1. Lily started gymnastics last week. Little Gym asked her to join their advanced 5 and 6 year old class. Ryan was able to watch a lot of her class last week, and he said they were really doing gymnastics; in her class last Spring, it was very casual while they learned to do somersaults, walk on the beam, etc. Now they are really focusing on the technical side of it while still keeping it fun. They are also throwing a little bit of kid-friendly strength building and cardio workout in. Last week after class, Lily told me "I'm not sure I like this gymnastics class." When I asked why, she replied "Because I don't know how to do it all; it's hard." I explained that this was a great chance for her to learn new skills and that with practice, she would get better; in a year, she will be able to look back and think "that's all easy stuff now." She seemed content to hear that and was very excited to go back today. The first thing she said to me afterwards today was "I learned to do a cartwheel!" She is so very proud of herself right now, and I have to say, she's doing a good job. I tried reinforcing that she was learning something new and with practice she will continue to get better. Well, she is having a great time practicing all around our house (and trying to teach Mia too). She has decided that now, she loves gymnastics!
2. Mia also started gymnastics last week. She is in the 3 and 4 year old class. It's true that she won't be 3 until November, but she has been watching Lily for over a year now, and the teachers agreed she could handle it. Well, in their first class they were working on somersaults. Mia can already do a really good somersault after practicing so much with Lily last year; some of the big kids in the class can't even do them yet. Ryan also said that she was practically running across the balance beam (she doesn't walk anywhere) while bigger kids were timidly scooting across. I am by no means trying to put the other kids down because they are just learning, but I am saying that I'm really glad Mia is in this class; she's loving it and doing a great job.
3. Lily is still thoroughly enjoying school. Her conduct grade (commenting on behavior, conduct and obedience) each day so far has been either Satisfactory (which the teacher said means it was a good, normal day and is to be expected most days) or Excellent (meaning the child did something extra great that day). Today, in addition to receiving a Satisfactory grade, there was a note saying she needs to work a little on her self-control of her hands during chapel and story time. I talked to Lily about that before bed time tonight, and she said "But Mommy, I get so excited and can't help it." I explained that moving her hands around a lot can be distracting, so we practiced sitting with her hands still in her lap while I read a book. Hopefully we will see this improve. Her work ethic grade (commenting on diligence, neatness and effort) has been Excellent every day. I can't say I'm surprised by that. If you ever watch Lily while she is doing any kind of art project, you will see this work ethic come through; she will concentrate so hard to make sure she is following the directions to make everything just right. This is one of the many qualities I love about her. I have asked Lily a few times what is her favorite part of school; each time she has replied "carpool line." I'm not really sure what to think of that! She has also commented that she has fun on the playground, and she is convinced it is her new shoes that make her fun fast. On the way in this morning, she put her shoe up in front of me and asked "Mommy, what's on the bottom of these that make me run so fast?" When I told her I thought maybe it was her feet that made her run so fast, she said "Maybe, but what if there's a little machine inside the shoe? What if it's a little mouse that runs on the machine to make little wheels turn to make me run fast?" She's thinking about a hamster's wheel because at Chuck E Cheese they have a huge hamster's wheel for kids to run in. Whatever it is, she loves to run! We are so pleased at how well these first few days of school have gone.
4. We went to Mia's new school for Sneak-A-Peak today. She starts the Wednesday after Labor Day, and she'll go 3 half-days a week. We met her two teachers, Mrs. Mara and Mrs. Parker; we also got to see her room and meet a few of the other kids in her class. I believe Mrs. Mara said there will be 9 kids in the class, so that is a good number. Her room is very cute. They have a nice size library and reading corner in it which Mia loved. We probably looked at two dozen books before leaving; that was about half of the ones on the shelf. They also had lots of good chunky puzzles and building blocks. I liked that their room is right next to the playground, and she commented that they will go outside to play for awhile every day. The room was decorated to show all the fun things they will learn. They will spend the first few weeks working on basics like learning everyone's names, the weather, days of the week, etc. Then they start with a different letter of the alphabet each week and all the projects will focus on that letter. They will also spend some time on Spanish each day; I think Mia will like that because she loves to count to ten in Spanish (thank you Lily for teaching her that!). They also have a little music class each day which I know she will love. I think this will be a great experience for Mia, and she cannot wait to go to school!
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