Kindergarten Girl

Elizabeth is officially in kindergarten!

She is so excited and off and ready to go.

It was the cutest thing. The night before the first day of school Elizabeth woke at about 3:30 and asked for water. So I gave her a glass and then told her to go back to sleep. For some reason I woke up again around 4:30 and walked by her room. There she was with her little clock in her hand and a flashlight. She was so excited/nervous about the first day of school that she was "literally" watching the clock. So we were up till about 6 am and she finally went back to sleep. Good thing her school doesn't start till 10 am and is over by 1:30. She made it through the day fine.

One of the only challenges, and it is a good problem to have, is that Elizabeth pretty much did the kindergarten curriculum in her pre-kindergarten class. Elizabeth is already reading and writing and the local kindergarten is teaching the alphabet and the abc's. Of course it may build her confidence--which is a good thing but I am also considering switching schools for her to keep her ahead of the game. Of course the challenge now is that she LOVES this school. She laughs about the fact that the teacher was teaching her the letter "A". She thinks the whole think is a big ball of fun.

Hmmmm...5 years old and wanting to have fun????? Now my challenge is to keep her level of learning up without feeling like Mommie Dearest. The real issue is that she excelled when she was pushed a bit and after gaining a bit of an edge and I don't want her to get into first grade being behind the curve.

Notice the art on the walls of the classroom. The numbers go from 1-10. Uggghhh. She learned that I three years old-as I think did most children I know. Hey, don't they realize that kindergarten is the new second grade? I suppose that they have to teach to the kids that have had no schooling before kindergarten.But I have yet to meet a kid around her that has not gone to preschool.

I think Elizabeth is on to the fact that I am not thrilled with the curriculum. I was grilling her on what she was doing and when I realized she was learning about "shapes" I explained to her that she might want to try a school that has a bit longer of a day and she will learn SO much more.

Her answer, "No, mom. I learn just perfect at my school. And I can't stay to long at school because I have to come home and take care of my stuffed animals."

"Touche Elizabeth, touche."

Swimming lessons...

Elizabeth started official swimming lesson in June and she has really taken to the water. She loves it and seems to be a natural in the water. And it doesn't hurt that her feet are size 13! Supposedly bigger feet are a plus in the swim world.

She is already swimming half the width of the pool and the instructor tells me she could swim the length of the pool if she had the confidence. Of course I am not sure I have the confidence at this point. But it is so great that she already has the technique down. Truth be told she has a better swim form than I do. Not that that is saying much.

What makes learning to swim so great this summer is that this is the first time Elizabeth has gotten to use her waterproof "ear buds". It is brand new technology and there are still some glitches to work out(today they are back in the shop) but it has been great since Elizabeth as been able to hear her swim instructor so well that he says she is the one of the best listeners he has every had. He says she follows direction beautifully. How do you like that?

We shall see but judging from her enthusiasm I would say this may be the sport for her. I have never seen her so excited about anything.

Birthday party fun

Back in June Elizabeth was invited to her classmate Yasmin's birthday party...and what a party it was.

There was a merry go round, face painting, a balloon lady, a popcorn machine, cotton candy machine and a candy and cookie table.

What more could a five year old want?

Yeah, she had fun.

Elizabeth and the Superheros

Elizabeth's classmate and beau Caden had his 5th birthday party...and as you can see from the photos--The Superheros were there.

When Elizabeth first heard about the Superheros she was very concerned that they would be too scary and she was pretty sure she did not want to go. Once she got there and saw Captain America and Supergirl...she was thrilled as could be.