shaped like a figure 8) with Shawn in front 'steering.' He'd squeal and shout, "WAAAAAHOOOOO!" all the way down. Just hearing his reaction was enough to entice me to go a few times. Lilly liked floating around the Lazy River, also in a 2-person inner-tube. (There were even some 2-person inner-tubes with one side closed in, so Lilly could sit in her own circle without the worry of falling through!) We found a little turtle statue near a waterfall that she'd get excited about each time we came near. There was also a big statue of a moose that she liked to point out at the base of the water slides. I almost got her to put her hands up like antlers, but she preferred me to hold up my own. We splashed in the zero depth pool, played with some water bubblers, sat under a raining mushroom, and slid down the mini-water slides. It was hard to leave, but our stomachs were grumbling for dinner and Lilly and Shawn's lips were turning blue in spite of the heated water!

We met up with Manish et al and Sumit et al for dinner. The process of getting there was a bit irritating/frustrating, but after we all arrived at the wrong place (which turned out to be a Mexican grocery, not a restaurant), then didn't know the address of the right place, then drove another 25 minutes to find the right place, and then had to wait for a table that could accommodate 13 people... The margarita pitchers were tasty and the food was fine.

After dinner, we gathered in Sumit's room while the kids watched movies and Hema taught the adults a new card game. I don't normally play cards with the Puris because it's usually poker, which I'm not very good at, but since it was a new game for everyone, I played along and ended up in 2nd place during the first game and Raj won the second game! I didn't play the second round because Lilly was in dire need of zzzz, so I brought her to our room next door and called it a night. Raj and Shawn walked in around 12:30 am!

Fun times!

Shawn has no training wheels!

See him in action here.

Shawn's instructional shoe tying video

Learn to tie your shoes from the Master Tie-er.