Friday, January 29, 2010

just a wintery mix day!

This pic is of after we came in from the snow. Sorry, they are out of order
Me and my boy in the snow


Let it snow



So, today is another snow day! It is great being a teacher! Houston and I just went out to play in it until Tim gets home and then we will have to do round 2. He loved it! When I woke up at 5am it was doing NOTHING, then it started raining, then sleeting , then within 3 hours, there was a blanket of snow on the ground. So much fun with a little one. While we were waiting on all this, Houston and I decided to play with his matchbox cars in his playroom. I feel like I don't spend enough time with him sometimes, so we played race cars and built a tower from blocks for three hours. It was actually pretty fun! Now I guess we wait for more snow so we can get the sled out. I actually have time to blog. I have gotten really bad about blogging, but I have no excuse today. Oh yea, and I will definitely post some pics of our winter fun.

Anyway, so I am so excited about Houston being in school this year.Especially since he is right next door to me. Now don't think I am one of those worrisome parents ,cause I don't really even go to his classroom unless he is having a party or I have a meeting in there. He is only in pre-k but has really learned so much this year. Yes, I know I am a Kindergarten teacher and I work with him a little at home but he is impressive. I am not bragging or anything, but look at what he can do.

-Write his first and last name from memory
-count to 30
- count to 30 in spanish
-he can read about 35 sight words from memory (color words, number words, simple words)

-he knows all letters of the alphabet and all sounds except for X

-he can write almost any letter (he has a hard time with y, v, w, and x)

His pre-k class took part in a test called Lindamood Bell, this test was given in the fall and was supposed to assess the studnets on what they knew. After anxiously awaiting the results I had a meeting yesterday with the testing group and he tested at a 66% in vocabulary. The average was usually a 25-37. He passed the 2, 3,4, and 5 year old test with flying colors, missed 4 on the 6 year old test and 2 on the 7 year old test. The test also consisted of a spelling test, writing letters when the lady named the sound, nonsense spelling, math. Yes, math. They had simple math problems, hard math problems and even algebra. It is a little ridiculous, but it was interesting to see his answer selection. On one test, he knew every letter and sound, but when she asked him blends such as th,ch,sh,ea, ai,ay,ee,ea,ade, the lady told me he began to ramble and said "poop". I said what? How embarrassing! ugh, When I asked him, he laughed so hard and said I didn't say that. Oh well, I guess kids will be kids, right? So now the students will receive an hour of testing a day or week, I can't remember. But anyway, they will retake the test at the end of the year for a chance to improve and I am anxious to see the results.
Hope everyone is safe out there in this weather.




Saturday, January 16, 2010

weekend again

Well, it's the weekend again and we have another three day.. yay! Yep, last week we were out for two snow days and next week, we get a Martin Luther King holiday. We started off our weekend going to dinner at El Nopal last night. It was delicious as always! Houston chose the place, he wanted enchaladas. Tim wanted Chilis and I wanted O Charleys but Houston was set on his enchaldas. It was good but very crowded. On the way home we stopped by Dollar General (which I have not been to in years) and I found all kinds of stuff. Houston just had to have these Scooby Valentines cards so I let him get them for his class. He was so excited that we came home and worked on Valentines last night. Yep, a month early! But at least it is done. Today we got up and went for a three mile walk with Helen and her wolf hybrid Ranger. Scooby (our puppy) did great. He kept up and walks on a lease so good. Houston and Scooby were both so tired that as soon as we came home, they both fell asleep and are still sleeping. Hope everyone has a great three day weekend!