Report Card Time (and boy stuff)

Rogan:

I am so proud of this kid! I know you all think Rogan is the sweetest, most innocent child that ever lived BUT for the few of you who have seen his temper tantrums you would disagree. He can be the sweetest of all the boys but he has a little OCD that can turn him into a monster at the drop of a hat. He is STUBBORN! I thought Braxton was until Rogan came along. BUT...

He has totally impressed me this year at school! He is making all S's and E's on his report cards as well as green lights for behavior everyday! He seems to be picking things up a lot faster than Braxton did when he was in Kindergarten. I am not trying to compare or say he is smarter. I think having an older sibling at home helps him pick things up quicker. He knows his letters, numbers, can read, count, add, subtract. His writing needs to be a little better and most of his numbers are backward but we are practicing. He amazes me in math. He can count by 3's to an extent, by 5's and 10's and really whatever he wants if he thinks about it. His newest thing is multiplication. Really?! He will tell me small problems like 4x2 or 3x3. He has a writing test coming up and I think this is where we need to be spending more time. All in all I would say he is having an excellent first year! I know that his amazing teacher is owed a lot of thanks for that!

Braxton:

Oh Brax. He has to by my most frustrating child. He's smart. Really smart. This also means he tries to get away with things and schemes. Not to mention he at the age where he isn't a little kid so he is trying to test boundaries. It is nice to be able to depend on him more and not have to constantly be checking up on him. Our conversations are changing from dinosaurs and construction trucks to people and what's going on around us. It is good.

He is doing really well in school this year. The past couple of years I felt have been really easy for him. He has had great teachers and I'm not saying he didn't ever have times where he struggled but mostly he didn't have to put forth a lot of effort to be at the top of the class. This year has been different. Not only for him but for me as well. I have had to be more disciplined in his homework and assignments as well. It takes longer than 5 minutes and we have had to stay up late a few nights going over things. Braxton is in a 2nd/3rd grade gifted class. While I think he would have done great in a regular class and not had any grade or discipline problems I am so thankful that he was able to get into this program. It really has been good helping him think outside the box. He reads really well. Last year he was reading at a 5th grade level but the problem has been finding books that are a challenge to read as well as appropriate for his age. He is great in spelling. He somehow brought home the 3rd grade list last week, studied once, and still made a 100. He is having some trouble in Language Arts. The first report card he made his first B-. It takes him a long time to grasp concepts in that subject. Right now we are going over subject and predicate and we have spent hours on the same thing. That being said, he did bring his grade up to an A on this last report card. I am so proud of that kid! There are very few kids in his class who make A honor roll and I wasn't sure if he was going to! I kinda promised him a new toy if he did since I didn't really expect it so I guess I need to make a trip to the store!

If anyone else has a child who needs help in that subject I have a lot of resources I would love to share with you!

Parker:

Well, Park doesn't really get a report card but since I was updating on all the others I figured I would include him. I feel awful because I do not work with him like I did the others. He counts some and knows most of his ABC's but not the way he could if I would do it with him. He has a wild imagination and loves to make up stories and songs. If he is breathing, he is talking. I call him my little Tasmanian devil. Or destructo-man. As soon as his feet hit the floor he is going, everywhere as fast as he can. He eats all the time. For example, yesterday he gets up, eats a bowl of cereal. 10 minutes later, goldfish, then string cheese, then an orange, then some pudding, then some yogurt. This is all before 10 am. At noon he eats lunch and he wants to take a snack to the school and have one at home with the boys and then we eat dinner. ALL DAY LONG! Despite being a raging ball of madness he is my love. He cuddles and hugs and kisses. He tells me thank you for little things all day long. He blesses me. I love his confidence. He tells me he is strong, he is a good dancer, good at coloring and puzzles. He is my puds. The best one there is.